So I’m about to move out of a 12 week base into my first build phase. I want to do short power build to change things up a bit and because I enjoy hard on-off efforts.
That said, my friend invited me to do my first 100 mile gran fondo this coming September (Waves 2 Wine). I have never done 100 miles before, the biggest ride I’ve ever done is 60 miles albeit without a break. Plus, there’s 6,123 feet of climbing and the most I’ve ever done in a ride is 3,000 feet (up Mt. Diablo in Northern California) and it nearly killed me.
Am I asking for trouble by going with a short-power build phase prior to this event? Another thing to consider is that the date of the ride will place me in the hardest week of training (week 7).
If the gran fondo is just for fun, then stick to your plan, you’ll be fine. Would add a long ride every 1-2 weeks to supplement the build plan and build your endurance up. Would also trim the plan to finish a week earlier so you’re at the end of a recovery week for the GF.
Make sure you have enough gears to do the climbing at a sustainable power and comfortable cadence.
Just some short climbs. And September as you know could either be cool by the ocean and warm inland, or it could be hot all day. If you’ve been doing shorter rides, consider working on increasing volume, I’d be inclined to go with low-volume short power build on Tue/Thur and then turn Saturday into long 3-5+ hour rides. Depending on your starting point, you might want to start at 2 hours and add 20-30 minutes every week. Perhaps something like week 1 @ 2 hours. week 2 @ 2.5 hours, week 3 @ 3 hours, week 4 @ 2 hours, week 5 @ 3.5 hours, week 6 @ 4 hours, week 7 at 4.5 hours, week 8 @ 2.5 hours. Those long rides will help build endurance, confidence, and work out any hydration and fueling issues.
do the short efforts that you want to do during the week, and work up some volume on the weekends. Get in a 3-5 hour ride before the GF and you’ll do great!