Zero to 94.7 in three and a half hours. Advice needed.

[iamgigglz]

Hi. New Year's Resolution rider here.

The resolution was one taken up by so many but maintained by precious few: To get fit again.

After 18 years of nearly zero exercise I figured just completing the 94.7 would be a good goal for this year. Considering I have such a long time to prepare, would a stretch goal of 3.5 hours be...mad on a MTB? Or doable? That's my first question.

 

If I'm feeling really strong I might do one of the MTB races too.

I picked up an 11kg hard-tail off the Hub classifieds and I'm now using the 4km stretch of Spruit that runs between my home and my office twice a day. Every Sunday morning I do about 30km: half road and half Spruit...upstream 

 

I'm handling that ok and will start adding distance, but how should I be tackling this? Push to the 100km ride then work on speed? Or keep the speed up and slowly build the distance?

Any smaller events between now & then to use as wake-up calls?

 

Unfortunately I don't get much time to ride during the week so big rides will be confined to weekends.

Right; please bathe me in your wisdom 

[Honkdonk]

Easy. I rode the 947 on a MTB 3 years ago and finished with a 3h20

 

If you not that serious about the training all you need to do is keep up with the long rides over weekends and you will be fine.

Aim to be comfortably finishing 4hr rides by October.

Even if you stay off road and track your improvement by way of a GPS or smart phone app you should manage. And then once you move onto the road for the main event you will see a marked increase in speed/times

Its all about time in the saddle and having fun

 

Use a dedicated bike park for safety and a way to measure your progress on the same or similar loop. Northern Farm is a great place for this. There are other places and the more you ride the more you will discover

[Cav']

TITS is all you need

[SwissVan]

Hi. New Year's Resolution rider here.

The resolution was one taken up by so many but maintained by precious few: To get fit again.

After 18 years of nearly zero exercise I figured just completing the 94.7 would be a good goal for this year. Considering I have such a long time to prepare, would a stretch goal of 3.5 hours be...mad on a MTB? Or doable? That's my first question.

 

If I'm feeling really strong I might do one of the MTB races too.

I picked up an 11kg hard-tail off the Hub classifieds and I'm now using the 4km stretch of Spruit that runs between my home and my office twice a day. Every Sunday morning I do about 30km: half road and half Spruit...upstream 

 

I'm handling that ok and will start adding distance, but how should I be tackling this? Push to the 100km ride then work on speed? Or keep the speed up and slowly build the distance?

Any smaller events between now & then to use as wake-up calls?

 

Unfortunately I don't get much time to ride during the week so big rides will be confined to weekends.

Right; please bathe me in your wisdom 

 

Its doable for sure, but will be a challenge for a "beginner" even after a 9 months of training assuming you start now. Not only will you have to build up your general fitness but you will also have to improve your fitness so you can ride at +30kmh average for 3 to 3.5 hrs

 

Depends how dedicated you and your genes are

 

Good luck

[Frosty]

If you haven't entered the Carnival City Macsteel race yet, then get a late entry next week at CycleLab or Tour de Frans Cycles.

 

1. It's a seeding event for the 947 cycle challenge;
2. It will give you an idea of your current form (or lack of);
3. It's a relatively flat race (beginners may think otherwise);
4. You can see where you are today vs November 2015.

Even if you only do the 65Km distance, you're starting off now rather than waiting a month or two when autumn/winter races start (and are few and far between).

[IceCreamMan]

^{Its doable, I rode a sub 3:30 on my first attempt after only riding for about 9 months.... and I am 49... but was on a raod bike and dedicated to cycling...son in a nutshell, u do the time u will do the time...simple...}

[iamgigglz]

 

Easy. I rode the 947 on a MTB 3 years ago and finished with a 3h20

 

If you not that serious about the training all you need to do is keep up with the long rides over weekends and you will be fine.

Aim to be comfortably finishing 4hr rides by October.

Even if you stay off road and track your improvement by way of a GPS or smart phone app you should manage. And then once you move onto the road for the main event you will see a marked increase in speed/times

Its all about time in the saddle and having fun

 

Use a dedicated bike park for safety and a way to measure your progress on the same or similar loop. Northern Farm is a great place for this. There are other places and the more you ride the more you will discover

 

" a GPS or smart phone app".  It didn't take me long to find Strava ("Hamish Stewart"). As much hate as it may attract it's a great training tool. I find myself pushing up hills that I would normally granny-gear in the hopes of seeing that little trophy icon.

I'll be checking out Northern Farm (and Modderfontein?) soon enough; I just need to organise one of those sexy Thule bike doodads for my roof racks.

 

 

Its doable for sure, but will be a challenge for a "beginner" even after a 9 months of training assuming you start now. Not only will you have to build up your general fitness but you will also have to improve your fitness so you can ride at +30kmh average for 3 to 3.5 hrs

 

Depends how dedicated you and your genes are

 

Good luck

This response makes me think I'm on the right track. A challenge is exactly what I was looking for. No point making a stretch goal something that's not a challenge.

