The whistler gran fondo is in 3 weeks. Its 152km, 3100m elevation including a 1000m climb in the first 20km. I have 1 more hard week of training before 2 weeks of tapering. Below is my progression levels at my current ftp at 90kg. My endurance level is a little worrying to me. Ive been doing the custom gran fondo plan. Is the sweet spot I’ve been doing covering the endurance bases? Should i squeeze in a couple of long z2 rides in the next week or 2? I could replace a threshold and a sweetspot with 3-4hr z2 rides. Im fitter than I’ve ever been but i don’t want to hit a wall 4hrs in.
Realistically, I don’t think you are going to see fitness gains from rides now in two or three weeks.
There may be benefit in terms of tapering but that depends on your current CTL. Or in terms of mentally knowing you can do the distance. I’d say there’s as much mental gain from starting to nail the threshold work and finding it easier and easier as you bring in some freshness.
I wouldn’t necessarily be too stressed about your progression levels. That’s an indicator of what you have done not necessarily what you could do.
I really like doing a couple of over-the-top endurance rides about 4 to 6 weeks out from my a race. I wouldn’t bother trying to squeeze in some massive endurance session that you haven’t done. I certainly wouldn’t rule out doing endurance rides for the final two weeks, but I wouldn’t be biting off more than you’ve recovered from before
If you feel like you need it to dial in or get ready for long ride fuelling, or to sharpen your mental game, then go for it.
If you do end up getting some unexpected aches or don’t feel great due to fuelling, hydration, heat, etc. (sounds like a low chance), then at least you’ll be prepared for that possibility on event day with a keener sense of reality.
Otherwise, it appears you’re well prepared. Enjoy as much of it as you can.
I would do the long ride. It’ll be a good stimulus before your taper (I find 2-3 weeks perfect for this before an event) and you will get to practice things like fuelling and comfort in your position which aren’t replicated by Sweetspot. It’ll hopefully be good for you mentally too
the only real benefit now will be from learning how to pace and fuel a long ride. early excitement and lack of fuelling from km 0 could be your downfall. your motor is big enough.
Fitness-wise, I bet you’ll be fine — provided you fuel adequately. I wouldn’t squeeze in a long endurance ride just to get up your endurance PL.
However, you might want to consider a longer rider to test your pacing strategy and your nutrition. You don’t need to replicate this ride, I think 100–120 km suffice. Keeping a lid on your power in the first half of the race will be essential. Given that you have what sounds like the hardest climb right at the beginning, think carefully about how much power you want to put out.
Speaking of long, sustained climbs, I would make sure you have appropriate gearing. A 1,000 m climb is serious business, especially if you need to pace yourself. Having to grind up at 55 rpm (speaking from experience here) is going to seriously impact the rest of the race.
Not because I’d expect any sort of fitness increase from 1 or 2 rides, but because it would give me an idea what to expect at that effort level for longer durations, and give me some information on whether your nutrition plan at those effort levels are going to work, and give you confidence for those durations.
I’d make sure to throw in some similar terrain to check any equipment changes you may wish to make. Lots of climbing there!
Keep in mind, if you are trying to push the front it’s not going to be a steady state ride, but if you plan to “ride your own race” then you can dial in your effort level on a couple of these longer rides.
If you have the time, do it. Even a perfectly-executed taper only improves performance by a few percent, and that’s in events that last minutes, not hours. If you’re at all concerned about lasting the distance, 2 wk (even a full week) is a long time without a longer ride.
First, I wouldn’t worry too much about your Endurance Progression Level. You don’t have to ride your full race distance (or duration) in training to have a successful outing at your event! Trust that your training plan has prepped you by targeting the energy systems you’ll need to use during the race.
That said, we do still think getting in a longer Z2 ride before the fondo is a good idea!
While you may not gain a significant amount of fitness in these last few weeks leading into the event (you’ve already done the hard training up to this point!), doing a longer ride can be a great way to test out your hydration/nutrition strategy and perform something of a final “equipment check” on your bike and gear before you find out about what works or not in the middle of your race.
Just make sure you don’t go too crazy and bite off more than you can chew this close to your goal event, though. At this point in your plan, prioritize rest and recovery. If the longest ride you’ve done recently is about 2 hours long, try to go out for a 3 or 4 hour ride to get a feel for what it’s like to spend more time in the saddle, and make any hydration/nutrition/equipment changes as necessary.
Thank you. Do you have access to my plan? Which one of my remaining rides would you suggest replacing with the long ride? I was thinking this wednesday or fridays. Both are threshold rides. I then have my final vo2 next Monday before the taper starts
I think either of those Wed/Fri threshold workouts would be good! I’d say whichever day gives you more time to get the longer ride in would be the one to choose.
I wouldn’t worry about your PLs. I am doing Lotoja (350km) in 2.5 weeks and your endurance and tempo PLs are higher than mine. I’ve done a few 100-mile races this summer with no issues maintaining power for long durations. So, PLs show what you’ve done in training, not what you can do in a race.
That being said, as mentioned above, a long Z2 ride could be worthwhile to test fueling, equipment, kit, etc. It can also help with confidence if you have not done a long ride recently.
With your w/kg, I think you will crush it. Have fun!
