Vätternrundan

"mikeb" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
On June 16th I start my first ever long distance bike ride when I take
part in the Vätternrundan, a 300k ride around Lake Vattern in Sweden.
My aim is to finish this in 16-18 hrs. Has anyone taken part in this
ride? If you could give me any advice that would be great, especially
in relation to what I should be eating in the weeks before, and during
the ride, to give me the best chance of completing it within my
time-frame

300km is rather ambitious for your first long distance ride!

What are you doing in rideing terms to build up to that distance?

There's plenty of nutrition advice in the long distance thread in this
newsgroup which also, by coincidence, is related to a 300km ride.

I am gradually building my distances, trying to ride five days a week
[which will be much easier as the lighter evenings arrive]. I have
taken some advice from a friend who trains for and runs marathons, she
suggested aiming to complete a ride of about 120 miles [about 200k] by
two weeks before the event. I have set my goals to achieve this, so
hopefully when I say my the Vätternrundan will be my first long
distance ride that will not strictly be true as I wil have done many
miles in preparation. I will have a look at the nutrition thread. Thanks

mikeb said:

I am gradually building my distances, trying to ride five days a week
[which will be much easier as the lighter evenings arrive]. I have
taken some advice from a friend who trains for and runs marathons, she
suggested aiming to complete a ride of about 120 miles [about 200k] by
two weeks before the event.

A 200 is somewhat different to a marathon in duration. 10-12 hours vs
4-5. The first one you do will leave you feeling like you have been run
over by a truck for a week or so.

I'd recommend completing the 200 at least three weeks before
Vatternrundan which will then give you time to recover.

Quoted message said:

I have set my goals to achieve this, so
hopefully when I say my the Vätternrundan will be my first long
distance ride that will not strictly be true as I wil have done many
miles in preparation. I will have a look at the nutrition thread. Thanks

...d

Been looking throught the nutrition threads and it seems that apart
from some rather strange thoughts about eating raw potatoes the
consensus is to eat regularly, things like malt loaf, flapjack, have a
'real' meal during the day and drink as often as possible [which seems
a good view on life anyway]

in message <[email hidden]>, mikeb

(') said:

I am gradually building my distances, trying to ride five days a week
[which will be much easier as the lighter evenings arrive]. I have
taken some advice from a friend who trains for and runs marathons, she
suggested aiming to complete a ride of about 120 miles [about 200k] by
two weeks before the event.

That sounds about right. The general rule is you can ride as a one-off
about three times what you're used to riding regularly. Getting a couple
of Audaxes in before the Vätternrundan would be a good plan - partly to
give yourself intermediate goals, partly because you'll meet lots of
people who have experience of doing distances.

Sort out problems of comfort - particularly with your saddle and shoes -
early in the training. What's just uncomfortable on a short run can turn
into a real problem on a long one. Keep the bike as light as possible.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; I can't work yanks out......
;; Why do they frown upon sex yet relish violence?
;; Deep Fried Lettuce

Thanks for the advice. I have looked at a number of sites which
describe how to get the right bike setup etc. I've tried applying the
1.05-1.07 rule to my saddle hight but it seems a bit low now so will
have to investigate a bit more. I always get cold feet so I think my
shoes may be a bit tight, so will have to look into that as well.

I think the answer to your comment about Americans can be found by
answering the following "What would you rather do to George Bush"?

mikeb said:

On June 16th I start my first ever long distance bike ride when I take
part in the Vätternrundan, a 300k ride around Lake Vattern in Sweden.
My aim is to finish this in 16-18 hrs. Has anyone taken part in this
ride? If you could give me any advice that would be great, especially
in relation to what I should be eating in the weeks before, and during
the ride, to give me the best chance of completing it within my
time-frame

I have read all the other reponses so my response considers those too.
300 km sounds ambitious at first but this time last year I might have
said my frst long distance ride is going to be 1400km of LEL. I had
ridden 200km in a day once before and I used the first half of 2005 to
prepare for the LEL in June. 300km is long enough to be a challenge yet
short enough to be reasonable. Build up to it, make sure you are able
to do some 200s and feel like you can continue on. I would try to fit a
250-270 km ride in too, I did last year before my first 300. Get some
experience of night riding too, the Plains 300 on April 29th starts at
11pm IIRC so is similar format to the Vattenrunden, might be worth a
jaunt. You will meet some experienced randoneurs on this event for
sure.

In the week leading up to the ride, get plenty of rest, east healthily
and if it works for you eat a bit carb meal the night before. Drink
pelnty of fluids the day and night before so you are going into the
event properly hydrated.