300k Cycle - Pacing?

kencoo

Hi Guys,

Hope to do a 300km cycle in 3 weeks.

I have done the wicklow 200 and a few others this summer. I usually dont have any strategy really apart from hammering it as long as possible to stay in the lead group and then make my own way when im dropped. Usually have an average of 25kph.

Something tells me if i take this strategy for 300km ill be sorry. Should i slow down to say 19kph?

Also i plan 200km this weekend and 230km weekend after. is that that too much or should i be tapering?

Thanks

Cee-Jay-Cee

I sort of stick at the same comfortable pace no matter whether I'm doing a short 30k or 100k+ spin. It always seems to average 25/26 but I live in Donegal and all the routes are hilly and so you have to take that into account too.

I'd imagine that if you can manage 200 without busting a lung or killing your legs then I'd imagine 300k isn't a whole lot different but saying that I've never done 200k let alone 300k.

fat bloke

I did a 330km cycle with a bunch of lads a few weeks back. It was well organised, back up van, pre-planned route and stops. Also, crucially, the route was about as flat a route as you could get, the weather was lovely and we had a tailwind home. In short it was perfect really. Overall moving speed when we got home was 30.6kph. It was grand really. I hadn't done any distance cycling to prepare, I've hardly broken the 100k mark all year, but the key to the day was not being in the red at all at any stage, so once you kept yourself fed and watered and had a bit of conversation going to keep you mentally sane then there's no reason why you can't keep it going all day.

I'd be wary of your plan to "hammer in the group and then go it alone", it would be an awful sentence to complete on the road on your own, ye should pick a pace that everyone is comfortable with and try to keep the group together to share the work and the drudgery.

CramCycle

kencoo wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Hope to do a 300km cycle in 3 weeks.

I have done the wicklow 200 and a few others this summer. I usually dont have any strategy really apart from hammering it as long as possible to stay in the lead group and then make my own way when im dropped. Usually have an average of 25kph.

Something tells me if i take this strategy for 300km ill be sorry. Should i slow down to say 19kph?

Also i plan 200km this weekend and 230km weekend after. is that that too much or should i be tapering?

Thanks

No need to taper, the week break should be more than enough to recover. I wouldn't hammer it, just go as fast as you can while comfortable, if it starts to become a serious effort then you need to slow as you will burn out.

Drink constantly, even when not thirsty, take a sip every few minutes, if you wait till your thirsty then you have waited too long. Try and have decent meals at regular times. At 20kmph you are still going to be out for 15 hours. All the bars and gels, if that's what you take, will turn your stomach, Have a decent breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Final thing, stave off caffeine drinks for the next while, particularly the week before, no tea, no coffee, no fizzy drinks. When you need a boost on the day the caffeine effect will feel so much stronger.

Based on an average of around 25kmph around the WW200 though, you should have no troubles overall.

manwithaplan

kencoo wrote: »

Should i slow down to say 19kph?

For 16 hours?!

TinyExplosions

Be prepared to deal with a period of complete and utter boredom and being sick of the bike and cycling and everything that goes with it, possibly 210k in or so -it will pass, but at the time it's the most annoying thing ever (at least that was the hardest part last time I did the Virginia 300)

colm_gti

5 litres of beetroot juice before you get on the bike, be grand!

derealbadger

colm_gti wrote: »

5 litres of beetroot juice before you get on the bike, be grand!

5 Packs of figrolls and a nappy

cdaly_

I did my last 300k in 15hr rolling, 18hr door to door. Avg speed was 20kph but I didn't rush at all. I lost touch with the rest of the people early enough and did the second half solo. Didn't mind that at all, just enjoyed the scenery by day, me, bike and road zen thing by night, all at my own pace. Over the last 100k I was stopping (briefly) to rest and eat every 25k.