Help with training please!

Home Forums London to Paris Cycle Training Help with training please!

  • This topic is empty.
Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #503 Reply
    Aliacoster
    Guest

    Hi this is my first long term ride and I need some advice on training. I cycle to work every day 11 miles each way about 50 minutes each time so I ride about 110 miles a week in a little over 8 hours a week. I have seen the training programme suggesting doing a long cycle on a Sunday which I am happy to do. But is cycling twice a day in the week enough training or does it not count if I split the distance throughout the day? What should I do to get ready? I would appreciate any advice?

    #505 Reply
    Alan Bull
    Guest

    Hi Alia,

    It’s great to hear that you are planning on cycling from London to Paris soon. When will you be doing the ride? Independently or part of a group?

    As for training as part of your commute. It’s so difficult to find the time in a busy week to go out and cycle for a couple of hours a day, doing this on your commute is one of the best ways to do this.

    Your daily commuting will give you a good level of general fitness, but you do need to get a number of longer rides under your belt to train for endurance. The weekend rides are great for this and it’s good to follow a training plan like that found on this site.

    Your body needs to get used to burning energy over a long period of cycling and doing so on consecutive days, just like the London to Paris bike ride. Therefore make sure you do quite a few long rides in the weeks before your trip.

    I would say if you can comfortably complete a 60 mile ride like the London to Brighton then you will be more than prepared for Paris.

    #507 Reply
    Gerald
    Guest

    I think Alan’s absolutely right. You definitely need to work up to longer rides. There are things which only become apparent after a couple of hours, and you’ll need to be thinking about food and nutrition as well as comfort on the bike.

    What period are you doing the L2P over? What sort of pace will be expected? You might need to look at doing some speed sessions too to push up your overall pace (that’s if you’re doing one of the 24 hour L2Ps)

    #2066 Reply
    Karen Coe
    Guest

    The training info here has been super helpful but just wondering what other training tips and advice people might have. I’m am finally doing the L2P ride this summer and want to be prepared. I am out cycling most weekends now, trying to find the time for mid-week ride and am making sure I eat well to fuel my body, and mind ha!

    #2118 Reply
    James Phelps
    Guest

    I’d be keen to hear what other have to say to Karen’s question above. I’ve been training a fair bit in the last few weeks and think I’m doing alright but be good to get some tips. Any of the training books they recommend on here worth getting?

    #2181 Reply
    joyrider
    Guest

    I cycled London to Paris a couple of years ago before the pandemic and followed the 18 week training plan on this L2P site and it really worked for me and my friends.

    I had some cycling experience going into the ride but not a huge amount. We did one of the longer L2P routes via Dover and loved it and having mostly followed the 18 week training plan we felt very comfortable on the ride itself, although not at their suggested speeds, we averaged between 11-13 mph as we were carrying heavy panniers over the days.

    In terms of tips, as long as you get a few smaller rides in the week and a bigger one at the weekends you’ll do fine. The double day longer rides at the weekend closer to the L2P trip really helped us, although we only did that twice due to a lack of time.

    The important thing is to prepare mentally too, half the battle is what you think you can do. Having a training plan and keeping a logs of your progress massively helped us feel confident that we could do it. Also make sure you eat well and stay hydrated. We found the last few miles each day both the most challenging and rewarding but with some extra snacks we got there.

    Best of luck with the ride, it’s truly amazing!

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
Reply To: Reply #505 in Help with training please!
Your information: