How many miles of training

[Ardbeg]

I hope to do LEJOG later on this summer. I have been doing around 150 miles per week and am increasing this by 50 miles each month. I was going to keep training till I hit a 350 mile week. I hope to cover around 70 miles per day cycling for 7 days then having a day off before continuing to JOG.
Any suggestions?

[eileithyia]

Not sure how those miles are spread over the days of the week, it is currently only just over 20 miles a day. I would do some daily shorter rides and ensure i do a longish ride at least one day per weekend (assuming you work office type hours) or when you have a day off in the week. I would look at doing at least one 50-60 mile club type ride per week, ie ride out to cafe, 11's, ride to lunch, ride to 3's, then home.....

At some stage throw in a 2 day weekend, ie ride somewhere with bags and some of the kit you will be carrying ..... then ride back next day... get used to how bags fit bike and what can be fitted in and also find out what it is like to ride 2 longish rides on consecutive days.

[tbessie]

What are 11s and 3s?

[PH]

I know we've sort of changed name recently, but this is still the CTC which you'll learn stands for Cafe To Cafe
11s is the first cafe, where cake is essential
Lunch should be substantial, but not enough to spoil
3s which could quite possibly be more cake

[PH]

I hope to do LEJOG later on this summer. I have been doing around 150 miles per week and am increasing this by 50 miles each month. I was going to keep training till I hit a 350 mile week. I hope to cover around 70 miles per day cycling for 7 days then having a day off before continuing to JOG.

There's two points to training, or practice as I prefer to call it in a touring context.
First there's comfort, it's a lot of hours between those places, there is no substitute for sitting long days on the bike to both get used to that and find out if any adjustments need to be made.
Then there's fitness, I don't think you need to do huge mileage for this, though don't let that stop you getting out on the bike and enjoying it. The two day suggestion is what I'd go for, after which I'd want to feel I could do it again on the 3rd day.
IME of high mileage tours it's the 3rd and 4th days that are the hardest, it's easy to set off too fast full of enthusiasm, then it seems regardless of how much practice I've had it feels a bit achey, then realise how much further it is till the end... Then it just passes and I get really into it, getting up and knowing all you have to do all day is ride your bike, bliss.

[toontra]

It's one of those "how long is a piece of string " questions really. Some people get away without any training at all - others (like me I'm afraid) spend months building up to a ride like LEJoG. All I would say is, the more training you do the easier it will be. Hard to over-train unless you go at it like a maniac, and don't forget to taper (reduce training) in the last two weeks.

What you're doing sounds fine BTW. Good luck!

[DaveP]

I agree - its bum on saddle stamina and the ability to tolerate consecutive days at the target mileage that matter.
In my experience once my legs are fit enough to tackle fifty miles without screaming then I can do sixty miles and not feel the extra, and if I can do sixty... and so on. There does seem to be a sweet spot between about fifty and eighty miles where growing discomfort is the only real barrier.

[DaveP]

What are 11s and 3s?

As above, its about cake eating opportunities!

11s, usually written as elevenses is an opportunity at 11 am. In the workplace biscuits usually take the place of cake

3s, ditto at 3 pm. Seems to be a largely unnamed break in my experience. Too early for "afternoon tea", which is a separate ceremony not commonly observed by those who have to work for a living...

The traditional accompaniment for all this cake munching is tea.
I hope that's not going to be a problem for you - I doubt you will wish to drink much traditional English café coffee

[eileithyia]

When it is a hard day in the saddle, 11', lunch and 3's are a way to break up the ride.
When I rode London Edinburgh London, I tried not to think of the whole journey (not that easy) but that it was a series of rides from one food establishment to the next.

Check your routes and plan for a village / small town every couple of hours. Most will have somewhere where you can buy a drink and something to eat (be it cake, biscuits, toast,), it gives you a mental break from the route, time to recharge your batteries.
It does not have to be strictly every 2 hours, take the chance when you see somewhere; it could be 1.5 hours or 2.5 hours (itcould just be a case of check your route for each day and break it up into roughly 4 segments) but remember in that time you will have ridden somewhere near 18-25 miles and your body and mind will be ready for a break.

Mental fitness is as important as dealing with the physical fitness, and the grind of getting back on the bike day after day, treating it as little segments will make it seem more doable.

[Vorpal]

I don't have too much to add to eileithyia's sound advice...

Include some hills, at least in your longer rides if you can. They can be demoralising if you aren't used to them.

The point about being mentally prepared is an important one. One of the most important aspects of training is preparing yourself to slog through on a day when the weather is crappy and you aren't enjoying yourself. Just being able to tell yourself that you've ridden further than what's left until lunch or the next stop, or day's end can be a big help.

[RickH]

My rule of thumb generally over the years has been that I'll be OK if I've done at least a few rides of around, preferably more than, the daily mileage of a trip & my regular weekly mileage is more than the daily mileage will be.

Be prepared for hills - if you live in Flatlandia you may need to go out of your way to find them.

As an aside, It amused me looking at last week's log of rides - yesterday I did a 100km ride (actually 64.6 miles) round Cheshire &, according to Strava, I did 879 ft total elevation gain, last Tuesday I cycled home from Wigan Station covering 7.27 miles & 813 ft of elevation gain. On group trips I've found that folk from the flatter parts of the UK can tend to struggle more in hilly or mountainous terrain because they've ridden enough hills.

Rick.

[Si]

I'm sure that someone has already mentioned it but.......if your end to end is going to be fully loaded then do some long practise rides fully loaded so you get used to the weight, how the bike handles, and so that you can iron out any issues with packing, weight distribution, etc. If you are camping, have a few overnights away from home beforehand to make sure that everything works OK.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

"keep training till I hit a 350 mile week. I hope to cover around 70 miles per day"

350 a week is a lot for to do 70 / day, assuming that you don't completely tire first.
I would do 2.5 / 3 hrs hard training with a load on bike of say 5-10 kgs (not sure if you are camping / B&B) then rest one or two days then repeat, your recovery will limit your training, this is the shortest route to getting fit I.M.O.
50 a day seven days a week would be ok at a reduced effort level but will take longer to get fit.

All depends how old / experienced how fit you are now.

[eileithyia]

Also taper back your riding in the last two weeks, no point being exhausted by the time you get to the start... let your body have some recovery time... remember not many pros are doing 350 miles a week.

[skicat]

IME of high mileage tours it's the 3rd and 4th days that are the hardest, it's easy to set off too fast full of enthusiasm, then it seems regardless of how much practice I've had it feels a bit achey, then realise how much further it is till the end... Then it just passes and I get really into it, getting up and knowing all you have to do all day is ride your bike, bliss.

I agree. Don't make the mistake I did and plan those as the two longest days of the tour