"curt" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:I wanted to run by my plan to get my biking up to speed.
First of all, I suggest you say "riding" rather than "biking".
Quoted message said:I am currently running (3 miles @8 min miles), lifting and swimming (1/2 mile, soon to get up to a
mile) 4-5 days a week and will add biking in two weeks. I want to be able to ride a century and
figure it will take me quite a long time to get there, but have no idea.
Nothing wrong with running, lifting, and swimming for your general health but I don't think that
will help you too much for doing a 5+ hour ride.
Quoted message said:I plan on attending spinning classes to start with. I was thinking I would do this for a month
just to get used to using those muscles and work on a smooth motion. Then I will move to my roller
trainer and do some exercises with one leg back and forth to work on my pedaling. I plan on riding
on my trainer mostly once I get used to using the muscles. I live in Pittsburgh (the worst place
for riding a road bike due to attitude of people narrow roads and potholes), but I figure I will
move outside when the weather breaks.
Again, those activities are fine but IMHO that is not what you **need** to do (even though my spinning-
instructor wife might disagree). If you want to ride 100 miles, and not feel wasted at the end, you
have to work your way up to it by doing progressively longer and harder training efforts. You should
be ok with one or two rides a week, but three would be better. Start with a comfortable-paced 2-3
hour ride, which is probably where you would start feeling fatigued. Once you find that duration
feels fine, add a half hour and/or more effort to your next ride. Be sure to get used to the amount
of food and fluid you need during the longer rides. Within a few months, you should have no problem
with **riding** 100 miles. Of course, this is a **racing** newsgroup and the training you need to do
to race 100 miles is much different, or rather, goes far beyond basic endurance training.
Quoted message said:I just wanted to mention my plan here. I am under no one's supervision, I just figured I will get
some saddle time in and keep working on being a good cyclist in form. I am reading books on form,
but I have not read anything about training to ride a century yet.
Just get used to the time on your bike. Unless your bike-fit is bad, or your knees go way outward,
don't worry about your form. And you should be able to find bike-race training books easily on the
web. Get one and read the endurance and fuel stuff.
Quoted message said:Not only do I want to ride one, I want to do it and have plenty left in my tank. Hope it is
possible. Oh yeah, I am 38 6'2" 185, if it matters.
Of course it is possible. Have fun!
Mark (Not a trainer, coach, or anything else, but have certainly ridden and raced 100 miles more
than 100 times)
