Bicycle Classic Century Ride Training

August 20, 2009

The BCC will have a group riding in, and training for, the Buffalo Bicycle Classic century ride on September 13. See http://www.buffalobicycleclassic.com/  to register for the ride.We will be riding together informally and not as an official team.  People can go at their own pace for both the ride and training, but we anticipate having a “fast” and a “slower” group for those who want to ride together.  The rides can be abbreviated by anyone training for the 70-mile or 50-mile rides.


Training Schedule
The training will include:  1) the normal club rides on Tuesday and Thursday; and 2) special longer rides on Sundays – 8/16, 8/23, and 8/30.  The century training schedule is based on a roadbikerider.com formula that calls for a ride that is 75% of the goal mileage (100 miles) three weeks before the ride and then tapering down 40% the next weekend and 40% again the last weekend before the race.  The schedule is:  8/23 – 75 miles; 8/30 – 45 miles; and 9/6 – 25 miles.  Weekday rides should be very light the week before the Buff Classic.  You could ride with the club on Tues. and Thurs, but drop out early to keep your mileage under 10 miles.

Tapering is very important.  Long-distance cyclists tend to do too much rather than too little.  Abundant research has shown that sharply reducing training volume in the final weeks before a long race maximizes muscle glycogen storage, blood hemoglobin concentration, and other factors relevant to performance.  See “Keys to a Successful Century Ride” at www.bouldercyclingclub.com/training%20for%20century%20text.pdf
Routes

The 8/23 ride will start in Hygiene at the coffee shop.  The two other weekend training rides will start at Amantes in North Boulder.  Come at 7:30 for coffee and the rides leave at 8 am.

We will ride different portions of the Buff Classic:
8/23 – Hygiene to Carter to Horsetooth and back to Hygiene following the Buff Century route.
8/30 –  the 50-mile route for the Buff Classic except starting and ending at Amantes.
9/6 – the 35-mile route for the Buff Classic except starting and ending at Amantes.
9/13 – 6:30am: Rider check-in and FREE continental breakfast at the Start/Finish line. 7:00 am – Ride the Buffalo, baby!

See http://www.buffalobicycleclassic.com/ for route maps.