Go Farther. Go Faster.
How far can you ride in one day? Christoph Stasser decided to find out. On March 21st, 2015 he hit the velodrome and rode, and rode, and rode....for 24 hours. At the end of that incredible day he had completed nearly 522 miles in a single day. Your goals may be very different, but the process for reaching the goal is similar.
Embrace Reality
No matter where you are going, the first step is to admit where you are now. If you have never ridden more than five miles in a day, your chance of completing a century ride or metric century ride is about zero. However if you start with five miles today and add one or two miles each day, you will be able to crush that ride in a few months.
See Your Future
The next key to building endurance is to have a target. It could be something you came up with like riding one mile for each year on your birthday or completing a charity ride of 40 miles. Whatever the target, it needs to have a date associated with it. Saying “someday I would like to...” won’t work. You need to have a firm date to complete your goal even if the thought of doing it today makes you want to pass out.
Set The Course
Once you know the distance and the time you can chart your course from your current ability to what you will need to accomplish the goal. You don’t need to ride everyday, but you need to have increasing total mileage each week. You don’t want to stagnate, you have a goal to reach! Mix up your distance and level of effort on your rides to keep it interesting while ramping up your total miles.Remember to have fun, this is something you are choosing to do not something you have to do. The good news is once you can do 80% of your goal in one day, you have enough miles in the tank to do the whole thing. You will be shocked at what you can accomplish.
When I started training for a long-distance event I was ok riding 10 miles, but 30 or 40 in one day was out of the question. After sticking with my weekly riding plan I was easily doing 30 miles, then 50 miles, then 80 miles, then 100 miles.
Celebrate!
After you hit your mileage goal or complete your event, don’t forget to celebrate. Take pictures, get a T-shirt, tell your friends, post your time on social media. Then set your next goal and recruit some friends to join you. Training is more fun together!
Pedal Forward!