Hi everyone,
What do you recommend to train for a fondo type race on gravel? Most are 100km long hence at least 4h, more likely 4h30 for me with good preparation.
I looked at the Fondo training plan which peaks at under 3h per session.
Thanks!
You going to actually race it? i.e., compete for the win or age group placing? Or you just want to get through it and feel like you did well?
Racing: Get a coach.
Riding: Build up to 4-5 hour rides.
Survive: If you can do 3 hr rides and walk away, another hour should not be too difficult.
Just IMO. But that is how I would look at it.
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Do you mean on Zwift, or a real life event?
If IRL then bike handling is going to help (keep speed up without pushing more energy) and the rest is usually just lots of distance at riding at the intended effort.
With better bike handling on descents you might be able to drop others who are stronger and keep them away.
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If you’re going to do a long IRL ride, then you need at least one long ride per week on the bike setup you’ll be using for that ride. You can progress this in duration. Use it to test nutrition, bike fit, and comfort.
You can also do some of your intervals on that ride, or do them outside on other days, or do them inside on the trainer.
What intervals you actually do will depend on what fitness you need for your event and where your fitness is now. Do a gap analysis and take it from there. Muscular endurance is likely to be a big requirement, so I suspect “as much sweetspot as you can recover from” will be a prominent feature as you build, and if you’re racing then you’ll sprinkle in some above-threshold work later in your prep to add some top-end polish.
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I trained for Vermont Overland primarily using Zwift, about 88km with more than 2100m climbing on a lot of completely unmaintained roads and singletrack and some extremely steep bits. I estimated it would take about 6.5 hours on a fully rigid mountain bike with XC tires and that was pretty close. My approach to the event was getting through it in comfort and doing good power numbers for me over the entire event, and I was satisfied with how it went. Because of that approach I primarily trained by reaching for high volume and long trainer rides. The longest was about 5.5 hours but I did a lot of 3-4 hour trainer rides. I didn’t do any structured workouts since I despise those but I did a lot of badge hunting in Zwift on all the long routes except PRL Full which looks like pure misery. The long rides also allowed me to dial in things like comfort on the bike and nutrition. I have learned to avoid making nutrition changes during long events, mostly avoiding the provided food unless it matches what I have trained with. I did do some outdoor rides to make sure the bike was working well and that my bike handling skills were adequate. I have raced mountain bikes so I was fairly confident that I would be OK on a route that wasn’t super technical but I wouldn’t neglect that part.
What you need to do depends a lot on your weaknesses, your experience doing events that long, the route profile, your experience on the surfaces you will be riding, etc.
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I don’t know your current level of fitness, but if you work up through Quatch Quetch, the Pretzel, the Mega Pretzel / Four Horsemen and the Uber Pretzel in Watopia so that you can do the latter “hard” by the time you’re 4-6 weeks prior to your race then you’ll be in good shape.
There’s no great need for sophistication during this phase. If you approach the last climb on any ride feeling frisky if you’ve been too conservative then you can cane the climb. Conversely, if you overcook the first half, you can grovel the second half. The key thing is to build up the distance/time and ultimately get to be able to ride race duration “hard”, which will of necessity require you to work out a nutrition and hydration strategy. A Pretzel off just breakfast is possible, but the Uber Pretzel requires a lot of additional fuelling as you go.
Riding the long, named routes worked well for me when training for a road sportive. The time passes quite quickly when the ride naturally breaks down into shorter segments with your “ghostriders” to chase (or watch zoom up the road if you’re not feeling great!)
The last 4-6 week can then see a shift to focus more on speed work and riding outside on race-type terrain.
Good luck!
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Thanks all for the pointers. I will try the long Zwift courses (Pretzel series, good pointers David) to build distance. At the moment I am significantly slowing after 2 hours of riding, as sessions in the FTP builder plan are under 1h30 and I haven’t trained long for a while.
Paul I will also do the gap analysis. This training is for a real world race indeed. I won’t have the time or dedication to show up for the win. Too many competing priorities in life at the moment. The goal is to finish in the top 20% of age category, which looking at 2024 results by age category, shows it’s very competitive there also.
Have a great riding week everyone!
For rides of this length, be sure you are hydrating and fueling properly, so that your body has enough energy to last the entire ride, and not be completely wiped out afterward.