Does anyone have any experience doing one of those long distance bike rides that cover 100 plus miles a day for two weeks or more?
I am thinking of signing up for a 1700 miles in 15 days kind of trip across part of the country. Would this be a good base building experience for an IM two months later, or just a prescription for burnout?
I am not talking about a RAAM sleep deprivation drill. I could never finish that in the alloted time.
Restless in Florida,
My dentist took a summer off a few years ago and cycled across Canada from BC to Ontario. Not sure what their daily volume was. I’m due for a dental check up fairly soon. Next time I see him I’ll get the details for you.
I have a close friend that rode from maryland to seattle in 3 weeks. He was not a cyclist at all when he left maryland, but when he got to seattle, he was yoked! Big quads and calfs. He said that the last third of the trip he would not get winded at all, just tired and HUNGRY. Ironically, the weekend after arriving in seattle, he stepped on a curb wrong and broke a bone in his foot. The doctor put a cast on his foot all the way up to the upper part of his calf. 6 weeks later, the calf atrophied so much you could fit a tennis ball down into the cast. Anyway, back to the point. I think the base you would have from a long trip would be phenomenal, but mentally, I think it would be tough want to stay training on the bike, let alone, bring up the running mileage for an IM. But thinking about it, he didn’t love cycling, so his case might be different.
A 100 miles a day, on a trip like this, is a breeze. You wake up early and you have all day to ride 100 miles. If it is in summer you have 14 hours or more. Plus you get to see the sights at 12-13 MPH rather than 70-80. You will eat all you want, whatever you want, whenever you want. You will meet the nicest people.
My brother and I have done a couple of these tours and they are the most relaxing vacations I have been on.
It was a bunch of buddies and the old stories get longer and the gases flow as much as the beer.
Willy in Pacifica
I would imagine it would be a fantastic prep for IM. Mix in some frequent, easy running and whatever hotel pool time you can find, and you’ve got yourself a perfect IM camp. Those final six weeks, you can build the run back up and keep the bike fitness rolling. The host over at that other site once wrote that, in an ideal year, the IM bike becomes “just another session.” A trip like you describe could very well get you to that point.
I’d do it in a heartbeat if I could.
Art-
I rode 3300 miles from Anacortes, WA to Belmar, NJ in 32 days in the summer of 2002. The first week blew (the Cascades et al are a tough place to get back into shape), but the last three were awesome. It’s unbelievable how quickly your body gets used to big volume, given a base level of fitness that it sounds like you have. 120 miles a day was not a problem even after the 20th 120+ day in a row.
We also came up with another fad diet during the trip: eat and drink as much as you want of anything you want and as long as you’re on the bike 6 hours a day, you’ll lose weight.
I think it’s a fantastic idea, provided that you ease back into the running and swimming when you get back. After two weeks of no joint stress whatsoever, I could see the transition back to running and swimming being a little tough on the knees and shoulders.
i’m planning on doing something similar, but on a smaller scale. that is, i’ll be biking from cleveland, oh to east brunswick, nj over about 1 week. i have a few concerns, which you may be able to answer: how did you plan your route? maps, etc where did you stay? motels, camping, friends? how/where did you eat?
i’ll probably post again about this in january, when i start planning this more seriously. in the meantime, any help you could give would be fantastic.
back to studying for finals!
how did you plan your route? maps, etc where did you stay? motels, camping, friends? how/where did you eat?
Go to www.adventurecycling.org. They sell maps for a very extensive route networkand have a website/forum that will help you answer all of the above questions. I have talked to several x-c riders who were using their maps and they were happy with them. I plan to do a x-c ride when I retire in 6 years from Yorktown, VA to San Francisco, CA through the middle of the country. I plan to have my wife follow in a camper and average about 100 miles a day with 2-3 days off per week to sightsee.
I am way too much of a wimp to do something like this by myself. I am thinking about hooking up with one of the trips organized by America by Bike. You can check them out at abbike.com.
I don’t know anything about this particular company or any other similar company for that matter. If you do a google search you will find a half dozen or so outfits that organize these trips.
They organize the hotels, meals and luggage transportation. If I were a real Dan Empfield slowtwitch kind of stud, I would just take my bike, the clothes I can carry and a credit card and just do it. I am not in that category I am afraid.
surely someone has experience doing a self-sustained tour? that is, camping and cooking and whatnot?
or, alternately, has anyone used hostels or motels for shelter?
Yep, it’s been done. It’s been chronicled, too.
Gordo has some plans for a (somewhat faster paced) cross country tour in 2004 as well. If I had the time, money, and talent, I’d be tagging along on the gRAAM tour myself.