I’m preparing for a 3-4 week tour this June-July (minneapolis to somewhere east) and wondering if, in building a plan, I simply input multiple multi-day gran fondo kind of things or if there is something else I should do to approximate this tour as an “event”. I’ve done similar summer trips for the past 5 years, but this is my first year with a bike trainer and trainerroad. Thank you for any ideas!
Hey there and welcome to the TR community!
You could add your tour to your TR Calendar as a “stage race” by clicking on the date you’d like it to start. One of the options for your event type will be “stage race,” which should be towards the bottom of the list:
You would, however, have to add each individual “stage” after that… Which, for 3-4 weeks, would likely be quite a few stages!
Since it could take some time to do that (and it would quickly become tedious, in my opinion), it may suffice to simply add one race/event to your TR Calendar to save yourself some extra hassle. Your plan will still prepare you for the event type you end up choosing (for example, “Fondo”), which will help you build up the fitness needed for your bike tour.
Your TR Calendar will be “empty” after the event date passes, but if I understand your situation correctly, there shouldn’t be a need to add 3-4 weeks’ worth of events to your TR Calendar… unless you really want to.
You could add the dates of your tour to your Calendar as a Training Note, which would at least help make it clear when your tour will be. It’s also much simpler/faster to add a note like that.
Hope that helps – feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions!
@ZackeryWeimer, thank you so much for this helpful response! This is just what I needed. Best wishes to you in the new year!
A great adventure you have planned, Incorporating back-to-back multi-day gran fondo simulations on TrainerRoad is an excellent approach since it mimics the endurance and recovery demands of your tour. You might also add weighted rides or gear simulation to get a feel for carrying your load.
Having done long-distance rides myself, I found practicing with my loaded bike on rolling terrain essential it helped me optimize my setup and avoid surprises on the road.