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Century Training Pages #6
For cyclists who have a desire to ride centuries and bicycle greater distances. Moving to Longer Rides
by Lisa Marie Dougherty
Lisa Marie Dougherty has been a serious bicycle racer since 1994. She is a licensed USCF racer (Women's Category 2) and will be racing for Team Ameritech in 2000, coached by Paul Forsythe. As a UMCA racer, she qualified for RAAM in 1996 after completing BAM in under 50 hours. She has won the UMCA 24 Hour Championships three times. She is married to Eugene Dougherty, also an accomplished competitive cyclist himself.
The Century Pages: Training for Centuries
- Part 1: Choosing A Century to Ride.
- Part 2: Riding Fast Century
- Part 3: Strength Training
- Part 4: Planning Workouts
- Part 5: Power on the Bike
- Part 5: Power on the Bike
- Part 6: Moving to Longer Rides
I hope that the ideas presented in this column have helped you decrease your century time and increase your confidence on the bicycle. Perhaps now you are thinking about pushing beyond your comfort zone. Is there a double-century you have always wanted to do? Do you believe that you could be competitive in a 24-hour event? Are you sick of reading about the experiences of others at Furnace Creek 508 and Boston-Montreal-Boston rather than getting some of your own?
The leap beyond the century may not be as far as you think. For example, I have done the Iowa 24-Hour Championships four times, but I only prepared with mega-miles once. My highest mileage of 406-miles was done in 1999 after very modest training. In 1999 I concentrated on criteriums and road races, so I could not train specifically for the 24-hour race until my USA Cycling season was over in late August. That only gave me about three weeks to prepare.
Minimal Training
The worst thing to do in such a scenario is panic and jump from 150-mile weeks to 300+ without an adequate base. I would have fallen into the downward spiral of declining energy and may have developed an overuse injury. A cyclist in decent shape can endure just about anything for a limited amount of time. The key is to get into the best shape possible for the event and roll up to the start line completely recovered and injury-free.
Since I had so little time, I chose to maintain my weekly training schedule, with rides generally between 20 and 35 miles, while doing a century on either Saturday or Sunday. This allowed my butt to get used to sitting in the saddle for hours without lowering my top end. It also got me used to eating on the bicycle. Believe it or not, this was adequate preparation for the 24-hour race. Such minimal training will not enable you to set records or survive a multi-day event like BAM or PBP. If you are an older cyclist, you may not have the recuperative abilities to mend after the big event if your preparation is minimal. In such cases, you will need to include more long rides in your training week.
My big mistake in 1999 was failing to use aerobars during the centuries leading up to the big event. In ultramarathon cycling events, aerobars are almost a necessity because they provide additional hand positions and take pressure off your lower back. Also, they put you into an aerodynamic position that significantly increases your average speed. Without getting used to this position, however, I was only able to use the aerobars for about 150-miles. Sitting in the upright position for most of the race cost me at least 10 miles.
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Now, don't get the idea that one century per week in addition to interval workouts will allow you to leap off the bicycle at the end of 24 hours and dance around painfree. Your knees will ache, your tush will be raw and your lungs will be tired of breathing. But you will have accomplished your biggest ride yet. The soreness will diminish within a day or two, but the achievement will be with you always.
Ride Preparation
Keep four things in mind as you prepare to move beyond the century.
- Carefully select and prepare your crew. If you don't have a crew, make sure that you can handle everything that they normally would.
- Prepare your body as best you can for the event. If time is limited, do one 100+ mile ride per week and avoid overtraining. Even if you have more time, never neglect the shorter interval sessions that will build and maintain your top end.
- Plan carefully for the event. Know your diet and have all foods and supplements on hand at the race. Get there early.
- Feed your motivation. You can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it. Don't doubt yourself on the start line. At that point, there is nothing more you can do to prepare. So charge up, get ready, and give it all you've got. When it starts to really hurt, stay on the bike anyway.
It'll all be over within 24 hours.
Training for Centuries
- Part 1: Choosing A Century to Ride
- Part 2: Riding Fast Century
- Part 3: Strength Training
- Part 4: Planning Workouts
- Part 5: Power on the Bike
- Part 5: Power on the Bike
- Part 6: Moving to Longer Rides