Hi I have entered a sportive in September and have been of the bike through illness and injury for around the last 18 months gradually getting fatter and unfit :oops:.

I used to ride a lot but are just wondering if any one can suggest any training plans,books etc to help.

I know build up slowly and increase tempo and duration but anyone got any advice?

Thanks Dave

Keep it simple. Two tempo 1 hour rides and one long slow ride each week. Add 5-10 miles to the long one till you hit 75. Take a break every 4 weeks. Would also recommend keeping a log.

As above. Long slow steady one at the weekend and some shirter sharper rides in the week. Joe Friel cycle training bible is a good read if you’ve got time. Brought my riding on leaps and bounds.

Rest properly the week before the 100 too to perform best.

If possible look at how much climbing is on the route, a 100 miles on the flat is very different to a hundred miles with lots of hills.

It’s not till September, if I started regimented training this early I’d be setting myself up to fail! Set a date that you want to start “serious” training, 12 weeks before the event is pretty much my max. Then find yourself a training plan for the mileage you want to achieve over the time period you’ve set yourself. This will normally tell you what base fitness is expected prior to starting the plan. Then set yourself goals to get the base miles in before that point like “get out twice a week” or “do 30 miles minimum a week” and even mix in some running, swimming or whatever else you enjoy so that when you start training seriously you have the base fitness to build on but aren’t totally sick of training. Most of all have fun, at least until the training starts proper.

YMMV but this is what works for me generally.

go out and ride 100 miles tomorrow, as long as you feed well and take it steady, its no issue, more in your head than anything

Yes learn to relax and focus, same as the swimming thread. Take it easy and you could do it tomorrow.

hardest thing is sitting on the bike for 5 hrs if you’ve never done it before.

Only sportive ive done i just gradualy ramped up distance by about 5 miles ever week until i could cofortably do about 3/4 of the required distance. en a big rest the week before.

you certainly dont need to be race pace fast so my training didn’t focus on peak power of speed, just on getting in the miles.

hardest thing is sitting on the bike for 5 hrs if you’ve never done it before.

Pretty sure a 20 mph solo average in a sportive is a slightly harder challenge

I’ve just started road cycling and an average of 20mph seems a long way off for 40 miles never mind 100. According to Strava there’s loads of folk averaging 22-24mph – I’m thinking of getting a moped just to get a KOM 😉

dirtyrider – Member
go out and ride 100 miles tomorrow, as long as you feed well and take it steady, its no issue, more in your head than anything

+1

Isn’t a sportive supposed to be a personal challenge not a race? Then if you just go out and ride it, there is your challenge, and it doesn’t matter how fast anyone else did it.

Ride it at your own pace, and don’t get sucked into fast groups (unless you’re fast).

If you’re fit enough to ride 20 miles, you can ride 100. The difference is the latter is more about having your bike set up just right, AND repeat AND eating/drinking frequently and well.

Best way to “train” for a sportive is to join Audax UK and do a few audaxes, but then you’ll never bother with sportives again… 🙂

If you’ve been off a bike for a while, forget about 20 mph and above, those times will be for drafting riders or TT bikes (or mopeds!) Target steady rides at 16-18 mph. Sub six hours for a solo century is a good speed. A heart rate monitor can help with not over-doing it. Aim for Zone 2/3 rides and build duration not speed.

Your sportive is about endurance, so you need time in the saddle. I’d start on 50 km rides, move up to 75 and onto 100 km. If you can ride 100 km comfortably, then you can ride a 100 miles too.

BTW My sister completed Ride London 100 on 16 miles of training. That’s 16 TOTAL miles. It’s all about attitude 😉

Thanks for all your comments and words of wisdom!, it is not a race for me and more a personal challenge as mentioned above, like I said not very fit at the moment and just looking for pointers really.

I used to race and time trail but that was twenty years ago!.

There is no way I could average 16/18 mph at the moment more like 12/13 mph and could probably do 20 miles at this pace with my heart rate through the roof , the course is 100 miles with 1998 metres of climbing, not sure if this is a lot or a undulating ride?, you have eight and a half hours to complete it so no need for 20 mph averages!, although I would like to do the best I can do while raising some money for charity.

By September you will be fine just so long as you keep riding your bike. No specific training needed, you’ll easily be able to do that average.

120 miles, 9 hours 20 minutes, overnight in pissing rain. Singlespeed.

My training consisted of a couple of 20 milers every week for a few weeks prior. If you can ride 20 miles then you can ride anything, it’s a mental challenge, provided your arse isn’t killing you.

Incidentally, I won’t be doing that sort of thing again, it’s boring bollocks.

If your aim is to get to the end and nothing else, just go out and ride you bike on a regular basis, at least twice a week if possible, though I’m sure you could survive on less.

If you want to feel fit while doing it, try to get out at least 3 times a week, throw in different intensities while doing it. Do a longer ride on the weekend. Build up until September.

If you want to race round, I think British Cycling do some training plans (though you may have to be a member to access them).

2k metres sounds undulating, but not overly so. Not flat, but not stupidly hard either.

