Too soon for my first 200k?

Training
1

Hey,
on April 3rd there’s a 200k ( ~2500m of climbing ) outside group ride organised by a local club.
I’d love to do it, but I’m not sure if I have the fitness required to handle it.

Here’s my background :

  • longest endurance ride done : 132k ( ~600m ) and I didn’t feel too exhausted at the end ( could have done at least 160k )
    it was done on July 2021 so I got a bit more fitness since

  • I’ve done a few endurance rides before ( around 3 to 5h ) and know the basics of fueling during a ride

  • I’m a food courier, and been riding for around 8h a week for the past 3 and a half years, have played rugby for 6 years, tennis for 2 years and been a young firefighter for 3 years.
    I’ve been riding around 10h a week since the last few months and I plan to add 1 or 2 intensity rides.

  • my last FTP test was done on May 2021 and was around 2.83 w/kg

The ride is there to help people ride their first 200k and will be done at a “moderate pace” ( not sure where to place a moderate pace in terms of difficulty )
We will be followed by two cars that will provide water, food, help in case of a problem and some seats for riders that couldn’t handle it ( good thing, but If I go I’m obviously aiming not to finish the ride in the car :slight_smile: )

So, do you think it’s unreasonable for me to do this ride ?

Any tips to prepare for this event ? ( training, tips while riding,…)

2

Totally fine, to be honest once have reasonable fitness (which you clearly do) then longer distances at steady pace is very doable providing keep eating and drinking. Totally doable!

2 Likes
3

You’ll be fine. Eat, drink, pedal, smile, repeat.

4 Likes
4

Thanks ! I’m not confident about my fitness level so I’m a bit anxious about this.
It warms my heart you think I can do it though :heart:

5

Haha I like this way of thinking, thanks :grin:

6

It’s really going to depend on that pacing and how it is distributed. A better measure is moderate effort. You can have two riders who on paper have the same average speed. But one is easy effort on flats and downhills but hammers the uphills, whilst the other maintains a higher effort on flats and downhills, and doesn’t spike the effort on the uphills.

You’ll have more than enough fitness to manage 200km at 8 hrs / week, but only if at effort levels you can sustain over that distance.

2 Likes
7

You’d probably be fine if you did it today, but you still have 2 months of training left. You’ll kill it.

Try and get some longer rides in once a week to build up volume. If time and weather allows, getting to 120-140k would be great, but not mandatory. Pace yourself well, fuel and enjoy the day. If you do that, at the finish you’ll say “ That was easy.”

1 Like
8

Yeah I’ll definitely try to have a smooth effort throughout the ride.
We don’t have the route available yet, but I plan on riding some part of it to have a feeling on how to pace it.
Also if we take turns, I’ll try to be on the front before climbs so I can have a slower pace without getting dropped.

9

I’ll try to get a couple long rides then, first around 100k to see how it goes since it’s been a while, then I’ll do 140k and maybe aime for 160k if It goes well.

Thanks for the cheering :heart:

1 Like
10

I’m sure you’ll be fine and some of the replies above have some good advice regarding long rides.
If you’re worried about the pace then contact the organisers and ask them to clarify what a moderate pace means.

1 Like
11

I am 100% convinced you can accomplish this ride. Just pace intelligently & pay attention to your nutrition. There is no doubt you can do it.

1 Like
12

Go for it with a decent group it won’t seem like anything longer than you’ve done before. Just remember to eat and drink.

1 Like
13

Yep, it’s the racing club of a shop so I’ll just go to the shop to ask about the ride :+1:

1 Like
14

I think I will really focus on these two ! Plus focusing on having a good time too ofc.

15

Three things to concentrate on are pacing, nutrition, and managing general fatigue (neck pain, especially IME).

It should feel too easy for the first 100K and you should feel you’re eating too much.

I use naproxen to deal with neck pain.

1 Like
16

When you started with “club ride” I had bad flashbacks to some crazy club century rides (a/k/a how long can you pretend you are a stud rides) but then I got to this paragraph. You definitely should go for it. You’re ready for the distance and this sounds like the perfect situation to do it.

1 Like
17

I would check what “moderate pace” means, or what other rider level (or ftp) is. If they are all 3.5 w/kg that could become tough very fast if they don’t do this slow enough. If they are similar or lower to you it will be fine as long as you fuel correctly, 200k not being that different that the 132k you already did.
And yes, it looks like the perfect organization to do it. Getting into the car is probably hard for pride, but it’s easier than bonking 50k from the finish without any other options than biking. (I did bonk totally 10k from home, with a 5k hill… longest 10k in my whole life. Would have loved to jump in a car there)

1 Like
18

Haha that’s what I was afraid about too ! A race club organising a hilly endurance ride ? Surely they wouldn’t smash every single climb right ? :joy:
But yeah it shouldn’t be like that.
And I agree it looks like the perfect ride to try to do 200k,thats why I really want to do it.

Plus it will be my first time riding with cars behind and it’s so cool :grin:

19

Yeah I’ll have to check on that.
I stalked a bit the strava profile of some participants and there are some Cat 1 guys in there and I feel like I’m the “worst” cyclist in the group.
Doesn’t intimidate me though as long as we stay at a pace I can handle.

The car is a good thing for that yeah. I don’t want to tell myself too much that if I fail there’s a car waiting for me though.
It makes me preparing for failure and I don’t like that :grin: