Readers of this blog will know that cycling is the mainstay of my fitness endeavors. I've always enjoyed bicycle riding and the aerobic workout it can provide. And I've especially enjoyed bicycle touring--taking long-distance trips by bicycle--ever since my first cross-country adventure in the early 1980's.
I've previously expressed in this blog the hope that I can continue to do bicycle tours as I age. So far it has worked well for the shorter-range tours we've attempted (less than 600 miles), and I've even begun to structure my annual fitness cycle around preparations for bicycle touring (incidentally we recently got, and are now testing, our new touring rig--more on that in a future entry). So it's high time I wrote some words on fitness preparations for going on a bicycle tour.
I'm certainly not the only one putting out information on this topic. The former long-distance cycling champion Lon Haldeman, who now operates a bicycle touring business, has a page providing tips for establishing a very solid fitness basis for tours his company organizes.
The pactour schedule is a bit extreme and, though it looks like an interesting challenge, I'm not sure it would provide the sort of touring experience I would enjoy. And, for the same reasons, the prescribed physical preparation seems to me too intense: I'm not sure most folks would be able to find enough time to put in the sort of miles they stipulate and, truth be told, why should they try if they're not planning to put in the sort of daily mileage at which pactour aims?
As for myself, our work and other responsibilities dictate that we can get in perhaps 1 - 3 hours of training on a few weekdays. On weekends we have a bit more time, but it's usually between 4 and 7 hours--very rarely affording us a stretch of more than 7 hours for riding. In short, the pactour training prescriptions are not only undesirable, but are unrealistic for us.
That said, we do try to prepare for our tours as best we can. That usually means riding 4 days per week, with two of those days being shorter, more intense rides of 1 to 3 hours, and the other two being longer, less strenuous rides of 4 to 7 hours.
We've established some rules of thumb, that seem to have stood us in pretty good stead thus far, as follows. We first try to determine what will be the longest daily mileage during the course of our tour. Once that's done, we set as our goal to have at least one training day where we meet or exceed that mileage--or, ideally, two days where we put in about that amount of mileage back-to-back. The rest of the time we're taking shorter rides but riding at a more intense pace.
The goal has been to hit that mileage maximum about 2 weeks prior to departure and to decrease mileage in the two weeks immediately prior. So, we'll do our typical 1- 3- hour weekday rides in those days prior to departure and perhaps a 50-mile day or two when we have more time on the weekends (our maximum daily mileage on tours has been on the 70-mile range to date). But it is important to get in some rest and recovery from training prior to the start of the tour.
Before going into further detail on those training principles, I need first to explain why training is necessary at all. After all, can't a person who's reasonably fit just go out and ride 50 miles in a day? And I know that the answer to this question is "yes, he can."
But a further follow-up question ensues: how is said individual going to feel at the end of the ride and, just as importantly, is he going to want to get back on the bike and ride the next day? The answer to those questions gives insight into one of the reasons why training for a bicycle tour is a good idea.
In my experience, I do not feel very good at the end of my first 50-mile day of the year. In fact, I typically feel rather ill. And, though I could get on the bike the next day and perhaps ride another 50 miles, it would be rough going--especially for the first 10 - 20 miles. Now, I tend to ride hard whenever I get on a bike, but I think that even if I were going at a more leisurely pace I would still be pretty sore and not anxious to get back on the bike after that first 50-mile day.
But also in my experience, after taking a few days' break after my first 50-mile ride of the year, the next time I ride 50 miles I feel fine afterward. I will typically feel at least some soreness but can nonetheless easily engage in normal physical activities, both immediately after the ride and the next day. And I could get back on the bike and ride another 50 miles the next day without much bother.
So, one of the major reasons for training prior to a bike tour is so that the early stages of the trip will be more enjoyable. You've acclimated yourself to the distance you'll be riding so you don't collapse in your motel room, unable to do normal and/or necessary activities like going out for a bite to eat at the end of the day. And resuming your trip the next day is not such a chore, either.
Now, there are a number of variables that dictate what sort of training is done in advance of the tour. One of them is the total amount of mileage to be ridden and the amount of time that can be spent. It seems to me perfectly conceivable to, if one has very flexible time limits, do a more limited amount of training than we've been doing for our tours.
If, for example, one intends to ride across the country and has an unlimited amount of time for that, one could spend a month or so taking rather short rides of 20 to 30 miles. Then, at the beginning of their tour they could aim for short jaunts of 20 to 30 miles per day, upping their mileage as they so desire as they travel further. In other words, they would be gaining physical conditioning as part of the trip.
Owing to our rather tight schedules, that sort of training regimen will not work for us. We can only take 1 to 2 weeks for our tours, and we want to get as far away as possible during that interval prior to returning home. So our tours tend to be short and intense (for our age-group, in any case), thus requiring a more intense training period. I would certainly like to have such leisure as to be able to take a more lax approach to training, but for the foreseeable future I'll have to continue with the more intense approach.
But there are other good reasons, aside from making the early part of the tour more enjoyable, to train for a bicycle tour. The main one that comes to my mind is preventing or exposing exercise-induced injuries. What I mean by this is that when miles start to build up and as physical exertion increases, injuries can develop. I think back, for example, on an incidence I encountered while on one of my cross-country tours.
While somewhere in the state of Oregon, if memory serves, I ran across a couple of guys riding together--one of whom was on a touring bicycle and the other on a moped. When I asked them about this odd arrangement I was informed that one of the riders had developed knee issues partway into their tour and had to stop riding. Rather than give up his cross-country touring aspirations, this fellow decided to purchase a moped for himself and to continue riding alongside his buddy.
This is perhaps an instance where a lack of proper training caused issues once the tour was underway: had this fellow done more preparation before starting, the injury either would likely have cropped up during training and could have been addressed then, or it might not have happened at all. In any case, a chronic injury like that developing during the course of a bicycle tour is clearly something to be avoided.
That pretty much summarizes what I have to say for now on the issue of training for bicycle tours. We're still working up to our maximum expected mileage of 85 miles for this trip, and we hope to put in consecutive 80-plus mile days some time in mid-June.
Other than that, my shoulder injury has recurred--likely owing to the use of some unfamiliar exercise equipment in a hotel where we stayed. I also got a slight wrist sprain in a bicycle mishap, and that's still healing up. So I've had to cut back a bit on strength training and am currently only doing half of the strength-training routine we're now performing--and that with certain accommodations (sissy push-ups)--twice weekly.
 |
| That's not us, but the photo captures well the spirit of bicycle touring |
I'm certainly not the only one putting out information on this topic. The former long-distance cycling champion Lon Haldeman, who now operates a bicycle touring business, has a page providing tips for establishing a very solid fitness basis for tours his company organizes.
The pactour schedule is a bit extreme and, though it looks like an interesting challenge, I'm not sure it would provide the sort of touring experience I would enjoy. And, for the same reasons, the prescribed physical preparation seems to me too intense: I'm not sure most folks would be able to find enough time to put in the sort of miles they stipulate and, truth be told, why should they try if they're not planning to put in the sort of daily mileage at which pactour aims?
As for myself, our work and other responsibilities dictate that we can get in perhaps 1 - 3 hours of training on a few weekdays. On weekends we have a bit more time, but it's usually between 4 and 7 hours--very rarely affording us a stretch of more than 7 hours for riding. In short, the pactour training prescriptions are not only undesirable, but are unrealistic for us.
That said, we do try to prepare for our tours as best we can. That usually means riding 4 days per week, with two of those days being shorter, more intense rides of 1 to 3 hours, and the other two being longer, less strenuous rides of 4 to 7 hours.
We've established some rules of thumb, that seem to have stood us in pretty good stead thus far, as follows. We first try to determine what will be the longest daily mileage during the course of our tour. Once that's done, we set as our goal to have at least one training day where we meet or exceed that mileage--or, ideally, two days where we put in about that amount of mileage back-to-back. The rest of the time we're taking shorter rides but riding at a more intense pace.
The goal has been to hit that mileage maximum about 2 weeks prior to departure and to decrease mileage in the two weeks immediately prior. So, we'll do our typical 1- 3- hour weekday rides in those days prior to departure and perhaps a 50-mile day or two when we have more time on the weekends (our maximum daily mileage on tours has been on the 70-mile range to date). But it is important to get in some rest and recovery from training prior to the start of the tour.
Before going into further detail on those training principles, I need first to explain why training is necessary at all. After all, can't a person who's reasonably fit just go out and ride 50 miles in a day? And I know that the answer to this question is "yes, he can."
But a further follow-up question ensues: how is said individual going to feel at the end of the ride and, just as importantly, is he going to want to get back on the bike and ride the next day? The answer to those questions gives insight into one of the reasons why training for a bicycle tour is a good idea.
In my experience, I do not feel very good at the end of my first 50-mile day of the year. In fact, I typically feel rather ill. And, though I could get on the bike the next day and perhaps ride another 50 miles, it would be rough going--especially for the first 10 - 20 miles. Now, I tend to ride hard whenever I get on a bike, but I think that even if I were going at a more leisurely pace I would still be pretty sore and not anxious to get back on the bike after that first 50-mile day.
But also in my experience, after taking a few days' break after my first 50-mile ride of the year, the next time I ride 50 miles I feel fine afterward. I will typically feel at least some soreness but can nonetheless easily engage in normal physical activities, both immediately after the ride and the next day. And I could get back on the bike and ride another 50 miles the next day without much bother.
So, one of the major reasons for training prior to a bike tour is so that the early stages of the trip will be more enjoyable. You've acclimated yourself to the distance you'll be riding so you don't collapse in your motel room, unable to do normal and/or necessary activities like going out for a bite to eat at the end of the day. And resuming your trip the next day is not such a chore, either.
Now, there are a number of variables that dictate what sort of training is done in advance of the tour. One of them is the total amount of mileage to be ridden and the amount of time that can be spent. It seems to me perfectly conceivable to, if one has very flexible time limits, do a more limited amount of training than we've been doing for our tours.
If, for example, one intends to ride across the country and has an unlimited amount of time for that, one could spend a month or so taking rather short rides of 20 to 30 miles. Then, at the beginning of their tour they could aim for short jaunts of 20 to 30 miles per day, upping their mileage as they so desire as they travel further. In other words, they would be gaining physical conditioning as part of the trip.
Owing to our rather tight schedules, that sort of training regimen will not work for us. We can only take 1 to 2 weeks for our tours, and we want to get as far away as possible during that interval prior to returning home. So our tours tend to be short and intense (for our age-group, in any case), thus requiring a more intense training period. I would certainly like to have such leisure as to be able to take a more lax approach to training, but for the foreseeable future I'll have to continue with the more intense approach.
But there are other good reasons, aside from making the early part of the tour more enjoyable, to train for a bicycle tour. The main one that comes to my mind is preventing or exposing exercise-induced injuries. What I mean by this is that when miles start to build up and as physical exertion increases, injuries can develop. I think back, for example, on an incidence I encountered while on one of my cross-country tours.
While somewhere in the state of Oregon, if memory serves, I ran across a couple of guys riding together--one of whom was on a touring bicycle and the other on a moped. When I asked them about this odd arrangement I was informed that one of the riders had developed knee issues partway into their tour and had to stop riding. Rather than give up his cross-country touring aspirations, this fellow decided to purchase a moped for himself and to continue riding alongside his buddy.
This is perhaps an instance where a lack of proper training caused issues once the tour was underway: had this fellow done more preparation before starting, the injury either would likely have cropped up during training and could have been addressed then, or it might not have happened at all. In any case, a chronic injury like that developing during the course of a bicycle tour is clearly something to be avoided.
That pretty much summarizes what I have to say for now on the issue of training for bicycle tours. We're still working up to our maximum expected mileage of 85 miles for this trip, and we hope to put in consecutive 80-plus mile days some time in mid-June.
Other than that, my shoulder injury has recurred--likely owing to the use of some unfamiliar exercise equipment in a hotel where we stayed. I also got a slight wrist sprain in a bicycle mishap, and that's still healing up. So I've had to cut back a bit on strength training and am currently only doing half of the strength-training routine we're now performing--and that with certain accommodations (sissy push-ups)--twice weekly.
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