Never ridden a Multi-Stage Event before? Hotchillee Ride Captain Eddy has a few words of advice:
Most riders can grit their teeth and endure a tough day on the bike but on a multi-day event it’s what happens next that matters. Hotchillee designs and delivers iconic multi-day cycling events that allow the rider to push themselves as hard as they dare whilst offering the opportunity to enjoy stunning par cours and Instagram-warranting vistas. Of course all this can only be done if you are in good shape on the bike and haven’t trashed yourself on day 1!
Top Tips
So here are my top-tips for training requirements to enjoy your multi-day event:
- Start training early as you can’t last minute ‘cram’ for an event.
- Start with a low intensity to build sufficient general fitness to support later harder work
- Gradually increase the duration of your weekly ‘long ride’ to 160km
- Add in a 2nd ride after your ‘long ride’ of approx 60% of the length. This back to back riding or ‘backing-up’ is essential to conditioning and understanding your body for multi-day events.
- Include an intense/quality session such as intervals in your weekly plan. Always riding at 65% makes you good at riding at 65%. Ride at 95% to hone your fitness for when the pace of the ride bites.
- Try time-trialling! Once a dark art practiced from village halls at 6am, this ‘steady and hard’ approach is the key to pacing that will allow you to avoid ‘blowing up’! Try 85% for 30mins once or twice in a longer ride!
- Don’t Panic! So that’s potentially 4 rides a week but having an easier week when you’re busy won’t ruin an event. Focus on trying to ensure you can make the next ride.
- Do nothing! Recovery and time for adaptation are equally as important as the rides themselves. So feet up and tea without guilt!
- Taper: the art of doing less in the 2 weeks preceding your event so you arrive with those mythical fresh legs that Hotchillee founder, Sven likes to wax-lyrical about.
Enjoy the ride! Eddy, HotChillee Ride Captain, Group 4.