Thanks for the luck - I may need it.
 

If you haven't entered the Carnival City Macsteel race yet, then get a late entry next week at CycleLab or Tour de Frans Cycles.

 

1. It's a seeding event for the 947 cycle challenge;
2. It will give you an idea of your current form (or lack of);
3. It's a relatively flat race (beginners may think otherwise);
4. You can see where you are today vs November 2015.

Even if you only do the 65Km distance, you're starting off now rather than waiting a month or two when autumn/winter races start (and are few and far between).

 

Winter races are few & far between? Damn. Unfortunately I can't make it on the 22nd. That would have been a biggie for me; further than I've ever ridden by double, but a nice challenge. I'll be keeping an eye out for similar events.


Thanks very much for the responses guys. I really wanted to make sure that this was a pukka challenge, but also not setting myself up for failure. I'll revisit this thread as the year goes by...

[Milosh]

I did similar in 2014 ,   committed at christmas 2013 and did little bits here and there most of the year. 

 

Ramped it up properly with a month to go and did a 4:30.

Some tactics could have brought this to 4:00

 

So some proper training required to do 3:30

 

Kyalami on weekday evening and cradle on weekend are the ways to go.

[BDF]

You should be able to do that quite comfortably if you stick to your training regime. In 2011 I did it in 3:14 after training from September to November - admittedly on a road bike. I agree with all the comments above, especially Honks advice to get up to the 4Hr rides on weekends. Make sure your shorter weekday rides are high intensity and use the weekends to get your body used to pedaling for long unbroken periods. Make sure you eat right and fuel your body right as well.

 

I hope you don't smoke...

 

Good luck!

[mikeking]

Depends how much you want it! I started cycling 4 years ago, when a friend entered me to ride for a cause. I had exacltly 3 weeks to prepare, and I was 53 years old at the time. I finished in 5.32, and nearly died. The bug had bitten, and the next year I did a 3.46. In 2013 I managed a 3.13, and last year a 3.10. I am a weekend warrior that does not get time to go out during the week, although I might get one or two gym sessions in during the week. So go for it!

[iamgigglz]

Such positive responses! 

 

@BDF - Stopped smoking three years ago; another new year's resolution that worked.

[dee_biker]

I also do not have much time to ride during week (work and family)

 

I get up at 4am in the morning, go for a good 1h30 ride, go home, shower, drop the kids at school and go to work.

 

IF you can somehow fit in 2/3 HARD 1 hour sessions in the week and a 3 hour ride weekends then you will get there quickly!

 

Don't concentrate on distance. Time in the saddle like someone said earlier is the way, even if it is SLOW at first.

 

Try at least 3/4 sessions a week.

[Brickleberry]

Easy. I rode the 947 on a MTB 3 years ago and finished with a 3h20

 

If you not that serious about the training all you need to do is keep up with the long rides over weekends and you will be fine.

Aim to be comfortably finishing 4hr rides by October.

Even if you stay off road and track your improvement by way of a GPS or smart phone app you should manage. And then once you move onto the road for the main event you will see a marked increase in speed/times

Its all about time in the saddle and having fun

 

Use a dedicated bike park for safety and a way to measure your progress on the same or similar loop. Northern Farm is a great place for this. There are other places and the more you ride the more you will discover

The new route is a whole different ball game. Will need a reasonable amount of work to do a sub 3:30 on a mountain bike on the new course. Not impossible, but will need some work.

[F.K]

Hi. New Year's Resolution rider here.

The resolution was one taken up by so many but maintained by precious few: To get fit again.

After 18 years of nearly zero exercise I figured just completing the 94.7 would be a good goal for this year. Considering I have such a long time to prepare, would a stretch goal of 3.5 hours be...mad on a MTB? Or doable? That's my first question.

 

If I'm feeling really strong I might do one of the MTB races too.

I picked up an 11kg hard-tail off the Hub classifieds and I'm now using the 4km stretch of Spruit that runs between my home and my office twice a day. Every Sunday morning I do about 30km: half road and half Spruit...upstream 

 

I'm handling that ok and will start adding distance, but how should I be tackling this? Push to the 100km ride then work on speed? Or keep the speed up and slowly build the distance?

Any smaller events between now & then to use as wake-up calls?

 

Unfortunately I don't get much time to ride during the week so big rides will be confined to weekends.

Right; please bathe me in your wisdom 

I did the 94.7 with only 2 months of riding in 4h12 and farthest i rode was the 40km fun ride 2 weeks before 

[maidenmole]

3hrs on a) a MTB and b) on the new route is effing hard, let alone only having 8 or 9 months to train (with winter slap in the middle).

[iamgigglz]

3hrs on a) a MTB and b) on the new route is effing hard, let alone only having 8 or 9 months to train (with winter slap in the middle).

3 hours? Not happening. 3.5 hours is the target. 4 hours seemed a bit lazy for a stretch goal.