Training

ghogie91

Hi All,

Just wanted to ask what sort of training should I be putting in for the Ring of Kerry Cycle, I have mapped out the equivalent distance in my local area and by doing that I have realised the sheer distance of the cycle. I was in Killarney recently and have seen some of the climbs and they will be tough.

Any training tips for this for those who have done it? I am fit, just no experience whatsoever

Beasty

What are you doing now? Basically you need to build up from where you are to where you need to be, which involves gradually increasing time on the bike and overall distance. If you're capable of doing 2/3rd the distance on similar terrain on your own a week ahead of the event you should be fine as you will get the benefit of group riding and will always have a bit more to give when push comes to shove

shaka

What beasty said , other cyclists will bring you on.

What distances are you doing now and what is distance you would think you would be able to do now?Climbing isn't as bad as you think.

Lumen

Ride your bike as many hours a week as you can.

Chips Lovell

Do one long spin every week, pushing the distance out each week until you're near around three quarters of what you need to do. Try and complement that with one or two shorter spins in the week, where you can go harder or throw in a few hills.

While there's plenty of fierce climbs around Killarney, Ring of Kerry isn't that difficult. It's largely flat, with decent roads and you only have two relatively easy climbs to contend with.

ghogie91

I done 20 km of constant hills yesterday as i though I wasnt spending enough time on the climbs, I could knock out an 80/90 km at the moment, but that would be me at my furthest so far... im sure in 2/3 weeks i could stretch that to 100/110... where does that leave me? I also cycle on my own constantly i have never cycled with someone else leading out

ghogie91

thanks for the replies btw!

NeedMoreGears

It sounds like you're on track. Like the lads above said if you can manage 2/3 or even 3/4 of the distance beforehand you should be fine. Remember you have the whole day to do it and there'll be plenty of company. Go enjoy it.

Chips Lovell

Pushing your long spin out by 10km a week is a very, very reasonable target.

ghogie91

Ok thats reassuring so I would be well able to hit 3/4 or 2/3 of the journey by the time of the cycle. I have just looked at their website and they have a training schedule there, max distance throughout the training is 80km. I myself for one would find this very deceiving

Lumen

IMO it is simply not necessary to do long cycles as training for long cycles, unless you're planning to race the thing.

I often go months without cycling more than 15km in one ride, and then have no problem doing a long ride like the ROK. It's not because I'm a good cyclist (I'm not), it's because I do 150km a week commuting, every week of the year.

Hours per week is almost all that matters.

Raam

Hill repeats up Priest's Leap, it's the only answer.

shaka

Sounds like your on track , like some posts said above hills on rok are reasonable so keep up good work. If your not used to groups you will be surprised at how much they will help you on the day but bit of double edged sword, some people get nervous in the bunch if they are not usta cycling in groups.Keep calm on the day, don't overlap wheels and watch out for people not keeping straight lines, call out obstacles and braking.
Fair play that's a lot of training on your own , takes a bit of dedication. IMO if you can do a 100km cycle on your own you will have no prob with rok.
Have you considered cycling with a group, not necessarily a club or a club if possible ?

Chips Lovell

I think there is some value to it if you're just starting out. I know I can make the jump from doing months of 50km spins to 150km, but I don't think I would have managed it in my first year of cycling. At a very minimum you get some experience at pacing yourself for the distance and what you need to fuel yourself.

Lumen

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

I think there is some value to it if you're just starting out. I know I can make the jump from doing months of 50km spins to 150km, but I don't think I would have managed it in my first year of cycling. At a very minimum you get some experience at pacing yourself for the distance and what you need to fuel yourself.

I just know that my cycling improved massively when I went from doing 90km on a Saturday and three 2x15km commutes a week (150km) to doing zero cycling on a weekend but commuting every day (150km a week).

Same distance weekly but I got better doing more frequent shorter rides. I felt fresher, pushed harder, and picked up fewer injuries.

