herneweb

endurance - to Last; to tolerate or bear.
If we think only of endurance, we ought to be considering only that which will enable us to complete or finish an event or challenge.

Naturally, performance is often a part of the desired outcome and quite frequently extends to maximising performance; ie, against time or others.
The question that needs to be asked then is 'how am I able to sustain a desired Power Output for X amount of Time'. This is an entirely different question and is answered in the multitude of books etc on bike training.

Endurance can be facilitated I believe by:
diet
improving mechanical and metabolic efficiency
flexibility and relaxation
raw physical strength
mental approach and forbearance...

Ultimately Endurance is not about not having the opportunity...but enduring to do whatever is necessary and with courage, to ride and keep on riding when all others have said this is not possible and upon the matter have given up.

Richard S.
By  Anonymous
 

What Richard said! I have nothibng to be able to add other than also being able to mentally drop into a zen state of no mind helps (Munen) as well.
By  Tom Stormcrowe
 

Surely the event itself would not be an endurance test if you were able to cope with such feats in a normal training run?

Marathon training usually condones building up to near the full distance but never going right up to it. Perhaps you could find a decent marathon training plan on the internet and transfer/expand it accordilngly?

RL
By  Anonymous
 

I am fairly new to all this cycling stuff, so I can only relate what works (or seemed to work) for me. I did the MS150 this year which is actually 185 miles in two days with 105 of those miles being the first day. Training throughout the year was generally just a long buildup of miles that I would ride at once. A couple of months in advance of the big ride, I started putting long days in the saddle back to back to get over the mental hurdle of the literal "pain in the butt." Most of my riding is done in short hills, so a lot of my riding is like interval training. The MS150 is long and flat with almost no hills, so the pace is much steadier than my usual training is. This difference bothered me a little bit, so it is something that I will pay more attention to this year.
But like the other posters are saying, I think the biggest hurdle to endurance riding is in the mind. Training accordingly can help, but mental toughness is what gets you through in the end.
Dan
By  uncadan8
 

Great comments. So on top of the solid preparation that Richard notes you all agree that the mental preparation is as important.

This is interesting because, if your training is affected for whatever reason, arriving at the event with a feeling of unpreparedness will seriously affect your performance.

As an amateur then I guess it's important to stay positive and bear in mind that you've done all you can in the time you've had.
By  iain
 

It's never my legs that run out of steam (when it comes to endurance. I've bonked (run out of fuel), and I've encountered fatigue in other areas of my body (lower back and contact points), but it wasn't my legs that quit. Simple solution to either problem: pack plenty of fuel for the ride (and don't forget to eat it), pad your contact points, and, if necessary, adjust your bike position so you're sitting a little more upright (so you don't get the fatigue).
I'm convinced that adopting those adjustments will take you any distance you desire.
While it would be ideal to ride the full distance beforehand, the rule of thumb my Tuesday-night ride group taught me was "If you can do sixty, you can finish a hundred."
By  Caloi-Rider
 

Interesting you should say that Caloi, those are the distances I had in mind. I am currently doing around 60 miles on the weekend training rides but the event I have in mind is a hilly 100.

Like Dan my training rides are undulating but I think this will be useful preparation for me.
By  iain
 

I would try to do a sixty mile ride on Saturday and then maybe a repeat of the same ride on Sunday or a different ride if boredom is an issue. I found this really helped me get over the "pain hump".

Dan
By  uncadan8
 

Hi Iain,
Well, I've more or less dumped MSN and am primarily blogging at Blogger again.

To add a point to the discussion, I have found that if I can for lack of a better term, drop into a sort of zen state on an endurance ride. By that, I mean I let my mind fall away from my body.All that exists on the ride to me is the moment, and the flow of traffic (if any) around me. In effect, I detach from the "machine" and float. It's hard to explain, but when I hit that state, I have no physical discomfort because the body exists, but not on my mental plane. I'm just completely immersed in the ride.
By  Tom Stormcrowe
 

Tom
I bet Tour riders would kill to be able to acheive that. I have updated my bookmarks.
Thanks
By  iain
 

Sounds like the state of detachment Ayrton Senna used to achieve during his qualifying laps.
By  phill
 

I believe that you can effectivle train if you are able to have several training sessions at 60% the race distance. Excitement and overall fitness will take you the remainder of the way.

Jim

http://pelotonjim.wordpress.com
By  pelotonjim
 

Thats good news as I doubt I'll be short of excitement :-)
By  iain