Thoughts on training for London-Edinburgh-London 1500KM: Endurance

I am registered to ride London Edinburgh London. It is a 1520 KM ride along the coast of the United Kingdom and we have 125 hours to finish it. To put it another way, we'll be riding 944.48 miles in 5.2 days - that's about 185 miles a day.

LEL will be the longest event I've taken on to date. It's about 300K longer than Paris Brest Paris. The weather is infamous for rain and wind. The terrain is noted for its climbing. The distance is more than I typically ride in a month. To put it another  way, this will be a challenge. 

A few thoughts on the 2019 NJ Pinelands 300K

Finish the Damn Ride

Finish the Damn Ride is an "unwritten" ethos of Randonneurring. Sure there are caveats, safety comes first but, if you can safely continue, that ethos  can lead to some inspirational results. 

New Holland 200K

It was a hot afternoon. Even now, sitting in the house as the last light of the June sunset languidly eases into the horizon, my body radiates heat. It's as if the afternoon sun soaked deep into my flesh the way summer heat soaks into asphalt and concrete and then lingers before it finally releases into cooler evening air.

The morning started off cooler. We met just before dawn. The New Holland 200K is the last 200K of the Pennsylvania 600K that started the day before. Some of the 600K riders who arrived in the night would start at 5:00 am with those of us just riding the 200K.

The Rides of March bike challenge 2017

The month long March riding challenge is back and starts March 1, 2017. Let's get ready to PEDAL!!! 

   FOUR WAYS TO WIN

• "A" TEAM = 60 minutes a day  for 30 days
• "B" TEAM = 30 minutes a day for 30 days
• 24 HOUR TIME TRIAL=  60 minutes a day for 24 days
• 12 HOUR TIME TRIAL =  30 minutes a day for 24 days

Rules: Ride 24 or 30 days in March for at least a half hour EACH day (you get one day off!).

• Stationary bikes, rollers and trainers count! So does riding outside!
• Track the number of days and minutes per day.
• The riding minutes start fresh each day (no carryover from a prior day)
• The Ides of March makeup special (ride an extra day's time - two half hours or two hours) and get credit for both!)

All who successfully complete the challenge and notify me will get listed in the Iron Rider blog (First name, last initial.)

Join the conversation on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/954089274601626/

So who's in?

Rides of March: Team Rosters

 The Rides of March Challenge returned for 2016. The basic challenge is as difficult to accomplish as it is simple to describe: ride a bike for  30 or 60 minutes a days for 30 days in March. One thing that makes the challenge a little easier is the community of people that share stories, pictures, humor and encouragement throughout the month. Not everyone successfully completed the challenge, but it seems that everyone benefited from  the attempt.  I now have the pleasure of listing the roster of successful riders:

The Rides of March bike challenge - Back by popular demand!

The month long March riding challenge is back and starts March 1, 2016. Let's get ready to PEDAL!!! 

Middletown 200K - Sunday ride

Sunday, May 24, 2015

With the climbfest Boston 400K on the calendar for the next weekend, I thought it would be a good idea to get in a hilly 200K to test my heart monitor controlled pace on a more challenging route and, hopefully get in safety 200K to keep my monthly streak alive.

I found the Middletown 200K route  on the RUSA site and it seemed to fit the bill. It was a new route for me, but I have ridden in the Lancaster area before and I know the route owner, Andrew M. 

Andrew's routes have always been a scenic pleasure to ride but with no shortage of hill repeats. He emailed that he had intended to do this route as a more moderate ride for the winter, but it ended up being just as hilly as other routes and the ice lingered in the shade so it didn't quite work out the way he planned. The elevation profile showed very few flats and lots of short steep climbs - so I signed up to ride it.

March Cycling Challenge wrap-up

Something special and unexpected took place this March.  A good sized group took on the Iron Rider challenge of riding at least 30 minutes a day for 24 days or 30 days out of the month. The group had a few folks who did not own a bicycle and others who have several. Hundreds of miles were ridden, some by people who did it all indoors on a trainer and others who did every ride outside, despite harsh winter weather. Not all who started were able to finish - after a month of consistent regular effort is a significant challenge. But the unexpected development was something else altogether . . .

Challenge accepted!

"No one has the authority to limit you". Ben Saunders, North Pole skier, 2005.

The Ides of March Cycling Challenge - A 30 day cycling challenge:

In the spirit of sharing the transition to the riding season, I thought I'd throw out a little challenge:

2014 April 200K - a change in perspective.

Given a choice of climbing vicious hills or riding into hours of unrelenting headwinds, some Randonneurs will choose hills and some will choose headwinds.

But some will choose both.

A new roof on an old barn - the Millstone River Ramble 100K

Winter pauses and gives Spring a test day - blustery with the promise of warmth. I ride with two friends along the banks of a canal on smooth quiet blacktop. 

Riding Grand Randonees The Olsen Brothers' Way - an in depth interview.