I think/feel that the human body is designed to respond better to frequent mild stimulus. I know this goes against specificity and rest-is-critical dogma, but those approaches are designed for athletes who have already reached somewhat of a fitness plateau.

More than anything I think prescriptive programmes are a really bad idea for anyone starting out in a sport. The exam-revision-timetable approach is just unsustainable.

ghogie91

shaka wrote: »

Sounds like your on track , like some posts said above hills on rok are reasonable so keep up good work. If your not used to groups you will be surprised at how much they will help you on the day but bit of double edged sword, some people get nervous in the bunch if they are not usta cycling in groups.Keep calm on the day, don't overlap wheels and watch out for people not keeping straight lines, call out obstacles and braking.
Fair play that's a lot of training on your own , takes a bit of dedication. IMO if you can do a 100km cycle on your own you will have no prob with rok.
Have you considered cycling with a group, not necessarily a club or a club if possible ?

I never considered cycling wit hthe local cycling club as I dont really know how to get into it, it seems to be a close knit group, and as for getting a group together, well theres simply no interest in cycling where i live, like im 21 and easily the only person I know who cycles

Lumen

ghogie91 wrote: »

I never considered cycling wit hthe local cycling club as I dont really know how to get into it, it seems to be a close knit group, and as for getting a group together, well theres simply no interest in cycling where i live, like im 21 and easily the only person I know who cycles

Many people feel like that before they join a club, but they tend to be full of incredibly nice, helpful people.

That's not to say that joining a club is for everyone. There's nothing wrong with cycling on your tod.

killalanerr

expect that its so much easyer and fun with a group/club. Nothing to add re the training its all bein said all ready

Esroh

Your Location shows Athlone.
Talk to the Guys in Buckley's bike shop about spins.

Shannonside cc are your local club http://www.shannonsidecc.com/wordpress/?page_id=19
This page shows their spin times and levels

shaka

ghogie91 wrote: »

I never considered cycling wit hthe local cycling club as I dont really know how to get into it, it seems to be a close knit group, and as for getting a group together, well theres simply no interest in cycling where i live, like im 21 and easily the only person I know who cycles

I hear ya , I was in similar boat about 14 years ago and ended up giving up cycling for a while because no one I knew was cycling anymore. Got back into it a few years ago and in mean time a few clubs had started up locally, cycled with a couple of them and joined one club with a group who were particularly friendly. Sure your local club will be welcoming, don't worry if you don't know anyone most clubs get newbies each year and you will quickly get to know them.

ghogie91

Esroh wrote: »

Your Location shows Athlone.
Talk to the Guys in Buckley's bike shop about spins.

Shannonside cc are your local club http://www.shannonsidecc.com/wordpress/?page_id=19
This page shows their spin times and levels

Oh I didnt know Buckleys had this info. I was in there twice this week so far. Thats a great great shop! Has EVERYTHING

ghogie91

shaka wrote: »

I hear ya , I was in similar boat about 14 years ago and ended up giving up cycling for a while because no one I knew was cycling anymore. Got back into it a few years ago and in mean time a few clubs had started up locally, cycled with a couple of them and joined one club with a group who were particularly friendly. Sure your local club will be welcoming, don't worry if you don't know anyone most clubs get newbies each year and you will quickly get to know them.

Yeah I am touch and go, I will contact the club beforehand and see if i can go on the cycle with them. I would love to experience the club riding and train harder

Vivienne23

Just signed up for the ring of Kerry tonight , and now I'm panicking a bit , haven't been on the bike in ages , only went out tis evening for a 10km spin to get the legs back , I did a lot of reading up about the rok last year when I planned on doing it and as far as I can see its more of a mental challenge than a physical one , training starts tomoro morning at 6am , :S #afraid

ghogie91

Vivienne23 wrote: »

Just signed up for the ring of Kerry tonight , and now I'm panicking a bit , haven't been on the bike in ages , only went out tis evening for a 10km spin to get the legs back , I did a lot of reading up about the rok last year when I planned on doing it and as far as I can see its more of a mental challenge than a physical one , training starts tomoro morning at 6am , :S #afraid

