Plan for PBP 2011 qualifying rides

[Paul D]

And starts <30 miles from my front door, which makes this substantially my closest long ride as far as I can tell.

If I ride a 600 next year, this has to be the one.

200s and 300s may be candidate for 'whatever's closest', but good 600s are worth travelling for. I wouldn't do a 600 purely because I lived close to the start, it would have to be a good route too.

A 600 weekend is a holiday weekend, so I like to go to Wales or somewhere else I don't know well so that it feel like I've been somewhere.

Toughest 600 I did last year went within 5 miles of my house at 575km, and I rode to the start & finish at Poole. I might try for the Daylight next year (as well as the Chapman) if I can get a pass for that particular weekend.

[Nonsteeler]

 "Take up running during the week - more intensive then cycling so hopefully a similar training effect in less time."

i find that lots of cycling makes my legs very unfamiliar with the action of running because the two sports use muscles in different ways.

I agree. I noticed the same. While I am average long distance cyclist I am an exceptionally bad runner.  Hence I will give 'quasi  bar feet' running a go (Vibram Fivefingers).

hence i don't think you'll find that running improves your cycling.
i have dropped running from the training plan because of that: it'll be entirely on the bike/turbo trainer this winter.

I accept that it may not improve my 'cycling fitness'. I hope it will mainly maintain my general level of fitness + prevent weight gain.

[border-rider]

Running works for me when I'm  not doing the big rides

Its a good way to get high heart rates for prolonged periods, it keeps the weight off and (most importantly for me) it's something different to keep my interest up

[citoyen]

I'm chucking some running and swimming into the mix for similar reasons - I'm actually aiming to do a triathlon in April. Not ideal preparation for PBP, but it should be great for general fitness and I'll still have a few months after the tri to readjust.

Main aim apart from surviving the qualifying rides is getting my weight down to ~70kg by next August. Part of the reason I failed the BftE last time is that I was lugging too much weight around - too much luggage on the bike but more significantly, too much ballast around my middle. I'll be much better prepared this time.

d.

[Nonsteeler]

While weight may not (yet) be a problem for me in absolute terms,  weight gain is mayor problem when I am inactive. Since the hight of my fitness around May, I gained 4kg just by cutting my cycling  by two thirds. I believe it is not the eating (which hasn't changed) but the lack of exercise. I feel a bit punished because since I started serious cycling a couple of years ago: I easily gain weight if I am inactive. And yet it still takes me ca. 1000km to loose 1000g. And I fear the ratio is getting worse. This is what I would call a negative training effect...

But enough, this becomes dangerously off-topic.

[mmmmartin]

in general - and i expect to be shot down in flames now - it seems to me that you couldn't really do better than completing the rides that el supremo is organising for PBP qualifiers - he's sorted out the whole series, all BRM of course. And as for a training schedule, can anyone improve on the suggestions in The Long Distance Cyclists' Handbook?

[mattc]

I'd say an El-S SR is a good assesment of one's PBP-ability - that's not the same thing as being the best training to achieve it!

Probably the trickiest thing to judge is the June-Aug period. That's plenty of time to lose a shed-load of fitness, or overtrain horribly, or become very stale to long distances ...

[thing1]

While weight may not (yet) be a problem for me in absolute terms,  weight gain is mayor problem when I am inactive.

Last PBP, I thought too much caffeine and too little sleep was the mayor problem? 

[thing1]

For mc1k this year [caveat emptor; I DNF] I found the single biggest help to my training was signing up to do La Marmotte. This gave my a very focused goal which I had to loose a bucket of weight for, and was great motivation to midweek training and doing regular longer rides at the weekend. The 2 week gap from Marmotte to mc1k was perfect (modulo the stinking cold I picked up whilst taking it a little more easy, which eventually caused the DNF)

So, PBP is 1.5 months after Marmotte, so this plan won't quite work next year; will need to jimmy something else in between them to keep the fitness.

Perhaps, mc1k perm. 

[slugwash]

i don't think you'll find that running improves your cycling

I disagree, I've been doing a couple of long hilly runs a week in preparation for a mounatin marathon in October and running gives my cardiovascular system a bit of an extra workout that my usual plodding pedalling pace fails to provide. I also have a fairly hilly seven mile cycle ride to work. Since doing the runs I find I can now pedal my fixed-wheel, without stopping, up the sharp hills we have here in South Devon, something I've had trouble doing for most of the past few years since hitting my forties. Cutting down on the drinking in the evenings has helped as well. My morning porridge and espressos tend to remain in my stomach nowdays as my commuting route hits the steeper hills.  

[border-rider]

So, PBP is 1.5 months after Marmotte,

PBP's a bugger in that respect. You qualify by late May/early June in a wave of early-season enthusiasm - and then have to try to keep some sort of form until late August.

[Manotea]

Yes, traditionally there's a big hole in the calendar in July/early August. I'll be looking to run a London-Brighton-London loop 200km - a variant of the Chicken Willy - sometime in July which should be a good day out. At this stage my major issue is to negotiate holiday plans with Family Manotea though with a bit of luck we will all be going to France in August. Watch this space.

[Nonsteeler]

And as for a training schedule, can anyone improve on the suggestions in The Long Distance Cyclists' Handbook?

I find that the advice from the 'Long Distance Cyclist' is rather general. If you want go one step up, you may want to try Joel Friel's book (The Cyclist's Training Bible: A Complete Training Guide for the ...). It is geared more towards the serious roady but if you treat PBP as a stage race I believe you can get a better training from it compared to the Handbook. 

These days, I just try to squeeze some cycling time in my life time whenever possible. Not really an elaborate training plan ...

[L CC]

Hold on, we're supposed to train for PBP???

She-it I'm gonna be in big trouble.

[mattc]

Don't forget, it's an Audax - so one pretends not to train.

One simply does a few more nice rides

[arvid]

Training is completely unnecessary.
If your daily commute is 80km, starting at least 2 months before the ride.

[mmmmartin]

i don't think you'll find that running improves your cycling

I've been doing a couple of long hilly runs a week in preparation for a mounatin marathon in October

that'll be the OMM then. Conveniently near you.

[mattc]

Yeah, definitely not enough brownie points for PBP. In fact, if anyone with 2 kids under 5 who is doing PBP can clue me in how they earnt their pass, I'd really appreciate it.

...

2) Ride on the weekends with all the little ones  - 2 in the trailer, one the bike seat. Preferably uphill, of course  .
...

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/6709235/

[Nonsteeler]

Hold on, we're supposed to train for PBP???
She-it I'm gonna be in big trouble.

Don't forget, it's an Audax - so one pretends not to train.
One simply does a few more nice rides

Training is completely unnecessary.

Oh shił, you're right. I completely forget that we are all born to ride 1000s of KMs - it all comes natural, it's within us!! Only this perverted modern life forces people like me into the of abomination of 'training'.

[Greenbank]

Apart from Audaxing and commuting I did less than 500km of other riding in the year running up to LEL, and those 500km were not much different from Audaxing or commuting.

I'd also never ridden more than 640km in 'one go' before attempting and completing that 1420km ride.

My 'training' will consist of a minimum of 400km cycling in each month between now and PBP, as that is my commuting kilometerage.

In some months (May) this will be boosted to about 1000km as I do a 600 for the required SR.

[L CC]

Hold on, we're supposed to train for PBP???
She-it I'm gonna be in big trouble.

Don't forget, it's an Audax - so one pretends not to train.
One simply does a few more nice rides

Training is completely unnecessary.

Oh shił, you're right. I completely forget that we are all born to ride 1000s of KMs - it all comes natural, it's within us!! Only this perverted modern life forces people like me into the of abomination of 'training'.

Phew I'll revert to my previous stance then- a Mr Nesbitt-esque 'only a bike ride'.


FWIW when mine were little I didn't ride a bike at all. No passes permitted for the domestic slaves. In fact, I can count on my fingers the evenings I had off in 12 years, and the first time I had a day free of work and children was after I left him. About then was when I started cycling again. So count your blessings and be thankful you have accommodating partners.

[jane]

FWIW when mine were little I didn't ride a bike at all. No passes permitted for the domestic slaves. In fact, I can count on my fingers the evenings I had off in 12 years, and the first time I had a day free of work and children was after I left him. About then was when I started cycling again. So count your blessings and be thankful you have accommodating partners.

Did you not force the wee wains on to little bikes and bribe them up hills with slices of Mars Bar (first one up gets the biggest slice)? Aha- that was just me then.  I always knew being a single parent had its advantages- no partner to worry about (so wain and me came first) or argue with over child rearing practices.

[MSeries]

So, PBP is 1.5 months after Marmotte,

PBP's a bugger in that respect. You qualify by late May/early June in a wave of early-season enthusiasm - and then have to try to keep some sort of form until late August.

Do a later 600 for qualification then. Such as The (Most Excellent) Three Coasts or Most Excellent Border Raid.  Once qualified the real preparation starts anyway, managing a 600km is enough but one will have a better ride if one is fitter.

[Mr Larrington]

While weight may not (yet) be a problem for me in absolute terms,  weight gain is mayor problem when I am inactive.

Last PBP, I thought too much caffeine and too little sleep was the mayor problem? 

GIT!!!!!

 

[Hummers]

Hold on, we're supposed to train for PBP???

She-it I'm gonna be in big trouble.

Fear not, fellow Wheelwoman.

Training is for athletes, spotty youths, self-help book readers, bed-wetters and dog handlers.

Just keep riding your bike and enjoy doing so.

H