“The quality of any advice anybody has to offer has to be judged against the quality of life they actually lead.”  Douglas Adams 

While someone can properly call themselves a Randonneur by completing a 200K brevet, successfully completing a Grand Randonnee - a 1200 kilometer (750 miles) brevet - can be considered the crowning achievement of the sport. The quadrennially held 1200k Paris-Brest-Paris may be the original and ultimate Grand Randonnee but there are now Grand Randonnees across the United States and around the world. 

Of the small percentage of cyclists who are Randonneurs, an even smaller number complete a Grand Randonnee. Of that small number, even fewer complete two in a year. Of that tiny number a select few complete more than two.

Mark and Bill Olsen are two of the select few in the country who have ridden more than two Grand Randonnees in one year. In fact, between them, the Olsen brothers have successfully completed over 60 randonneuring distance rides.

In 2013 alone, they rode 12 Grand Randonnees, with Mark riding four and Bill completing all eight of the grand randonnees offered in North America.

Even more impressive (to me), the Olsen brothers complete these epic rides at a pace that allows them to eat, sleep and enjoy the ride. Bill has described his trips as vacations and bike tours.

I want to have that kind of experience on Grand Randonnee. So, having struggled to complete one 1200K, I was eager to learn how they are able to complete so many. Mark and BIll graciously agreed to answer my questions. What follows are their detailed and informative responses.  

Seldom have so few done so much for so little.

January 31, 2014

The rowing seat slides along the monorail. I pull the chain. The flywheel accelerates and decelerates, its whirring increases, peaks and decreases. 24 strokes a minute, sometimes 26, sometimes 22. Each stroke pulls at the muscles of my overly tired back as my overly tired thighs extend my legs against the resistance of the machine. The minutes accumulate stroke by stroke by stroke.

It is the last day of the month long indoor rowing challenge. Back and forth - I have repeated this action over 50,000 times in the last 31 days. Pull and recover - over 35 hours pulling this chain. Today is the last day.

Off season training: amassing kilometers the hard way.

It started on a brevet. Chris N. (from PA) and I discovered that we both have trained on  Concept2 indoor rowing machines or "ergs" as the rowers call them. Chris used his over the winter to cross train. I have had one for over a decade, but since I started Randonneuring it's been off in the corner of "the man room" surrounded by bikes and bike parts - unused.

Chris mentioned the indoor rowing and I replied with my story about competing in the 2010 CRASH B World Indoor Rowing Championships. This may need some explanation. Indoor rowing is a sport. It may be the niche-iest of sports since it involves competing in a rowing distance event on a device that actually doesn't travel an inch or ever touch water; nevertheless, it is a hotly contested sport that has at its core the requirement that all of its athletes inflict intense anaerobic suffering upon themselves. So it that sense, it's kinda like bike racing.  

Independence Hall 200K - crossing paths

This weekend would be the final training weekend before my big ride for the year - the Last Chance 1200K. To prepare for the multi-day ride, I've been training on a three days on, one day off schedule. Friday was an hour run on the treadmill with 45 minutes of mile repeats after my 12 mile bike commute. Saturday was strength training - primarily 3x12 heavy reps  on the v-squat machine and leg curls to failure. Sunday would be the long bike ride. I figure that this schedule would simulate riding on the tired legs of the second or third day of a Grand Randonnee.

Earlier in the week, I sent an email to the usual suspects to see if anyone wanted to ride over the labor day weekend. Janice, with whom I rode on this year's fleche, was up for it. The others opted for a shorter ride or no ride, so Janice and me it would be.

She agreed to ride the Independence Hall 200k. It's a relatively new Permanent that starts at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. I chose it because I can ride to the start and, if I also rode home, that would add about 25 miles to the 128 mile official ride giving me a solid 150+ mile day. To keep the effort honest, I chose to ride the fixie. No coasting. It was a choice I would later second guess.

Intervals between breaths

GO!

Recovery Based Training - Part 3.

Another blogger actually read my prior posts  regarding recovery based training (Part 1 and Part 2) and had some important concerns and questions. You can read our full exchange here.

That conversation made me realize that I had not updated my progress on this training plan. So I decided to take a look at how things went in 2012.

Friday Writings for Randos - You don't have to be perfect.

{Friday Writings for Randos - A weekly post that features pieces from other writers that touch some facet of the Randonneuring experience, even if that was not the author's intent. It's stuff that's best read out loud - slowly.} This week it's:...

An excerpt from:

Bike for Life

(from an interview with Rich White)

By Roy Wallack & Bill Katovsky

Don't judge yourself by the mirror. You don't have to be perfect. You just have to be fit enough to do the things that you want to do. That's the most important thing.

Lessons learned

Okay. The Taste of Carolina 1200k, my "next big thing" is done. I did it - barely. I was the "lanterne rouge" - the final finisher - rolling in bandaged but unbroken, tired but triumphant, on a course that was difficult but surmountable. But I did it.

I learned a few things in the process. Some of those things seem obvious now, in hindsight, but I missed them the first time around. I don't want to miss them again. (Oh yes, I am already looking at the calendar and considering what will be the next big thing. What can I say; this sport has epic physical challenges, adventure, uncertainty, stunning visuals, a really cool cast of characters and makes for a memorable story -I'm hooked.)