1 month away from my 1st bike Marathon

jzs20

milliondollarbikeride.org

Signed up for a 34 mile ride and starting to have doubts...
Mainly worried about not being able to finish.
I take spinning classes and ride about 5 miles a day but never rode more than 20 miles at one time.

Any Suggestions or advice would be pretty awesome.

christran206

Go at your own pace. If there is no time limit, don't worry about the distance. Almost anyone can walk a marathon. Almost anyone can do 34, 50, 100, or 200 miles on a bicycle as long as they pace themselves. Don't get caught up in the enticement and over-exert yourself in the beginning. It's a very common mistake that I personally have made a couple times.

Spinning will help but there is no substitute for spending time on the bicycle. Instead of spin class, use that time and energy to get more time on the bicycle and ride longer. How exhausted were you when you rode 20 miles? Do you feel like you could have done more or could you no longer stand up? Since you have three weeks left, the week before should be a recovery week, then I suggest do a 20 mile ride this week, 25 next week, 30 the third week, and the week before do your normal 5 mile a day.

I was looking at the elevation map and it seems like there are a few hills so you may want to see if you can ride that section of the route and determine how difficult it would be to stay on your bike. The rolling hills should be relatively easy.

Check your bike. Take it to a bike shop or go online and look at what you can do to maintain the bicycle. If you haven't had a tuneup in a while, it could make the bicycle a little easier to get moving.

I was overweight at 210lbs when I did the Seattle to Portland Bicycle ride, a 204 mile route in a single day. I trained as much as I could for it and doubted myself more and more as the date came closer as I was getting really tired after training from 20 miles a weekend to 140 miles in 6 months. My friends reassured me and on the day of the event, I got on the bicycle and slowly all those doubts went away. Just mentally focus on your objective and you will get there.

BrianSharpe

^^^^ This plus, consider getting a pair of cycling shorts if you don't already have some.

The padding (called a chamois) can make a huge difference in your comfort level on a long ride & in addition to a tune up check your bike fit.