A century journey — a bicycle journey of 100 miles — is to a bicycle owner as a marathon has to a runner: an extended sufficient distance to be an amazing problem, whereas nonetheless an attainable aim for a devoted athlete.

Still, preparation is essential. So how do you practice for a century journey to optimize your efficiency? Below, you’ll learn to put together within the weeks forward of your 100-miler, the way to put together on the day of, and the way to eat to gasoline your journey.

Preparation is essential with a serious endurance occasion reminiscent of this.

The best present you may give your self is time. Even with a superb base health stage, a 16-week coaching plan is fairly cheap.

If you lack endurance, kicking that point as much as 6 months is perhaps a good suggestion. Plan on constructing endurance usually with a wide range of actions for a pair months earlier than launching right into a devoted biking program.

To design a coaching program on your century journey, it’s vital to ask your self a number of questions:

Do you might have the proper of bicycle?

Depending in your occasion, you may fare higher with a highway bike (slender tires), a hybrid bike (a mix between highway and mountain bike), a mountain bike (heavier than a highway bike, however geared up with a suspension system to accommodate extra rugged terrain), or a gravel bike (with wider tires and a decrease heart of gravity, designed for extra unstable situations).

Where is your journey going down?

What will the climate be like? Is there altitude? Do your analysis to get a good suggestion of what to anticipate from the weather on the day of your occasion, and practice accordingly. If you might be coaching at sea stage indoors, and the journey is open air within the mountains, as an example, climate and cardiovascular endurance will probably be key concerns.

Get the proper gear

You might imagine you’ll be biking open air in your highway bike for all your coaching, however contemplate what you’ll do when situations don’t will let you journey exterior. Rain, snow, ice, or smoky situations may maintain you inside. Consider investing in a well-proportioned stationary cycle or an indoor bike coach.

There are many respected trainers out there to mount your highway bike to for indoor use. You may even join your coach to an app reminiscent of Zwift to present you an immersive digital journey, competing with and driving with different precise cyclists.

Furthermore, take into consideration the opposite gear you may want. Not solely do you want a superb bicycle for the century, however it would be best to spend money on some good biking footwear, some padded shorts, and a coronary heart charge monitor. Think about storage in your bike for gasoline, and water bottle holders for hydration.

Have a restore equipment in your bike for mishaps on the highway. Get a superb helmet and make a considerate selection about clips versus cages or platform pedals.

Clips could be intimidating for a brand new bicycle owner, however can provide a far smoother journey. Cages, conversely, could be a bit cumbersome with out feeling as locked in as a clip. Platforms enable any footwear to be worn, however don’t provide the graceful journey or safe footing of the earlier two.

Once you are ready on your century, have the correct gear, and are able to journey, you’ll want to truly do the work. A very good coaching plan will embrace numerous components, reminiscent of an extended distance journey, velocity intervals, hill climbs, cross coaching, and a few coronary heart charge coaching.

Once you’re a seasoned century rider, you need to use a extra customized and complicated coaching program. For your first shot, simply getting the miles in with a wide range of stressors (velocity, resistance, hills, and so forth) will put together you properly.

Here is a fundamental plan:

Nutrition is a crucial think about any endurance occasion, and your success can journey (pun meant) in your consideration to this very important ingredient. Your consumption of energy and macronutrients will differ in coaching and on race day, and realizing simply how and when to eat could make a distinction.

During coaching

Make positive you might be consuming common wholesome meals and never going into any exercise depleted of power. A heavy meal of protein and fat can sluggish you down a bit, however so long as you might be consuming a wide range of meals which are largely wholesome, no main preparation is critical.

For rides or different endurance exercises of below 90 minutes, no extra energy or cabohydrates are vital. Fueling with water, or in excessive situations reminiscent of warmth, a low- or no-calorie electrolyte drink is adequate to assist the work.

If your exercise is over 90 minutes however below 2.5 hours, it would be best to absorb 30–60 grams of carbohydates each hour (1). This is the equal of 1 half serving to at least one serving of a carbohydrate/electrolyte drink reminiscent of Hammer Nutrition HEED (27 grams), 10 peanut butter pretzels (15 grams), and 10 gummy bears (22 grams)… per hour!

Keeping the stream of carbs into the physique helps the blood keep flush with glycogen, offering power for the laborious work of driving. Skipping this step can present your blood and liver of glycogen, inflicting the physique to fail in its manufacturing of the muscular gasoline adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and due to this fact inflicting emotions of fatigue and lack of power (2).

It doesn’t matter how powerful you assume you might be — when your physique lacks the chemical elements to create work, your work fails.

Experiment with what works for you. If extra physique weight is a priority for you, mess around with the low finish of that equation (30 grams per hour) and see for those who expertise “the bonk”. If you discover your power dips even with 30 grams of carbs each hour, add just a little bit and see in case your efficiency improves.

For rides of over 2.5 hours, you should absorb 60–70 grams of carbs per hour. If that looks like a variety of consuming, select calorie-dense choices so that you don’t should eat continually.

Look for sports-specific choices (reminiscent of Hammer Nutrition’s Perpetuem), however contemplate sandwiches reminiscent of a peanut butter and jelly (55 grams of carbs) and dried fruit (10 dried apricots have 44 grams of carbs, whereas 6 items of dried mango have 60 carbs, so do your homework).

