400 mile charity ride! Thoughts?

I once cycled 5,000 miles in a day, with only a cup of tea and a biscuit to eat at the half way point etc etc.

Some good advice here. Get plenty of riding in on a daily basis if you can. Jam sandwiches are great. Keep drinking a little and often - water is fine.

Good luck Charlie!

What you are attempting Charlie is no big deal by the standards of 40+ years ago. As a 15 year-old I and my mates would think nothing of Youth Hosteling around the country, in the school holidays, generally clocking-up about 100 miles per day. It was commonplace.

Our bikes were heavy by the standards of today and we wore ordinary jeans and shirts. We navigated with OS 1" maps and the distance ridden was measured via a mechanical clicky-thing attached to the front fork and a rod on one spoke to rotate it. We'd reckon on averaging about 12mph over the day including stops, a nice easy pace for reasonably fit lads.

No thought was given to 'special food', we just bought what we felt like at the time. Maybe an apple and chocolate digestives for lunch and some fish and chips for dinner. We drank tap water when we were thirsty.

The only physical challenge you face is saddle-soreness and the only cure for saddle-soreness ... is time spent in the saddle. If you want to be reasonably comfortable then the more time you spend cycling before the trip the better it will be for you. Ideally you should be riding pretty much every day, even if it is only a few miles. You'll be astonished what a difference it will make.

Like most of my mates I cycled to school and also on 2 paper rounds per day, only about 10 miles in total, but as a result I never really experienced 'saddle soreness'. On one trip however we were joined by a lad that didn't cycle much and within a few miles was complaining about his arse hurting. "What do you mean your arse is hurting?" we said, completely unaware of how uncomfortable it could be. Unfortunately by the 3rd day the lad had to be rescued by his father driving out to us in his car. The lad was highly embarrassed and his father was fuming and disgusted by his son's inability to keep up.

In my view that's the only preparation you really need ... spend as much time in the saddle as you can before the trip. You'll be glad you did it when you are comfortable and others around you are complaining.

You certainly don't need to know about monitoring your heart-rate, cadence or power to cycle 68 miles-per-day. It'll be easy for a fit lad at your age.

I rode 140 miles in a day when I was 16 - just to prove that I could.

I did take energy bars - much better eating something than having those sickly gel things.

Are you riding it solo ? Do you need to navigate ? What are the roads ? Any back up ?

Time in the saddle and keeping it comfy will be the key. So if you can say ride 80 miles in one day you should be good to go. Pace yourself and prepare for punctures etc.

Have fun !

Also try Jordans Frusli Raisin and Hazlenut (the purple packet, found other varieties a little acidic). I eat one of these an hour on long rides without any ill effects. I snip the tops off the wrappers with scissors before heading out to save faffing with opening them on the move. They're cheap too.

Consider getting a foam roller if you don't have one and use it to give your legs a 5 minute massage at the end of each day. A minute on each IT band and then my hams does wonders for me, but then my legs are 3x the age of yours.

Good luck!

I meant to say, jam sandwiches are an old favourite. You can wrap them up quite small and if you are careful with your hands going in and out of your jersey pockets they can survive quite a while without getting squashed. Brown bread is better than white.
Also, I read somewhere that cherries are good for recovery.

will keep you posted Charlie

With regards to fizik - saddles are so personal. I have my main bike with an Arione, my commuter with a Selle Italia 1980 Turbo and I have a Cambium C15 that is sat waiting for a need.

I did 108km yesterday and the Arione was reasonable comfortable but I worry. I am considering putting the Brooks C15 on for the 500mi trip in July. I had an old Arione which was quite comfy but I did the 500mi last time on the stock Cannondale saddle which was ok.

I tried to rely on gels last time and it was unpleasant. I found I would be experiencing peaks and troughs of energy and the lows were not worth the highs. When I did the Tour of Flanders I found small sandwiches & baked eggs worked really well (alongside the feed station waffels!)

It's tempting to hoover up a load of rubbish after the day is finished in terms of food but the milk suggestion is a good one, great recovery drink. You may find it stops you eating other tat in search of recovery nourishment.

Be very careful with saddles; they are very personal. I had a proper bike fit last year, which was a fantastic investment. Part of the deal was I could try different Fizik saddles for a week after; I had told the fit guy that I get numb bum after 3 hours or so riding.
First up was the Arione, which for me was murder! The numb bum was starting after 30 minutes, not 3 hours! Then I tried the Alliante, which was better but still not better than the Charge Spoon I already had.
Also be careful with HRM across sports, I know when I am running I regularly see over 200 bpm but on the bike the max is never more than 180.
Nutrition - you'll need variety and normal food over that many days, you can't just get by on gels and "science" recovery stuff. I find a big glass of milk after a ride makes a difference, and on the day you may well want some savoury stuff, possibly even the odd bit of junk food. Keep eating and drinking a little and often, don't wait til you feel hungry; you're fueling for 20-30 minutes time, not the immediate moment.

maybe the problem is a padded saddle, which one is it ? I would really recommend if you can afford it to go for a Fizik Ariane/Arione. Remember the less is better !

Just to add to the good advice above I would definitely try and keep off gels as much as possible. I find Oats so Simple bars lovely and light to eat. Remember this is not a race you have all the time in the world to do it so refuelling is key not speed.

Try keeping your heart rate below 75% of your maximum (you should know max HR from your rowing experience) This is zone 2 and a comfortable level for endurance activities. Saddle time will go along way to help with you coping with the event. Clean shorts every day and lots of chamois cream will help. A comfy setup is important for multi day events so ensure your position isn't too aggressive.

Eat and drink every hour, pace your effort. Being young will certainly help in your recovery. Try and train to spin at 90rpm for a comfortable easy pace, this will be less strain on your legs. Cadence device like a wahoo will help to keep your cadence right.

Hi

Congrats on your efforts, sounds like a really good event.

I have done a 500 mile in 4 day event (doing it again this year) and for me what was important was base miles over winter before, the ability to do long sessions at a comfortable cadence (mashing a big gear for 6 days will hurt) and knowing about eating real food.

the Feed Zone Portables book has a lot of great recipes for eating on the bike. gels and powders for a few days on the trot can give you gut problems (CAN, not necessarily will).

I measure the HR in % of max - it's not perfect but I find riding at 65-70% is a good endurance pace. Maybe 70-75%. Everyone is different.

Recovery will be key for you - ensuring you eat right and replace what's been used is essential in the evenings. It's tempting to have a bucket of carbs but protein will aid muscle repair and recovery.

bike fit is very important as is clothing - it doesn't have to be expensive to fix. Do you get any small aches and pains now? they can either stay the same or become agonising on a ride such as yours. I had a sore palm turn into needing to ride one/no handed because of the saddle being set poorly and bad gloves. If you have issues its best to prevent than repair.

Also for shorts and jerseys - one tip I was given which worked is have multiple sets and brands of shorts if possible. Each manufacturer will place seams differently, having a few mm variance in where you're rubbed can be the difference between comfort and chafing. Chamois Cream will help with this also.

Above all just enjoy it, hope it goes well