Hi guys, I'm just wondering, I'm planning on doing a tour down under cycling event in about 4 weeks time. It's a 137km road race. I currently do quite a bit of cycling, but mainly as a way of travelling to and from my rowing training. My time for doing long rides is limited to once a week, usually a Sunday. What do you think would be the best preparation for this event? I usually ride to and from rowing twice a day, 20km round trip. Would increasing the intensity of these rides help? Also, how long should my long ride be? I currently usually do about 80-100km, should I increase this?
Thanks heaps to those of you that respond.
Beetle

I don't know how far kelometers are, but from th math you have provided, you are ready.

if you will be on the bike longer than 150 minutes I would recommend a nutrition plan.

Whoops, I should have put miles as well. 137km is about 86miles, my long rides are 80-100km (50-62 miles).
I was thinking about a nutrition plan, I will probably be on the bike for about 4hours, depending on how well I pace myself. I usually just take a sports drink on my long rides, but realise this won't be enough.
Would things like sports beans be suitable? I don't like to have too much to eat before or during exercise. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
Beetle

this question has sooo many variables.

where are you?
temp expected?
sweat rate?

are you looking to "finish" or compete? From reading your stuff so far, I would say you should compete!!! truly.

So, race plan? I am not a cyclist, i am an athlete, but i can ride. 4 hours is a long shot on an empty, get up early and at least eat oatmeal or whatever. Personally, I'm a pig and eat alot. But i also do 4 hour workouts.

Beans are yummy! but sweet and will parch you- so have water. I have also found the ShotBlox are scrumptious and the gelatin feels sooooo good.

will the event provide whatever those stops are called?

G8R80--- help here.

Okay, well, I'm in South Australia, expected temperature would probably be 30-38 degrees which is 86-100, so quite hot. I haven't actually calculated my sweat rate from a cycling perspective, but with rowing it's about 1.6 Litres/hr at 90 degrees and 70% HR.
I'm looking to give it my best shot, I am quite a competitive person.
The event will provide rest stops along the way with water and fruit.
I will definitely get up early and have breakfast before hand, probably oatmeal with banana and yoghurt, that usually goes down okay with me.
I've never tried shotblox before, so will have to look into it. I do like sports beans, and find they encourage me to keep drinking, which is a good thing.
Thanks heaps for your help.
Beetle

Is this a race or a ride? Timed or not timed? I have Friel's book and he is a big proponent of intervals, which you can incorporate in your daily commutes. But, your race/ride is much longer than your typical 30K criterium, so I would focus on long, hard rides on Sundays. Is this a time trial or a stage? That makes a difference. Are you comfortable riding in a pack? What kind of bike(s) do you have, road or TT? Generally, I think a rule of thumb is to have at least one long ride at least 10% longer than the length of the race leading up to the race.

It's a ride, but I want to use it as a TT to gauge where i'm at so that I can start doing more races in the future. I'm quite comfortable riding in a pack, I have a road bike, it's a specialized ruby comp bike.

I think the long ride leading up would be a good idea, do you think two weeks out would be okay? And I might increase the rest of my Sunday rides to about 120km. My biggest problem is that with my current training program I'm already pretty flat out, and I don't want to compromise my rowing in the lead up to nationals.

Beetle

I think 120km on Sunday rides will be fine. Now, if you're gonna treat this as a TT test, don't draft and it would be good if you could ride a TT bike, but if not and if possible put aeros and a forwarded seatpost on your road bike to mimic a TT bike.

I hear you on the compromising. I am juggling two other legs of a triathlon, swimming and running, and it is a challenge to get time and miles in on any without sacrificing the other two.

Yeah, I never quite understand how triathletes manage to train hard for all three legs. I have enough trouble training for rowing and finding the balance between boat work, ergo work, weights and general cardio.