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How big a deal is a gap in a ride?
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I've always been a runner, so this is a new thing for me because this never happens in running.

I'm building myself up for a century and am time constrained on weekends as I have a 1 and 3 year old at home which makes getting out for a 4-5 hour on weekends tough sometimes. I live about 20 miles from work and have thought about doing some longer weekday riding where I ride on my trainer for a bit, then stop to help my wife get the kids out of bed and ready, then get on my bike and ride to work.

How "bad" for my training stimulus would it be to ride 60-90 minutes on the trainer and then take a 30 minute break and then finish with a 60-120 minute ride to work? This is on "just ride" type days.

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Re: How big a deal is a gap in a ride? [marklemcd] [ In reply to ]
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I think a break is NOT a big deal.
Reasons:
Training is about causing your body to adapt not about follow rules.

I think the long ride is about fitness and durability. 3 hrs is probably enough to stimulate the fitness adaptation. Durability is probably a matter of total volume (maybe even weekly).
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Re: How big a deal is a gap in a ride? [marklemcd] [ In reply to ]
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About as "bad" as coasting down hill after a long climb and then continuing to ride on the flat.
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Re: How big a deal is a gap in a ride? [fb] [ In reply to ]
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So what I'm hearing here it's okay to stop 15 minutes for lunch on a century ride while training for IM?
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Re: How big a deal is a gap in a ride? [Dilbert] [ In reply to ]
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Dilbert wrote:
So what I'm hearing here it's okay to stop 15 minutes for lunch on a century ride while training for IM?

Yes.
Unless what you are working on is:
race nutrition, tolerating long periods in the saddle or maintaining pace/concentration.

That said, a 6 hour group ride with a lunch break ....sounds more like "hiking" than "training."
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Re: How big a deal is a gap in a ride? [marklemcd] [ In reply to ]
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marklemcd wrote:
I've always been a runner, so this is a new thing for me because this never happens in running.

I'm building myself up for a century and am time constrained on weekends as I have a 1 and 3 year old at home which makes getting out for a 4-5 hour on weekends tough sometimes. I live about 20 miles from work and have thought about doing some longer weekday riding where I ride on my trainer for a bit, then stop to help my wife get the kids out of bed and ready, then get on my bike and ride to work.

How "bad" for my training stimulus would it be to ride 60-90 minutes on the trainer and then take a 30 minute break and then finish with a 60-120 minute ride to work? This is on "just ride" type days.

60 to 120 minutes to ride 20 miles seems like an issue to me :)
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Re: How big a deal is a gap in a ride? [B.McMaster] [ In reply to ]
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B.McMaster wrote:
60 to 120 minutes to ride 20 miles seems like an issue to me :)

1) HIlls. Lots of hills. SF Bay Area.

2) I'd obv be doing more than 20 miles if I extended it out to 120min.

I live north of SF, work in SF. Gotta get over camino alto and the climb from sausalito up to the top of the bridge. And then once in SF....the stoplights.

I realize you were joking.

https://markmcdermott.substack.com
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Re: How big a deal is a gap in a ride? [Velocibuddha] [ In reply to ]
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Velocibuddha wrote:
Dilbert wrote:
So what I'm hearing here it's okay to stop 15 minutes for lunch on a century ride while training for IM?

Yes.
Unless what you are working on is:
race nutrition, tolerating long periods in the saddle or maintaining pace/concentration.


That said, a 6 hour group ride with a lunch break ....sounds more like "hiking" than "training."

I totally agree with the bolded part. (I'm a cycling coach, not a tri coach though)
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Re: How big a deal is a gap in a ride? [marklemcd] [ In reply to ]
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Oh man, riding through the bridge and all it's tourists alone is probably 20+ minutes of that :-P!
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Re: How big a deal is a gap in a ride? [marklemcd] [ In reply to ]
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It depends on what your goal for the century is. Frankly, if you just want to finish it, then if you can ride 30 miles, you can ride a supported century. Reduce your effort by about 10%. You can skip the first rest stop, but don't skip the any others. Drink plenty of fluids. Eat oranges or bananas at each stop. While organizations like League of American Bicyclists focus on working toward longer rides (and that certainly builds one's confidence), it's certainly doable on a lot less.

Now, if your goal is to do it in under 5 hours on a road bike, that's different...
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Re: How big a deal is a gap in a ride? [Dilbert] [ In reply to ]
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Dilbert wrote:
So what I'm hearing here it's okay to stop 15 minutes for lunch on a century ride while training for IM?

Unless its a IM pace ride your not supposed to stop on :-)

2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz
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Re: How big a deal is a gap in a ride? [marklemcd] [ In reply to ]
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Taking a break in riding during longer training days is actually a good thing. You are getting in some recovery time, then able to potentially push harder on the later session.

There is absolutely nothing bad about taking a break during a ride or splitting a long ride into two.

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Re: How big a deal is a gap in a ride? [FatandSlow] [ In reply to ]
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Even if the goal is to go fast I'm not sure how much of an issue it is. I've done some fast century rides off the back of large volume from commuting, a couple of ~45 mile rides and everything else 30 miles or less.

Depends a bit on the ride - assuming that drafting is allowed and there will be some reasonably large, fast groups out there, then it's not about laying down a steady power for 5 hours, a lot of it will be pretty easy cruising in a group, interspersed by high power intervals to close a gap, do a turn on the front or get over a hill.
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