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I'm doing a 'casual' version (if there is such a thing) of the Whitton route in July with some mates. They're bike guides and locals so fitness will not be an issue for them and I live in London...
Whilst I'm reasonably fit and strong (30 miles at 17mph yesterday, riding between 40-60 miles/week), I'm trying to get some insight into what training to do in prep so I can enjoy it and not bonk. I have 2 months to go.
E.g.
training plan?
Weekly mileage
Length of long rides at the weekend
Bike/gearing - I have an ally winter bike with lowish gearing and a carbon summer bike which will be more comfortable and efficient but gears not so low
Should I drive back to London the day after or give myself a day to recuperate?
We'll have a support car to grab food and drink from which will help
Fingers crossed for a sunny day 🙂
Cheers
lots of hill intervals.
Work up to 150 miles a week ad do 2 70+ rides. That saw me round a 108 mile lakes route in good time last summer
Low gears if you don't want to walk up Hard Knott.
Get as many hills in your legs as possible.
Get some long days in - 80 to 100 miles.
Above all enjoy it, it's fantastic route.
MrSparkle +1
Like you I do 60 miles a week commuting (on/off road) + bigger rides most weekends but my first couple of 100km rides were eyeopeners... you need to get a couple done not only for fitness but so that you have some idea how nutrition and hydration and lapses of enthusiasm affect you on long days and never ending climbs...
Not doing the Fred myself but accompanied bf on training weekend in Lakes. I have never been so grumpy on a bike as doing the Wrynose for the second time in one day - cheered up after a bit but it was quite 'informative'.
Get a compact chainset is probably the best advice you can get.
Doing long days in the saddle is all well and good, but it wont help that much. You need to do some long rides with some very steep hills. Then you'll know if you can tackle Hardknott after 100 odd miles.
I'm going for an 8 hours 30 this year, perhaps even more if the foodstops are well stocked.
I've been doing around 100-150 miles a week for the last couple of months, building longer rides at weekends, and actively seeking out and riding the steepest hills I can find (and, extremely oddly, finding myself enjoying it). I did a 110-miler a couple of weekends back, by far the furthest I ever rode in one go. I took the whole of the following week off the bike, and this seems to have been a mistake - this week I seem to have lost my mojo somewhat (although carrying a bit of a cold). So my advice would be not to try to do too much and save it for the big day. Good luck with it - see you there! 😀