I've been following the sofa to 50k plan for a few weeks had my old mtb break so bought a new gravel bike and ridden that for a couple of weeks.
The plans is all based on flat loops which is impossible to find here on dartmoor. This morning I set off from Newton Abbot on to Bovey Tracey and took the wray trail up to Mortenhamstead and back.
A round trip of 40k, 400m elevation I averaged 13.7kph took me 2hrs 47min. With snack stops this is the furthest I've ever ridden on one ride! So I'm chuffed to bits I'm hoping to do the 50k next week on a level ride round the exe estuary trail if my backside recovers.
I know it's not the fastest furthest but for me it proves I can now get further than I thought I could and looking forward to riding some more of the less hilly trails to get my weight down before tackling the Dartmoor hills.
Dave
Well done!
Great progress!
That is excellent! I'm needing to do something similar to improve my fitness and shift some weight.
Excellent 💪
Nice one Dave.
Which bike did you get in the end?
See this is how it starts.
Little bit further, little bit more climbing every time.
Before you know it you're knocking out big old rides without even thinking about it. 😎
Good effort 👍👍
I got a Boardman ADV 8.9 It's loads better than my old mtb. It was the cheapest option with hydraulic brakes.
Good choice. Can't remember if I was the first to suggest it, but certainly one I recommended.
Great stuff. Keep at it then mix it up with steeper shorter rides etc and you’ll soon be enjoying rides without even thinking about your fitness, just the fun. Well done
great job riding that distance 😀
As a serial returner from long periods of not riding at all/regularly due to middle aged life that's a great achievement.
If you're uncomfortable after 40km maybe try some chamois cream and/or different saddle.
I wondered how it was going. Well done
Being some where really hilly makes things a-lot harder. On the longer rides do anything you can to keep the effort down on the ups. Walk if needed
Keep the more intense efforts for shorter rides
As a serial returner from long periods of not riding at all/regularly due to middle aged life that's a great achievement.
If you're uncomfortable after 40km maybe try some chamois cream and/or different saddle.
I had chamois cream I think it's mainly because I'm a big lad but things are OK today so will be back out tomorrow I think.
The exe trail is fab, enjoy
I wondered how it was going. Well done
Being some where really hilly makes things a-lot harder. On the longer rides do anything you can to keep the effort down on the ups. Walk if needed
Keep the more intense efforts for shorter rides
After seeing some you tubers walking up some of the hills I think I'll be doing it more to save energy for longer rides. All the hills within ½mile from my house are in the 20% region.
Well done, next up a 100km Audax?
I've stupidly set myself the task of doing a 300km ride next weekend to make the most of this good weather.
Well done, next up a 100km Audax?
I've stupidly set myself the task of doing a 300km ride next weekend to make the most of this good weather.
The weather has been perfect for doing 8 weeks of the sofa to 50k I've been a bit lucky with it, 50k will be this weekend after that I'm not sure what to do I'll maybe do a few 50ks before upping that to longer rides.
Good luck with 300k!! That sounds crazy.
The weather has been perfect for doing 8 weeks of the sofa to 50k I've been a bit lucky with it, 50k will be this weekend after that I'm not sure what to do I'll maybe do a few 50ks before upping that to longer rides.
Good luck with 300k!! That sounds crazy.
IME / IMO the difference between 1 hour and 3 hours is a lot bigger than the difference between 3 hours and 10 hours.
Once you've gone past the 2 hour mark there's physiologically less difference. On the road at least it's not like running where you need to get your body used to the impact, it's just a case of putting food and water in one end and keeping your legs turning at the other. Mountainbiking is slightly harder as it's generally harder to hold a constant effort level so once you're fatigued a short steep step on a climb stalls you and you never get going again on a climb that should have been rideable.
I've got a 1000km / 75hour ride planned in the summer which is more of a challenge as I really need to build up some speed to make it with sensible allowances for sleeping and eating. That's why I want to try for 300 this weekend even if it takes me ~18hours. If I can do it once now, then I cans top worrying about long rides and focus on higher intensity work to get my average speed up. Currently I can average about 16.5mph over a couple of hours with a bit of climbing, which translates to about 13.5mph solo on a long ride. IF I can jump that to ~19mph for 2 hours then my hope is that everything becomes exponentially easier as I could sit with faster groups for longer doing less work, and when dropped and having to solo it ~10% higher average speed is an hour extra sleep!
Going long is more about dialing in the comfort on the bike and fueling for it. It's going faster that ultimately needs the hard work in training. OTOH there's a whole cohort of people in the club who are now going out to "win" Audaxes*, those guys are impressive!
*you can't be credited with a time under 30km/h, but that doesn't stop people trying.
The weather has been perfect for doing 8 weeks of the sofa to 50k I've been a bit lucky with it, 50k will be this weekend after that I'm not sure what to do I'll maybe do a few 50ks before upping that to longer rides.
Good luck with 300k!! That sounds crazy.
IME / IMO the difference between 1 hour and 3 hours is a lot bigger than the difference between 3 hours and 10 hours.
Once you've gone past the 2 hour mark there's physiologically less difference. On the road at least it's not like running where you need to get your body used to the impact, it's just a case of putting food and water in one end and keeping your legs turning at the other. Mountainbiking is slightly harder as it's generally harder to hold a constant effort level so once you're fatigued a short steep step on a climb stalls you and you never get going again on a climb that should have been rideable.
I've got a 1000km / 75hour ride planned in the summer which is more of a challenge as I really need to build up some speed to make it with sensible allowances for sleeping and eating. That's why I want to try for 300 this weekend even if it takes me ~18hours. If I can do it once now, then I cans top worrying about long rides and focus on higher intensity work to get my average speed up. Currently I can average about 16.5mph over a couple of hours with a bit of climbing, which translates to about 13.5mph solo on a long ride. IF I can jump that to ~19mph for 2 hours then my hope is that everything becomes exponentially easier as I could sit with faster groups for longer doing less work, and when dropped and having to solo it ~10% higher average speed is an hour extra sleep!
Going long is more about dialing in the comfort on the bike and fueling for it. It's going faster that ultimately needs the hard work in training. OTOH there's a whole cohort of people in the club who are now going out to "win" Audaxes*, those guys are impressive!
*you can't be credited with a time under 30km/h, but that doesn't stop people trying.
I was weary after I'd stopped but I expected that, I had made some flapjack and it was the first time I'd stopped regularly to eat a little and try refueling as I went. I'm not looking to be super fast it'd just be good to tour round Dartmoor for a day, I assumed speed would increase naturally with fitness. I did notice folk seemed to go sailing past me looking like they are hardly putting any effort in and I thought I was quite swift 😅.
Congratulations bud, I'm building up to a charity MTB 50k in June, I've done a few 50s, but that will be the first one over 1000m elevation.
It's all about celebrating the little wins imo
Well done
I was weary after I'd stopped but I expected that, I had made some flapjack and it was the first time I'd stopped regularly to eat a little and try refueling as I went. I'm not looking to be super fast it'd just be good to tour round Dartmoor for a day, I assumed speed would increase naturally with fitness. I did notice folk seemed to go sailing past me looking like they are hardly putting any effort in and I thought I was quite swift 😅.
Little and often is the key.
Generally I'll do 60-70miles on Sunday and would previously have just had some cake at the cafe. And just assumed that dying around 50miles in was completely normal and good for training. Taking a few cereal bars to eat on the way there and back makes those last hours much easier. 100 calories an hour is enough to sustain Z2 fat burning, more is needed (IME) on group rides that feel brisker because you spend more time trying to keep up at threshold which is less efficient, whereas Z2 is more like riding at your own pace.