martinsnyman Posted July 16, 2012 Share I only started cycling about eight weeks ago and rode my first race this weekend, the trailseeker 2 20km fun run. I had an wesome ride and finished in 1h26min and some change. My average speed was 13.8km, I did not stop once and had to push my bike twice, once because the hill was to steep for me and the other time due to slower riders in front of me. The question I have is, for the next race do I do the 20km again, or do I attempt the 40km? My training consists of three 20km road rides during the week and on the weekend I cycle from my house to Groenies, do a 14km loop and cycle back home - 32km. I have done a 40km road ride, but do realise that this is a different story to a 40km mtb race. Of course there is more than a month to train before #3, would you guys think I could be ready for the 40km? I have entered the 94.7 mtb race and would like to be ready for that! Thanks Martin Edited July 16, 2012 by martinsnyman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cav' Posted July 16, 2012 Share Do a 40 - only one way to get better Do the usn voortrekker monument 50km race in august. Thats 3 weeks of hard training Soggy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabes Posted July 16, 2012 Share Well how did you feel after your ride? If you have a month before the next race I am sure you should be ready to take on the 40 km race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinsnyman Posted July 16, 2012 Share Well how did you feel after your ride? If you have a month before the next race I am sure you should be ready to take on the 40 km race. Felt pretty good, cycled Groenies on Sunday- did not struggle, but was a bitt stiff today! Next race is 01 Sept, trailseeker #3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabes Posted July 16, 2012 Share Felt pretty good, cycled Groenies on Sunday- did not struggle, but was a bitt stiff today! Next race is 01 Sept, trailseeker #3.Then no doubt you will be fine, just keep the training up. Good luck for the race Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJR Posted July 16, 2012 Share At your age, if you are reasonably fit and in good health, the 40 should be do-able. But.....Remember that the 40 is usually more technical with bigger steeper climbs and descents compared to the 20. I would say the 40 is about 2 and a half times harder than the 20. If in doubt, do a few more 20s first. The idea is to enjoy it and finish without feeling totally gutted, right? fabes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Break Posted July 16, 2012 Share If you have only started training 8 weeks ago and most of your rides are 20km rides then I suggest your next race is a 20km race. I really suggest you rather try upping your training km toward the 40km mark before you attempt to do this in a race, especially as you will be pushing harder in a race. The main reason for this is purely that if you are new to cycling and endurance sports you will need to teach your body as well as your mind in terms of discipline about feeding and hydration over the 90min mark. Your body handles exercise well up to about 90min without any special feeding or drinking but take this over two hours (or in a 40km race at your pace 3 hours plus) and you run a very very high risk of bonking like you will never believe you could. I suggest you rather work this all out during training than during a race. Also, if you are new to endurance sports doubling your time in the saddle from 90min to 3 hours is just not good for your body. All training and racing should be from a gradual increase in mileage over a period of time with the correct amounts of rest inbetween. Good rule of thumb for cycling is to up your mileage between 10-20% per week and do as much long slow distance as possible at heart rates at about 50-70% of your max as this is the intensity where you build yor fitness. Higher and you do not build fitness effectivley enough. Lot and lots to learn, but do these few simple things and they will take you a long way at the start.Good luck! Remember, there is no rush to the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheV Posted July 16, 2012 Share Do a 40 - only one way to get better Do the usn voortrekker monument 50km race in august. Thats 3 weeks of hard training And you bigmouth, which one you going to do? Still waiting for my invite to join the crackendale brigade on a ride? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinsnyman Posted July 16, 2012 Share Thanks for all the advice so far,please keep it coming! I quit smoking after 25yrs of puffing like a dragon at the same time I started cycling, my legs are keeping up but i get out of breath very quickly - what is the best way to build up lung capacity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheV Posted July 16, 2012 Share hey martin, like the_break said, ride the 20's for a while... when u start finishing them in the top 15 spots you will know when its time to move on to bigger races! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaLoCo Posted July 16, 2012 Share Thanks for all the advice so far,please keep it coming! I quit smoking after 25yrs of puffing like a dragon at the same time I started cycling, my legs are keeping up but i get out of breath very quickly - what is the best way to build up lung capacity?You ride...simply. 13.8 km/h is not bad at all for 8 weeks worth of cycling. BTW, I have done quite a few 100km + road races, but my longest ever training ride was 75 km. Accept that you are not going to win, so make your goal to finish strong. Do the 40 km, but I would suggest that you turn one of the road session into an interval session, and another into hill repeats. Intervals develop your ability to recover after short periods of exertion, and hill repeats makes you strong and also gets your mind over the fact that hills are tough....they become beatable on a mental level. Your biggest issue now is between your ears. Don't for one moment think you might not make it...we are far tougher than we think. Your body might not like you for a short while, just tell it to shut up. TheV 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Break Posted July 16, 2012 Share You ride...simply. 13.8 km/h is not bad at all for 8 weeks worth of cycling. BTW, I have done quite a few 100km + road races, but my longest ever training ride was 75 km. Accept that you are not going to win, so make your goal to finish strong. Do the 40 km, but I would suggest that you turn one of the road session into an interval session, and another into hill repeats. Intervals develop your ability to recover after short periods of exertion, and hill repeats makes you strong and also gets your mind over the fact that hills are tough....they become beatable on a mental level. Your biggest issue now is between your ears. Don't for one moment think you might not make it...we are far tougher than we think. Your body might not like you for a short while, just tell it to shut up.I do not suggest you start doing hill or interval sessions for at least the first 3-4 months. Sorry if I offend but this is very unwise above and definitely not a good way to train other than to be a mucho athlete. This is the wrong advice for anew athlete as you must definitely build your aerobic base properly to give you a good standing into your cycling. This can only be done at the lower 50--70% heart rates as I mentioned earlier. Teach your body the basics, build it up slowly and then worry about maximizing performance at a later stage. Take care of your body now through wise training and it will take care of you. Edited July 16, 2012 by The_Break Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kosmonooit Posted July 16, 2012 Share Why not try out a 50+ k ride around Suikerbosrand to build your confidence? Its a tar road but few cars, some great climbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Brunsdon Posted July 16, 2012 Share I'm in the Cape so no comment on how technical your rides are but trust me, if your considering a 20km then save your cash and ride to your corner cafe and back. Do the 40km and don't stress. My first race was 42km (Die Burger MTB challenge) and I never looked back even if I did finish dead last Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaLoCo Posted July 16, 2012 Share I do not suggest you start doing hill or interval sessions for at least the first 3-4 months. Sorry if I offend but this is very unwise above and definitely not a good way to train other than to be a mucho athlete. This is the wrong advice for anew athlete as you must definitely build your aerobic base properly to give you a good standing into your cycling. This can only be done at the lower 50--70% heart rates as I mentioned earlier. Teach your body the basics, build it up slowly and then worry about maximizing performance at a later stage. Take care of your body now through wise training and it will take care of you. Thanks for the correction.... No offense As I read your post I realized that had done a year of Aerobic riding (40km plus every morning five days a week) before starting with intervals and such. I re-read your first post and would suggest martinsnyman rather follow your advice jonnow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cav' Posted July 17, 2012 Share And you bigmouth, which one you going to do? Still waiting for my invite to join the crackendale brigade on a ride?i'll do the one at the monument - bring the bigtop (not the DS) and join me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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