Congrats on getting back in the saddle! Since posting this thread my cycling has just come on so much, im doing my 100kms in the evening after work even

for example- yesterday evening i was going to do a short 20 k as i cycle 6 to and from work, ended up just doing a quick 50ks in Roscommon, up fresh as a daisy to get back on the bike this morning, im averaging about 30km an hour over my 50 to 100 spins so the ROK should take me touching 6 hours? I i wont be stopping to eat either i will only be stopping to get water which will be needed, all other food I will be carrying in my jersey

Vivienne23

Wow that's great thanks for the encouragement , did just short of 30k tis evening at a handy pace , didn't finish work til half 7 had a bite to eat and up and off could definitely have done more , gonna plan for 60k on Sunday and maybe a few 40k's next week and 80 the following Sunday if I can , that's my own initial plan dunno how good or bad it is ,

And sure if it all goes pear shape on the day can't I hop on the bus ,

Off to the bike shop tomoro see if they can help me out , the bike I have at the moment my shoulders have fierce pain in them for any long distance think the distance from the saddle to the handlebars is too long and my arms are stretched , did this ever happen to you?

Onwards and upwards from here !

funnights74

Vivienne23 wrote: »

Wow that's great thanks for the encouragement , did just short of 30k tis evening at a handy pace , didn't finish work til half 7 had a bite to eat and up and off could definitely have done more , gonna plan for 60k on Sunday and maybe a few 40k's next week and 80 the following Sunday if I can , that's my own initial plan dunno how good or bad it is ,

And sure if it all goes pear shape on the day can't I hop on the bus ,

Off to the bike shop tomoro see if they can help me out , the bike I have at the moment my shoulders have fierce pain in them for any long distance think the distance from the saddle to the handlebars is too long and my arms are stretched , did this ever happen to you?

Onwards and upwards from here !

Congrats on your progress so far it seems like your right on track for the ring. From
your last post it seems like you need a pro bike fit. Your local bike shop might provide this or may know someone who does them. Probably a slight saddle and stem adjustment should alleviate any problems you are having.

chester3455

I think you should start cycling in a group with guys better than you.I found when I join my club it brought me on way faster than training by myself cause you try hard to stay with them.

Ryath

ghogie91 wrote: »

I never considered cycling wit hthe local cycling club as I dont really know how to get into it, it seems to be a close knit group, and as for getting a group together, well theres simply no interest in cycling where i live, like im 21 and easily the only person I know who cycles

Esroh wrote: »

Your Location shows Athlone.
Talk to the Guys in Buckley's bike shop about spins.

Shannonside cc are your local club http://www.shannonsidecc.com/wordpress/?page_id=19
This page shows their spin times and levels

ghogie91 wrote: »

Oh I didnt know Buckleys had this info. I was in there twice this week so far. Thats a great great shop! Has EVERYTHING

Only stumbled across this now. I'd well recommend joining Shannonside. I'm with them three years now and they're a great bunch of lads (and lassies) I'm not from the town and naturally pretty shy so it was a bit daunting at first but you quickly will get to know one or two and build from there.

I love the Sunday spins with them cycling with stronger cyclists really brings you on. I'm much more motivated to go further and faster with the group than I would usually manage on my own. There's also a great social side to the club everyone really does get on and there is some great banter and slagging on the spins. Don't worry about your age there is a big mix in the club everything from 16 to 60+ and at the average speeds you're managing you'll be well able for even the faster groups.

Just turn up on Sunday morning 10am at the regional sports center the club don't mind you trying out for a spin. They do expect you to join if you start coming out regularly though. Even if you don't stick with the club long term I think it's well worth learning and getting used to cycling in a group. I'm telling you can be well glad of being comfortable wheel sucking in a group in the last 20k of a sportive when you're so tired you could barely turn the pedals if you were on your own.

Buckleys is a great shop Pat cycles with us and is one the driving force behind the Midlands League. (Still plenty of races left if you fancy trying it)