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Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides
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 2009-09-14 9:46 AM |
Master  2222   Columbus, OhioCoaching member |  Subject: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported ridesI was just starting to check local event calendars for Century Rides I can do next year in preparation for my first IM. As I was doing so, I was thinking that it might be better just to do them alone. Please help me with my pros and cons list: IN FAVOR OF TRAINING ALONE: 1. More flexible time schedule. Can start earlier and have more time with my kids. 2. Cheaper (no entry fee) 3. More challenging mentally, which would be good IM prep 4. Closer to home. No driving to the start point. 5. No problem riding tri bike. 6. No temptation to stop for breaks or nutrition (better race simulation) IN FAVOR OF RECREATIONAL GROUP RIDE: 1. Would improve if I rode with others 2. More fun 3. More likely to avoid cutting it short or skipping out on it, if I registered ahead. 4. Would provide practice stopping for nutrition and then (ouch) getting back in the saddle. 5. Less worry about carrying all nutrition with me. Edited by ahohl 2009-09-14 9:52 AM |
| 2009-09-14 9:48 AM in reply to: #2404835 |
Expert 1073  scottsdale, az | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides I like doing both. Mentally doing a century alone is BORING ( in my opinion). BUT makes centuries with people or race day more fun! |
| 2009-09-14 11:12 AM in reply to: #2404835 |
Champion 19812  MA | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides I do 95%+ of my IM training rides alone from my house. Training is harder than race day so doing that helps me prepare better for race day. I find practicing all the details in training makes it easier to execute without thinking about it come race day as it is ingrained and I just do it. I did one century last year and rode alone. Wow...I had bathrooms 2x and gatorade 2 or 3x and I drove hour from home both directions. It was well marked and hilly so it was good different route than I normally ride and I thought harder than Lake Placid. This year I did no century rides. My suggestion is maybe do 1 or 2 but do most of your riding alone. |
| 2009-09-14 11:12 AM in reply to: #2404835 |
| New user 71 | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides I think that once you get to the hard core part of your IM training, you would want a change a scenery so as to give you a mental break from going solo all the time. An organized century provides this. It gets you away from your normal training ground and provide more stimulations. I do a mixture of both. It gives you something to look forward to. I'd say that if you can afford the time to throw some organized rides into the mixture. |
| 2009-09-14 11:17 AM in reply to: #2404835 |
| Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides I'm doing an organized one this year but most of my rides are solo. Probably do the same next year. |
| 2009-09-14 1:06 PM in reply to: #2404835 |
Expert 937 Traverse Cityish | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides Self supported rides are tough, especially if you are doing multiple loops which gives you the temptation to give it up if your legs are yelling at you. You'll be packing more water and nutrition with you and depending on gas stations and convenience stores for food and water if the loops are long or a full 100 miles. There are also no support vehicles in the case of a major mechanical issue. Group rides are a mental break and you only need to carry a couple bottles and a gel or two. You'll have aid stations with fluids and nutrition with all kinds of things like bagels, cookies, power bars, fruit, muffins, pretzels, nuts, etc. Hooking up with the right people only adds to the fun. The only problem is it's usually less of a workout unless you are doing most of the pulling or the folks you hook up with are treating it more like a race. There are also SAG vehicles if you have a major mechanical that's going to leave you walking. My personal take? if you are training for an IM and you have never done a century, it's probably a good idea to get at least one solo under your belt for the mental preparation. |
| 2009-09-14 1:14 PM in reply to: #2404835 |
Elite 3471 Evergreen, CO | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides Or 3) ride w/ a bike club that does brevets -- that will make you work hard and you'll have company and a planned route w/ aid stations marked. |
| 2009-09-14 3:22 PM in reply to: #2404835 |
Extreme Veteran 357 Ft. Myers, Florida | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides Both. I do some rides totally alone but usually not more than ~60 miles. Anything longer than that I usually try to get at least one or two other people to go with me. You can have other people with you but not do any drafting. That to me equals a solo ride. In the past I have done an annual 4th of July 100k organized ride but don't care too much for the big crowds so tend to avoid many of these. However this past weekend I did the MS150 ride and rode 100 miles on Saturday and another 100 miles on Sunday. Saturday I probably did 75% group riding and maybe 25 miles solo. Sunday was all group riding. For a solo century I might have averaged 16.5mph. One these two rides I averaged 18.6 and 19.1. The faster pace maintained for two days in a row equalled working my azz off. This was probably physically harder for me and a ton of fun. It also had it's mental challenges. I wouldn't recommend going into an IM w/out having done a century with no drafting but if you have done that a couple of times then I say mix it up and have some fun with it. |
| 2009-09-14 3:27 PM in reply to: #2404835 |