Its all about pacing yourself.
I ride about 30 miles once or occasionally twice a week.Try and get a few 50 or 60 mile rides in several weeks before and it will help.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowledge/article/izn20170109-Understanding-training-Riding-100-miles-0

Like @butcher says, get out and ride regularly.
Mark your event on a calendar and work backwards is 4 week blocks (3 weeks work, 1 week recovery).
Your last block will incorporate a 70+mi ride in the first or 2nd week of the block.
Your first block will just focus on getting out on the bike 3 times a week.
Then just fill the blocks between with gradual increases to give a smooth progression.

Like others said, the weekend ride will be the long slow one for most people working a normal 9-5. Try to include some high intensity work in at least one of the mid-week rides.

I’ve just realised that, with a similar 130km ride booked for July, I will also need to “do something” in preparation!

I commute 40-50 miles per week, plus at least one c.10 mile MTB ride and occasionally a 30-40 mile road ride. So, I’m starting from an ok base, but it’s mainly short rides and I’m better at accelerating than maintaining pace.

I’ve done lots of touring in the past, so can do the distance – but all while stopping for cream teas and pub lunches, rather than at sportive pace.

Any tips for me?

P.S. I don’t actually like road riding that much!!

There are 3 different training plans for Ride London on their website, beginner, intermediate and expert.
I’d take a look at those.

I’ve done Ride London twice – they are the only times I’ve ridden 100 miles. My approach to it was pretty much the same as mentioned above, do a longer every weekend as you lead up to it, topping out at 75-80 miles.
If you can get out one or two evenings after work for a 20 mile blast at a higher intensity, even better.

I helped my niece prepare for a 100 mile ride a couple of years ago and we started from a far lower base than you OP.

Our basic plan was to set nothing more than a 5% increase in total or single ride distance per week. For the early part of the year we mostly just did the one ride a week gradually upping the distance to get her used to spending time on the bike and it although it’s probably not relevant to you also to improve her bike handling and road positioning.

Over the warmer months we added in a shorter sharper midweek ride and then once we got to 8 weeks to go we gradually ramped up to 5 sessions per week which included blocks on the turbo trainer. Weekly totals in the last month were around 220km (136miles) but our long Sunday ride hovered around 110km-120km (68-74 miles).

The nice thing about the 5% increase is that it’s a very gradual change and suits a long term plan. She pretty much breezed through the 100 miles on the day, aside from a small crisis of confidence when she miscalculated her position thinking she had 5 miles to go when she actually had about 15 everything went smoothly and easily and we actually rode around 112 miles that day as we cycled to and from the start line.

Get a good comfortable setup on your bike.. Get some good bib shorts.. Get comfortable with riding for a few hours and eating and drinking. It’s more about comfortableness and making enjoyable

do we know what kind of sportive it is ? If its pancake flat then you could do it tomorrow.

If its something with a mountain in the middle then thats a whole different proposition altogether.

Pretty sure a 20 mph solo average in a sportive is a slightly harder challenge

this is a fair point, although if its flat and hes riding in a group then 20 mph average isn’t out the question is it?

Hi just managed to catch up with this thread and thanks for all you comments something to be thinking about.

I am really looking forward to it and the just riding my bike again without injury or illness, have commuted to work 3 days this week and are going to fit in a long ride maybe two over my days off, even started looking into clubs again, love riding on my own but miss the banter and social side of a club, I have become a lone wolf with no riding buddies 😳

Just hope there is a group at my speed so we can all ride together 😀

well done for getting riding, it’s a positive habit and commuting is a great way of sorting little stuff like position etc – have a think about diet, in terms of general food habits and also forward planning for what to eat and drink on the ride itself – which on the day doesn’t have to be anything out of the ordinary, chicken bites, sandwiches, bananas, gels are insurance I’ve found not plan A

and yes there are always groups, get the earliest start time you can and then if you let a wheel go there will be another group coming through – but don’t go too deep too early trying to stay in a fast group, ride your own ride 🙂

Do think about diet, don’t starve yourself though just make sure you’re getting everything you need without too much crap.
In terms of the riding pick places you’d enjoy riding to and ride to them, working up towards the mileage. Enjoy the rides and you’ll be up to the distance by then no bother.

Thanks ed and phil.

With reference to the diet, I have stopped drinking in the week this week which I am going to carry on, was never a big drinker but one or two real ales soon add up, just going to have a couple on a weekend.

I really could not give up all together, as for the rest of the diet I have been eating breakfast every day this week, something I have not done for many many years this has stopped me eating my lunch by 11 am and then looking at getting something else for dinner 🙄 , and have also cut down on crisps and chocolate bars, one each a day instead of comfort eating!.

I know what needs to be done deep down and its just will power at the end of the day, as for eating while riding I am not so sure about this but will practice over the next few months, when I raced many years ago this was something I struggled with but time and products have changed.

You have the whole of spring and summer to do plenty of nice long rides. I’d focus on that rather than a training plan.

Hi all,

Thought I would post a quick update to anyone who cares to know how its going.

I went for a bike fit which has been awesome and I have started cycling to and from work and also getting some rides in after work which is going well, due to family commitments the long rides will start this weekend, which I am looking forward to because the night time rides are getting faster and slightly longer.

Thanks for all the comments 😀