9 training tips for a long-distance sportive

One of the best ways to keep yourself motivated and indulge your new-found love of riding is to set yourself a goal, and one of the simplest things for a cyclist to target is a significant distance.

Depending on your fitness level, that can be anything from 30 up to 100 miles – anything that you realistically believe you can achieve in a set amount of time.

Whether you opt to ride your target distance on your own, enter a mass-participation sportive or take part in a charity challenge, one thing’s for sure – you need to train, and train in the right way. Below are a list of guidelines to follow that will hopefully help you in your quest to conquer your first big event.

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1. Set your goal

First off, choose your event. Be realistic: if you took up cycling only a couple of months ago, don’t enter a monster slog through the French Alps. Challenging, yes; sensible, no.

Then think about exactly what you want to achieve on your ride. Are you completing, competing or conquering? Again, be reasonable. Set an impossible aim and you’ll soon lose motivation. 

Once you have your goal sorted, write it down and put it in your wallet, next to your computer, on the dashboard or fridge door – anywhere that you’ll see it often enough to help keep you focused.

2. Get long rides in

3. Develop technique

4. Muscle power

5. Take breaks

6. Drink enough

• Weigh yourself while undressed, before putting on your cycle kit. As an example, suppose that it’s 75kg.
• On your return, note the amount you drank and ate during your ride. We’ll say it was 1500ml, which weighs 1.5kg, and three gels of 0.06kg each, so you’ve taken a total of 1.68kg on board.
•  Before showering, eating or drinking, towel yourself dry and weigh yourself again. We’ll say it’s now 73.2kg.
•  Subtract the second weight from the first to get your bodyweight change: 75 – 73.2 = 1.8kg.
•  Add the weight of the food to this to get your total loss: 1.8 + 1.68 = 3.48kg.
•  Estimate any bathroom stops because this will mean losses are higher.
•  Divide total losses by the hours spent riding: 3.48 ÷ 3hrs = 1.16kg lost per hour

7. Become fuel efficient

8. Avoid injury

9. Pace yourself

You can read more at BikeRadar.com