Someone at work is trying to get me to sign up for a charity ride in August from Newcastle to London in 24 hrs. 300miles-ish. I’m slightly tempted for the challenge, but also slightly not cos it sounds, well, a bit hard.

If I were to say yes, what kind of training would I need to be doing? I’m doing the Ride London in July, so is it a case of ‘if you can ride 100miles you can ride 300 and the rest is in your head’?

It’s as much about making sure you remain comfortable for 18-20 hours of riding and that you can train / develop an effective refuelling strategy. Contact points like hands, feet and ar$e are going to hurt so don’t skimp on the gloves, bartape, shorts and shoes. The intensity of the ride shouldn’t be difficult, but simply pedalling that much is going to make you hurt all-over – I’d be looking to have a couple of 200+mile rides under my belt at least to understand your hydration / refuelling needs- the remainder will probably be simply down to your mental fortitude to tough it out.

I’ve done a few of these and found them mentally rather than physically tough.

Physically, if you can ride 100 miles comfortably (this is key, you don’t want to be on your knees at the end) you’re not a million miles away, if you can do 100 miles on consecutive days you’re even closer. I rode a couple of longer rides in the build up, 150 miles plus, and when I was comfortable doing those I knew I could do 200 or 300+ miles. Related, get your bike set up well, get a saddle/bar/pedal combo you like and try not to change them, get your body used to the setup.

Mentally, it is the fact that you’re in the saddle for 24 hours and that can be tough. There will be times when you’re knackered and have a lack of sleep, this can play havoc with your mind too, making you want to climb off. If you can have people you like at key points along the route this can really help lift moral, as can knowing there is someone at the end with a cold beer.

Oh, and caffeinated energy gels are made for this kind of thing, they’re brilliant for getting you through the night stages.

I think it’ll be more a case of being able to sit on a bike for 24 hours rather than the distance. Make sure you do a couple of 12 hour rides beforehand. You’ll learn a lot about both nutrition/hydration, managing things like chafing of the nether regions, and testing out kit to make sure things like shoes are comfortable.

First sign up to the Audax club £19. Then get along to as many 200km/300km and 400km rides as you can. I started from riding 30 miles every so often in Jan to riding 600km in June and 1200km in July. I did 10 x 200km rides and 1x 300km ride before the 600Km. I did the 600km including stops in 28hrs and 1 minute and most of this was solo and a hillish route. So 300 miles to London is quite flat and I’m guessing a biggish group, so 24hrs shouldn’t be a problem.
Make your you have a good saddle, stiff shoes and plenty of tape on your bars. Stay off the caffeine leading up to the event if you can, then you’ll get an extra boost on the day.

Edit: £240!!! I know it’s for charity but you could do a 600km audax for £25 quid and get people to sponsor you. This way more money would go to the charity of your choice.

Echo all of the above.

I tried something like this (245 miles in 14.5 hours). The last couple of hours were the most painful I’ve ever spent on a bike – and I’ve done Ironman races – I thought my bike fit me really well beforehand, but by the end everything was a torture instrument – my shoes, my saddle, my bars, my gloves…

shuhockey beat me to the audax suggestion – plenty of events around to give you targets to build up from 100k to the 300 miles, and help you get the bike set up and mental stamina built up to help you cope.

I’ve done Manchester to London and Newcastle to London with Ride UK24, good, very well organised events.
As above have said, physically it is tough, but mental game is the hard part in early hours of morning knowing you have 150 miles to go.
Break it down in to sections in your head, when you feel low. Not thinking of total distance but just getting to next feed stop.
Most important thing for me was falling in with a group of people of my pace and working as a group. You all go through high and low points at different times, so help each other through these and take your turn on front, so when you are having a hard time, they’ll be happy for you to sit in group to recover.
Bike comfort is another big thing, you may be fit enough, but if shorts or saddle aren’t right, then you’ll know about it.I also raise stem slightly, to bring myself a bit more upright, as i find shoulders and neck start to go after a while.
Work on what foods agree with you. I find it difficult to eat the big meals they provide and have to eat little and often. I find the High 4:1 drink really good, as you are taking on some protein as well as carbs all the time.
I did a couple of 150 mile rides and a 200 prior to it, not so much for fitness, more that in my head I knew I could go the distance.
Make sure your lights can go 7-8 hours and loads of chamois cream too!
Hope above is coherent, typing in tiny phone screen!

2 friends of ours did Newcastle-London last summer, and both ended up in the broom wagon.
One made it to around 180 miles, the other a few miles further.
They had previously done LEJOG + Ride London 100 so not total numpties.
They both said they should have done more long rides in preparation (ie 150 miles+)

Audaxing is definitely the way forward – cheap, available food and no expectation of going fast.

I’m thinking of doing the Heart of England 300km in mid April, using the LVIS 200km as preparation. Going to 400km presents some additional challenges as you’re going to need to get a bit of sleep.

4 Friends and I did it last year but unsupported. Got the train down and rode home the next day.

Get some long rides in. A century is a standard Saturday ride for me. Knocking one out in 7 hours still leaves me wit enough left to ride the next day or go for a walk. We did several rides over 150miles and one over 200miles running up to it.

For our it rained. We did it in 21 hours all in. It rained for 20h 59min (or at least it felt like it did). Usual stuff applies about making sure your kit works. Shorts, crème, gloves, food all need to be given thought as any slight niggle is going to end your ride.

It is a long slow burner. 24h is an average of 15mph or less so easy in a group which you will be. Also it is flat, really, really flat. There are some hills north of Durham but only about 1500m of climbing in the whole thing. So once you get about 75 miles in it is not that bad. Doing it the other way was tough as we hit the hills tired.

Basically you need to get some time on the bike. Work out what works food wise and do some long rides. If you can ride 100 you can ride 300, just start slow, stay out of the wind and eat. It is mostly a head game. You need good people to ride with or be very determined mentally. We took it in turns to be the strong one, pulling on the front or trying to make light of the grim conditions. You’ll hit low points but it is how you get through them. I just sulked at the back and stuffed my face with food until I felt better.

I said I’d never do it again because it was hard and I nearly got hypothermia in June. However, in a moment of weakness I have agreed to do it again but extend it from Edinburgh. 440miles/700km in June. There is not enough chamois cream in the world…

Thanks all, useful info.

There are two things here: doing 300 miles, and doing it in 24 hours.

I’ve done the former a couple of times but not the latter. It all rather depends on where you’re starting from and how much time you can devote to riding. Personally I find it difficult to find the time, but the first time I rode that distance I did the following:

– at least ride per month of at least 100 miles, normally over 200km for the sake of it, for about 9 months prior to the ride
– several of those starting mid/late-afternoon and extending into the small hours of the morning, which is important to find out how your body and mind respond to being forced to stay alert and active when they really don’t want to be (to be fair, riding with company helps the mental aspect a bit)
– two or three properly big rides (300km is about my limit for a dawn-till-dusk ride I think) a couple of months before the main event and one or two occasions of doing decent sized rides back-to-back

If you can find more time, or are generally fitter and faster than me, you can probably get there a lot quicker. That was pretty much all the riding that I could squeeze in other than occasionally doing the 30 mile commute, which is fine for speed but does nothing for endurance; it keeps things ticking over, though.

The other bit is doing it in 24 hours. This doesn’t mean going fast, it means not stopping very much. Little stops add up to a pile of lost time very quickly. This is where I struggle, mainly because I need proper food and can’t sustain myself on drinks and gels (though also I don’t perform so well—physically or mentally—after dusk). YMMV.

Slightly audax curious myself, never ridden more than 100 miles though. Always felt OK-ish physically but mentally pretty tired after. Does anyone actually enjoy 200+ mile rides or is it just about the challenge/achievement?

As someone who is doing a similar ride this year, this all makes very interesting reading. I wish I could get past 100 miles, that seems to be my limit at the moment

For me doing the Newcastle to London was the culmination of doing 10 events to raise money for charity as my daughter is Type 1 diabetic, started with Paris-Roubiax and ended with Newcastle to London. Toughest of the lot, i think was Dragon Devil, just due to the pure amount of climbing, so i’d done 150, 186 and a 200 mile event.

There are some good events though at the moment which are upping the distance, i found that with a lot of 100 mile sportives these days, they are often so many riders and you get the knobbers who think they are in the Tour de France or on Strava runs and many can be pretty unfriendly, when the distance starts going past 150-200 miles, you tend to find people are more friendly and more willing to work together as you go through real highs and lows. I made friends on Newcastle to London that i have kept in touch with who i met for the first time on the ride.

Does anyone actually enjoy 200+ mile rides or is it just about the challenge/achievement?

I suspect everyone’s different. It’s certainly not non-stop euphoria. Personally, with fairly limited experience, I find that unless something goes awry it’s generally all good up to 250km or so and then it starts feeling less fun; the 300-400km range is the worst (not least because when I’ve done it that’s tended to be through the night) and then it gets better again.

Then again, I’ve had 100-milers in winter that have been unadulterated misery from just a few miles in: I’ve just wanted to get home and crawl into bed. They’re the character-building ones 🙂

Definitely the challenge. Did the 3 coasts audax last June. 600km Halifax- Bridlington-Halifax-Blackpool-Halifax . I didn’t stop to sleep as I just wanted to push myself and see how far I could go before breaking. At 450km both knees went and I spent the next 150km in pain but I finished and only 30 minutes behind the winner (Audax is not a race, Audax is not a race, AUDAX IN NOT A RACE!) and he had 1 hour lead on me at 400km. Love cycling through the night.

