Can I be ready for a 300-Mile in July?

mamurray24

Hey all,

Here's my back story: 27 year old female, bought a bike in July. Rode 800+ from July-December and lost about 10 pounds. Longest ride was 30 miles, average pace around 14 MPH. I live in Middle Tennessee, so lots of rolling hills.

There is a 3-day 300-Mile ride at the end of July that I'm very interested in doing. It's for Make-A-Wish of Michigan and it's basically the state of Michigan from top to bottom (that's where I'm from!) I want to sign up, but I'm not sure that I have enough time to get training done. The good news is that I'm a college instructor, which means from May-Aug I only work part time. This would give me lots of time to get training rides in. Anyone have experience with this kind of training? Does it seem crazy or doable? Any suggestions or comments welcome. Thanks.

MM

bsexton3

Yes. In fact, now is the time to start training. Look at Ride the Rockies webpage or another like it. They have training plans for their rides. I was about 45 when I did my first multi-day ride and started training at the first of the year. You can do it.

veloman21

Yes you can definitely be ready. Speed will not be an issue but you will have to get your saddle time up. The difficulty will be the 8-10+ hours per day on the bike. If your body parts are not used to it, it will be painful. Work your way up through the winter and spring, there's no substitute for saddle time.

TheBigYin

ah, it's a 3 day ride... in that case, yeah, no problem.

When I saw the 300 mile ride title I thought "yikes" (other expletives are available)...

As long as you're bike fits well, and you've got decent clothing (good, well fitting kit, and at least 3 pairs of shorts - you don't really want to be faffing around with laundry or hoping your only kit dries in time) , the hardest bit as @veloman21 says is getting used to the saddle time - it's important to get some long back-to-back riding days in, a century ride in itself is (or should be for a reasonably fit rider) a pleasant long day out on the bike, especially if riding in a half decent group where you can share the "time in the wind" out front. Three of them back to back - well - other than the saddle time, it's really in the head and not the legs.