Two or three small, salted pink potatoes will even present round 60 carbs and could be a good break from all of the candy meals. There is nice analysis to counsel that including protein into your fueling plan for exercises over 2.5 hours also can assist efficiency and support in restoration (3).

Whether or not you select to follow carb loading (which isn’t only a large bowl of pasta earlier than bedtime the evening earlier than the race, however the truth is a multi-day dietary preparation), it’s a good suggestion to maintain your weight loss plan fairly bland and carb-rich the day earlier than your occasion.

You don’t need to invite gastrointestinal misery right into a tummy which may already be coping with pre-race butterflies. Keeping your weight loss plan low in fats and fiber in addition to excessive in carbs and electrolytes will begin your race day with a little bit of a bonus.

The hours earlier than the race are vital. You need to have a carbohydrate-rich breakfast, reminiscent of a smoothie, bagel, banana or raisin bread, watching out for something which may upset the abdomen or sluggish digestion (4, 5).

This meal could be eaten wherever from 4 hours to 1 hour previous to the beginning of the race, and may fit your digestion timeline. The glycogen shops will nonetheless be stuffed whether it is 4 hours earlier than the beginning of your journey, though it’s your decision an extra shot of carbs firstly if that’s your technique.

Keeping hydrated can also be vital. Drinking an electrolyte-rich drink the day earlier than and morning of your race can work to your benefit. Many take salt tablets, however sodium is just one electolyte.

Find a supply that incorporates additionally potassium and magnesium, chemical substances that additionally work in muscle contraction. Taking a extra balanced supply will help you keep away from muscle fatigue and cramping (6).

During the journey

During the century journey, you need to ensure you are getting sufficient carbohydrate power to not grow to be glycogen depleted — just like coaching, however for race day, you could need to err on the facet of barely extra carbohydrates.

Assuming the journey will take over 2.5 hours, you have to to absorb not less than the prescribed 60–70 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and even as much as 90 grams per hour whether it is tolerable on your system (7). You can have tried this out in coaching when the stakes had been decrease, and century journey day is the day to ensure you are adequately fueled.

Start your journey with an power gel or some easy carb, and ensure you hit your hourly goal to maintain your shops ready on your larger efforts through the journey.

Much like getting ready bodily, getting ready mentally will provide you with the perfect shot at success.

Be organized. Plan the work to be able to work the plan.

Know the route. The web presents us untold treasures of knowledge. You can view the route, the terrain, the variety of turns and hills within the course.

You can be taught method upfront the typical temperature of the journey location on journey date. The weeks earlier than the race you possibly can stalk the climate forecast and plan your wardrobe.

Plan your clothes. Pack your gear. Are you touring? Plan how and when to get to the race location. Know what it’s going to take to get your bike to your vacation spot metropolis. Having these many questions answered method upfront can cut back your nervousness.

You should have nerves — you might be doing one thing big! Prepare to really feel unprepared. Know that this may occur, however know that you’ve got carried out the work. For most individuals, ending is the aim. Take your stress about ending properly out of the equation and concentrate on merely ending the journey.

Start sluggish. The extra you over-ride within the early miles, the extra problem you give your self within the last miles. Know what a gentle tempo will appear to be for you on the half, at 25 miles, and at 75 miles.

You don’t should be excellent about it — the hill profile of the course can mess together with your head a bit if it’s a extremely textured journey, however tuning into that vibe of steadiness can convey you some peace.

Visualize. Picture your self on the route, particularly when you have seen it. But if not, go forward and picture it. See your self driving confidently and having fun with your effort.

Picture your self driving robust uphill. Feel the burn in your thighs and really feel that as energy quite than ache. Start a follow throughout your coaching of seeing your self confidently taking up these challenges and ending your race robust, drained, and stuffed with accomplishment. If you possibly can see it in your thoughts’s eye, you possibly can obtain it.

  • Give your self additional time. Better to be calmly bored than waste your adrenaline on making an attempt to get to the beginning.
  • Pack sufficient gasoline. Pack a wide range of solids and liquids.
  • Use the gasoline. If you’re feeling fairly nice and greater than an hour goes by, you could miss your window to keep away from glycogen depletion.
  • Sip fluid incessantly. Waiting for thirst to reach can work towards you, not just for the chance of dehydration, but in addition for those who get too thirsty and gulp an excessive amount of fluid, you could be combating a sloshy tummy later within the race.
  • Have a mantra. Think of one thing good to say about your self, like “you’re strong and confident”, or one thing fierce, like “you are dominating this course”, or one thing in any other case catchy to your personal thoughts, like “I eat hills for breakfast”. It could be no matter lights that fireside inside you.
  • Mind over matter. When you begin to hear adverse self-talk in your thoughts, seek advice from your well-practiced mantra. It can pull you out of a darkish place.
  • Have enjoyable! This is one thing fantastic you’ll do for your self. At the end line, it is possible for you to to say “I rode a 100-mile bike ride.” While individuals could need to hear in regards to the trials and tribulations you met alongside the way in which, the story you inform will probably be certainly one of perseverance and power. You are an athlete!

Riding a century is a problem and accomplishment that few tackle, and fewer full. If your head and coronary heart are dedicated, you possibly can create a stronger physique, a satisfaction in your soul, and a narrative you possibly can inform for all times. Good luck!

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