Over the course of your mountain biking and cycling career, you might get the itch to try to accomplish something unique. You have seen these rides organized before and…in the past…you have glanced by them with the notion that it just isn’t for you. Who would want to sign themselves up for that amount of mileage and abuse? It just does not even sound like any fun! Then it hits you…all of the sudden you want to accomplish the feat. Not to show everyone else you can do it, but to prove to yourself that you can complete a mountain or road biking related goal that you have set for yourself. That’s right…you are going to get ready for a long ass ride.
Long rides take several forms but these are my two most common abuse filled pedal fests.
- There are your typical road centuries that just beg you to find out how many revolutions your legs can really turn.
- Ever see those mountain bike ride stats that just make you want to throw up by looking at them? That is because some wacko thought it would be a great idea to do 57 miles of riding in the mountains with 6,500 feet of climbing in one day. Fantastic!
For some…these rides are normal as they prepare for their endurance xc races. For us mere mortals, it is a feat that is conquered only once or twice a year, and to complete it successfully…some preparation needs to be done the weeks prior.
How To Prepare for a Really Long Ride
The following tips are what I do to prepare for these really long suffer-fests in the attempt to finish with my legs and ego still in tact. I try to start this process about 6 weeks before the actual event to get my body used to what is about to happen. If you try to start a week before the event, you are doing yourself no good at all.
- Start Tweaking the Diet – I am the king of eating terribly. Ever seen those Toquitos in the gas station that are filled with cheese, bacon and chicken? I love those, but 6 weeks before these long rides…it is time to cut those out of my horrible eating habits. Your body expends a lot of energy breaking down fat and grease filled foods only to find that there is very little nutrition to extract. Yes…I know they taste like heaven but they do little to beef up your bodies reserves. About 6 weeks before these long rides, I start to tweak my diet to include a lot healthier food that my body can actually process and turn into energy. Basically…I follow what my mom used to tell me growing up along with that stupid food pyramid. There are multiple different “programs” out there that will tell you what to eat, but I have found that if you just eat healthy and regularly…that is normally the best bet.
- Get in More Miles – There is no substitute for putting in the miles as you prepare for a really long ride. You have to get your legs and lungs used to being in the saddle for an extended period of time. On the weekends, I either ride with other riders that are preparing for the same ride, or I come early and stay late on our regular weekend outings to get in the extra miles. You need to keep hammering out the miles, but start slow and build up…adding more miles each weekend. I normally don’t ever get up to the mileage or elevation change of the actual ride as I want to keep my legs in shape, but I do put on an extra 25-50% at least to get that extra endurance. Have a regular ride on the weekend that does a 17 mile loop? Come an hour or two early and get in a loop before everyone arrives. Now you have turned a 17 mile Saturday ride into a 34 mile ride and you still get to enjoy your weekend stoke.
- Those Dreaded Hill Repeats – One thing that will help your finishing ability for those long rides that are just waiting to throw you to the side is building up leg strength. I have found that by having stronger legs before the event, I have a deeper base to pull from during the hard times of the ride. Every now and then, strength can overcome endurance to bring you to the end. Find a hill (we have one in our local freeride area) and start to just climb…descend…climb…descend…rinse and repeat. By doing these hill repeats, you are not only going to be gaining the necessary leg strength, but you will also be gaining endurance. I tend to do these rides on week nights as they are easier to get in a full workout in a shorter period of time.
- Mentally Prepare for the Ride – Now…this might sound new age and stupid, but I visualize the ride before it happens to mentally prepare myself. I visualize clearing the hardest climb, spinning while I am tired and I strongly visualize rolling across the finish at the end. In my head, I have already completed the ride successfully and this helps with any pre-ride jitters that want to throw you off. Mentally preparing for riding is something that I do pretty regularly (especially when it comes to technical riding and stunts) and it really helps my preparation for something out of the ordinary in my riding. Get your head right…and the ride will go great…
So there is it…198’s list of long ride preparation tips. Like I mentioned earlier, I tend to start these about 6 weeks prior to my long ride experience. Do I do them perfectly every time? Of course not…I am a recreational rider that likes to challenge what he considers normal from time to time and not a seasoned, trained endurance racer, so I am not going to do this perfectly. The harder I try to stick to this plan, the better my long ride will end up at the end of the period, and I will have another accomplishment that I can put behind me.
Long rides can do a lot for your riding and your confidence on the road or trail. I suggest that everyone does a least one “accomplishment ride” a year to keep things fresh. You will be glad you did…