Does anyone actually enjoy 200+ mile rides or is it just about the challenge/achievement?

I suspect everyone’s different. It’s certainly not non-stop euphoria.

I agree, however I think this also applies to shorter rides for those with less ability.
I did ride London last summer – over weight, middle aged, not enough training.
I found it tough, with cramp and total exhaustion kicking in over the last 10 miles.
However looking back it was a very rewarding experience, and one which for various reasons I’m quite proud of.
I’ve learned from it, and am doing it again this year, however so far in 2016, I’ve ridden twice the miles I’d ridden by this point in 2015.

Going to 400km presents some additional challenges as you’re going to need to get a bit of sleep.

250 miles does not require sleep, it’s 17 hours at 15mph, it’s a bloody long day out but it doable in a day.

Just read above that the ride is flat, that arguably makes it harder as you’re stuck in 1 position for long periods, you move around more if it’s up and down. So make sure your bike position is spot on, make sure you’ve done lots of long rides, both distance and time. Also make sure you ride at night, on low energy levels and this will give you a taste of what’s to come. I did a few 100 mile+ rides after a full day at work, it was tough but helped a lot.

But basically, ride lots and ride long, you’ll be fine.

I’ve never done that kind of mileage, but I tend to find that around the 70 mile mark I find out if some thing was wrong with the bike set up ie something will start to ache or a muscle will start to spasm.

Get your bike set up right. Plan what you like to eat and drink on the move, and what you actually want to eat and drink. Easy to say in advance, but when you have been on the bike 10+hrs, a different thing all together.

The always-being-in-the-same-position thing is important when it comes to distance road riding, and a good reason to work up in stages. I had a setup that was fine for normal rides of up to 6 hours or so, but I found things came out of the woodwork once I got past various stages: 8 hours in the saddle, 12 hours, and so on—a knee twinge here and a shoulder pain there—and then one last thing didn’t show up until going over 24 hours.

Each of these things didn’t really materialise until the day after, and each necessitated just a small change to position (eg the last one was my ulnar nerve; the following day two fingers were totally numb and didn’t fully recover for a couple of months; it was fixed with just a tiny, maybe 1 degree, adjustment to my bars and levers) but it was a year or so of finessing the position until it was exactly right.

I could just be getting old, of course 😉

I did the London to Paris in 24 hours ride a couple of years ago. Training wise I tried to ride every day for however long I had available – max 3 hours. I got some longer rides in when I was away in France and Italy with some hills but never did more than about 5 hours/100 miles. I didn’t find the riding hard apart from the incessant rain, headwinds and some ropey pacing. When you are alone in the dark at 0400 and midway between checkpoints its pretty lonely but on events like this I break the thing down in to very small chunks. I finished in 27 hours and the only reason I couldn’t ride any further is ‘cos I was seeing double from a helmet splitting crash 10kms from the end!

incessant rain, headwinds and some ropey pacing

2014? I did it that year as well, it was bloody horrible at times.

2014? I did it that year as well, it was bloody horrible at times.

I particularly remember leaving the last feed station in the hissing rain, hoping there was a hill round the corner to warm up on (there was) and later climbing another hill with sewage pouring down the gutter! My brother was the last finisher who rode every stage! It all comes down to endurance and your pain threshold – as long as the bike fits properly you should be able to ride for 24 hours….

Jerseychaz, all kinds of memories there. I rode every stage but boy was I tempted to climb into the bus at some points. That’s why I think it’s a mental thing, it all well and good being physically able to do it, you need to be mentally ready for it too and that’s much harder to coach.

I reckon you could do some useful training over lower distnaces on a turbo, as your position is very static and it is quite fatigueing to sit their for a long time constantly spinning, and it is also a mental challange to keep going as it is so boring (no netflix allowed).

Physically, if you can ride 100 miles comfortably (this is key, you don’t want to be on your knees at the end) you’re not a million miles away…

I pretty much agree with this. If you were to ride over 200 miles in preparation, it would give you a good indication of where you’re at, but it’s not completely necessary. Distance is mentally tough, and uncomfortable. But if you can ride 100 miles comfortably, you probably have the required fitness.

Build up. Do some long rides in preparation. I’d say 70 to 120 miles at a reasonable pace. That’ll give you some decent enough endurance.

As others have said, it tends to be other things that get to you on long rides. I often find I start getting nauseous at some point. So pay attention to what foods agree and disagree with you. And what you absolutely don’t want to do is bonk, so make sure you fuel regularly.

Pay attention to your pace too. Steady away. No KOMs!