Master 2411 Goodyear, AZ | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides I am lucky to have some great people to train for IM with. I dont think I could do much over 60 miles solo. I agree with the suggestion to check out local bike clubs. Maybe a local bike shop can guide you there? We have a great local group that we meet up with. We do about 2 hours, ride 2 hours with the group then finish up on our own. Organized century rides are good too, esp the support, and you can always tag a run on at the end. You also have to check if they allow aerobars (if you have a tri bike), some centuries here dont allow aerobars. There's nothing wrong with training alone, it has many advantages but it might get boring! |
| 2009-09-14 6:17 PM in reply to: #2404835 |
Master 1993 Riverside, IL | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides I've done both. Did one alone (well...just my hubby and I) and one organized this year. I definitely liked the organized event better. It was completely new territory for us, so it made the time just fly by! The one we did alone, was all on roads that we ride almost every weekend...so it was way more boring and predictable. During the supported century, I found that I wasn't looking at my odometer as much....but on the unsupported century, I kept glancing down at the mileage and kept thinking to myself "is THAT all we've ridden so far???" On solo centuries, you just have to make sure that you bring along enough fuel or plan to make frequent stops along the way. We know where all the gas stations are on our route, so planning stops was easy. I generally need to stop about every 30-40 miles or so anyway...if only to pee and stretch. The supported century we did had a nice spread at each rest stop, so no need to pack any snacks in our jerseys. We chose which rest stops to stop at...we bypassed a few early into the ride since we didn't feel the need to stop so soon. I think we hit our first rest stop at around 30 miles...then hit the next one at 75 miles....and that was it for us. At the end of the ride, they had a nice pasta dinner for us, too...so that was cool. |
| 2009-09-14 6:28 PM in reply to: #2404835 |
Champion 10471 Dallas, TX | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides I've done both. Either way, I always carried all my nutrition with me. I just had to stop for water. To make sure it was similar to what I would experience at my IM, I wouldn't take in extra nutrition. It's nice doing an organized ride, because you have SAG support (if you have a bike issue), and the route is made for you. Mapping out a 100 mile ride can be daunting. The 100 mile ride I did on my own was fine as well. We had a nice group that did it. |
| 2009-09-14 7:43 PM in reply to: #2404835 |
Expert 721 Chenequa WI | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides I wouldn't ride the century rides too often as part of training. But if I did, I would modify how they are typically ridden. Like with all of our training, we need to ask ourselves, "what is the purpose of this particular workout? In the case of a long ride, the answer is to work on your endurance training. Specifically, to train your muscles to deal with (and delay) fatigue and to train your body to utilize fat as the primary fuel. Last, the mental toughness you get in long rides is invaluable to your training and on race day. These goals will be interrupted with the prolonged stops at the waysides that most century riders are taking- including me by the way. Especially when they have good food. So, to use a century ride as a long training ride; don't stop at all or any of the waysides but make it very short if you do stop. |
| 2009-09-15 4:49 AM in reply to: #2404835 |
Master 2491 | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides 99% of my rides are alone, but I like organized centuries. I don't think I'd take the time and effort to do the nutrition as well, and the camaraderie and motivation the people provide make the time pass more enjoyably. |
| 2009-09-15 7:44 AM in reply to: #2404835 |
Master 1779 | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides Over the years I've moved to riding solo more than organized group rides. In the past I would have described myself as a social cyclist/runner etc. A year ago, I couldn't have imagined wanting to run and ride long distances alone. Now that is all I want to do. There is a lot to be said about the IM journey. It really changes a lot of things. Or it has for me. Every few months I ride with the club because I think it will be a nice break from training. When I ride with the bike club it is always 4 bike lengths (or more) behind them. It is only for a portion of my ride. I started out as a cyclist who moved into Triathlons. As mentioned before you have to ask yourself what is the purpose of your workout. . Every time I ride with the club it reminds me of why I train alone. I can't tell you how many wrecks or potential accidents I've seen. Riding with a group can be dangerous. I'm not willing to risk getting into a wreck this close to IMFL just for companionship. You always have the option of riding organized rides or alone. Just wait and see how your year of training goes. You might surprise yourself.
Edited by Catwoman 2009-09-15 7:46 AM |
| 2009-09-15 8:49 AM in reply to: #2404835 |
Master 2222 Columbus, OhioCoaching member | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides Thanks everybody. I've done up to 80 alone. I do like riding with one or two friends, but even that is difficult to plan because I like to ride from home and leave at sunrise so I can maximize family time that's left in the day when I am finished. If I'm home from a long ride when my kids are eating lunch, that's awesome. I appreciate all the feedback. |
| 2009-09-15 10:37 AM in reply to: #2406889 |
Master 2404 Redlands, CA | Subject: RE: Century rides: Alone vs. Recreational/supported rides I go solo, in fact I have yet to do a group century, the only group I ride with are my inner demons... (how's that for a cornball quote) Anyway there are a coulple IMSG prep group rides I plan on going on but most of my century rides I plan on doing solo (which is about 8) |
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