Greetings, I've agreed to do a bikeathon in Mid August (dates to be confirmed) and i've agreed to do it as i love cycling. Thing is, i've never cycled more than 8 miles in one go, this will be 26miles or so? (Marathon Distance). I'm 15stone/9lbs, waist of 36-38 and 6ft. Looking for advice on how to prepare myself for the cycle, training tips etc. ANy advice would be greatly appreciated!
Well College is 32 miles away and uphill and work is a 7 minute walk so the cycle is nothing ^^ All i'm doing at the moment is going out cycling in the evening for an hour or so, trying to get some more constructive worked out.
26 miles isn't that far. but you are still looking at 2 hours riding and if its hot it can really take it out of you. Basically the best thing you can do is ride long and far often. I would recommend getting a camelbak and a selection of energy gels, some of them are nice, some of them are rank, I find the Science in Sport (SIS) ones to be pretty decent.
Try to do a longer cycle at the weekends and gradually build your mileage up, e.g. if you can currently do 8 miles try to do 10-15 this weekend. A camelbak is a great investment and if you don't want to buy energy bars / gels try taking a mix of dried fruit and nuts. What sort of bike are you riding and what sort of terrain are you riding over?
im a spnsered cycalist, all i do for training is find a local park that not too many people use and lap it a few times more the better. if you dont have enough time for that, what others have suggested by cycaling everyday to cooledge is a good idea. if your not fit enough fro that yet, cycle back from colledge and find another way of getting there even if it means walking the bike. two ways you can train in bikeing; 1) small shot bursts kinda like sprinting, adds great explosve acceleration 2) long distance slow rides like the one i mentioned above with the local park. i have a 2 mile local park that i ride round about 8 times a day to get my fitness. one thing to never do is use a fitness bike like the ones you find at the gym, you dont exercise the same muscles, they tend to do just the legs and you need upper body strength to keep the bike steady and not to waste excess energy by swinging the bike and upper torso side to side whilst pedalling. hope this helps, if you wish to talk for more tips, please add my msn i wont mind.
I find that biking longer distances isn't really that much harder than shorter distances; it's just the terrain that changes things. I tried 25 miles once after never having biked more than 7 miles, and it wasn't much harder. On a bike, you get a chance for something of a rest every time you go downhill. Even a very slight downhill or flat portion can be used to regain energy. I didn't find the 25 mile trip any harder than the 7 mile trip, even though the terrain was similar. Later on, I did a 50 mile trip and it wasn't really any harder than the 25. I'd recommend you practice biking up hills, because if you can do hills well, the rest is a walk- -or should I say ride- -in the park.
I did a very slightly larger distance than that when i was about 12 doing a "Suffolk Churches" sponsored bike tour... basically biked to every bleedin' church in the county then back home. To train... do sections of the course you'll be doing to get used to them, and try the distance each week. Maybe start with half of it for a few weeks though? For interest, my old maths teacher is big into cycling and doing a sponsored cycle across the US of A! Hes gone from 15 milesp/day a week, upping 5 miles p/day each week to train. EDIT: oh and good luck!!!
