When I first started doing 1-day rides longer than about 100 miles, maybe about 40 years ago, the guy who got the longer-weekend-rides going in our local cycling club told us that anyone can go out and ride 50 miles in two and a half or three hours. If you want to do a double century, and actually enjoy doing it, the thing to do is ride 50 mile to a convenient stopping place along your ride, get off your bike, rest, drink and eat something for half an hour or forty five minutes, then repeat three more times. And that certainly worked fine for a lot of us converts! So the main modification to your scheme would be to make your breaks around 80km apart rather than 100km. However, the other part of his scheme, as JJ was gently suggesting, was to work up to things a little more gradually, doing your regular riding during the week (for me that was usually the weekly Tuesday night fun race, a Thursday night time trial, and the 9-mile commute each way from home to work), then doing a gradually increasing longer ride each weekend for six or eight weeks. Living in the middle of the Finger Lakes, the natural progression was rides around Owasco Lake (70 mi), Cayuga Lake (90 mi), Seneca Lake (110 miles), Keuka Lake (140 miles), Canandaigua Lake (180 miles), then finishing up with a figure-of-eight double century around Seneca Lake, then Cayuga and Owasco Lakes. Generally the rides had to be tailored a bit up from the minimum distances around the lakes to stay on smaller roads and to get in a bit of interesting hill work. With that progression there didn't seem to be many days when one got back from the ride feeling really exhausted. Of course, riding with a group of six or seven riders makes things easier (or at least faster) because of the lower effort both, physical and mental, of riding along in a paceline.

Of course, right now riding in a group isn't particularly to be encouraged, but in a few months, you might want to think about it--having a little social interaction along the way, whether it is just to have a conversation, or to add a little variety to the pace by having a sprint to the next roadsign, or to the top of the next hill, can really add to the pleasure of the ride. And if you are riding with more experienced riders, you may well pick up some very useful assessments of your riding position and technique, which can often make you go quite a bit faster for the same amount of effort.

I wouldn't be too discouraged about the apparent effort difference between last weekend and the ride two weeks earlier, however. I assume that the weather up your way tracked pretty well with what we had here, for my much less heroic efforts on the corresponding weekends. Going around Owasco Lake for my first ride of the season of over 40 miles felt easy at about a 13 mph pace, no stops except to take off a windbreaker after the first 40 minutes, and to take a drink from my water bottle after about 4 hours. Yesterday around Skaneatelas Lake was only about 10 miles longer and slightly hillier, but also about 25F warmer and quite sunny, and I took over 2 hours longer to get around the ride, having figured from the previous weekend that a single water bottle would do fine, and that I really didn't need any food for a 7 hour ride--so speed was fine for the first four or five hours, then went into severe economy mode for the rest of the way back with lower riding speed and some brief rest breaks. It is easy to forget how much difference wind or temperature can make on a bike ride, and how much sparser refreshment options may be nowadays!

Anyway, my unsolicited thoughts on the matter are that adding in 30 or 40 Km at a time for the next few weekends would just end up being more enjoyable than waiting another two weeks and then going for broke with a third 100K. Bodies really do tend to adapt themselves better with a little more time for the adaptation.

I don't remember ever having much of a seat comfort problem up until the last 10 or 12 years when I switched to a recumbent for my non-winter riding. Since then the recumbent is always very comfortable, but there always seems to be an adjustment period for two or three weeks when I switch back to the winter junker with its Walmart bottom-of-the-line seat for the salt season. Nonetheless, if your seat is showing signs of wear, could be a good idea to change it, though it is also possible that moving it a little forward or back, or slightly adjusting the height or the tilt could end up making it more comfortable. Very small changes in position or orientation can spread the pressure over a different area.

May 19, 2020 11:16 PM #

iansmith:

Thanks for the input, all. I am excited about the prospects of endurance cycling and bikepacking, and it is helpful to have perspectives. Thanks eldersmith especially for all the information.

At present and in general, I favor solo rides. I've never been in a peloton, and while it's certainly easier in a group, part of my objective is maximal self-sufficiency. I also suspect my specific ride goals are esoteric among cyclists. I wouldn't be opposed to friends in the future, but for now, I choose to ride alone.

My timetable is flexible; I don't plan to attempt a 150+ km ride every weekend. The main purpose of this 200 km guy was to see if I had the capability. I have a few longer rides in mind - including some multidays - and it's much easier to conceptualize them now that I know how it feels to ride 200 km.

This discussion thread is closed.