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Mohican 100k for a Casual Person

2596 Views 7 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Jp716, Apr 18, 2022

Wheelspeed

Discussion Starter · Feb 6, 2022

So I am looking at the BikeReg site to put things into my calendar and saw this Mohican 100 that isn't too far from home. They have a 100 mile version and 100k version. I'm 51 and about 30 lbs overweight but it's winter and usually get down to only 20 lbs overweight by spring. (5-11 and 210 lbs).

Most summers, my longer rides with lots of elevation are about 15 miles. I've seen these kinds of rides posted before and never paid much attention. But as I get older I wonder if I should try an endurance ride sometime since I never tried one before. I'd have to work myself up to being able to do long distance.

I know that for road-biking, you don't really have to train to the full ride length. That is, you could get yourself up to about 35 mile rides, and then you'd be able to eke out a 62 mile ride when the day comes.

Any input about mtb rides? Keep in mind I'm talking about a ride, not racing. There are 7 fully stocked aid stations for the 100 mile version, so with me doing the 100k version, I'd assume 3 stations and possibly 4, and it'd just be a ride for me so I'll loiter for 5 or 10 mins at an aid station and let my heart rate calm, drink water and eat, etc.

The event is April 21st and mtb season in Pittsburgh gets better around mid March or so. But I have a mtb hooked up to a smart trainer/Zwift and have started that a little already. It's helpful but I suppose we should ignore that for now because it's gotta be hard to relate road Zwift mileage to real-world mtb'g.

For real-world outdoor mountain biking on trails, what target do you think I should work up to in order to be able to do this 100k mtb event? Something like - one or two 35-mile rides and then I should be okay for a 62-mile ride with aid stations? I have trail networks here that are 100-130 feet of elevation per mile, so let's assume those would be my big training rides. But my local networks don't have much more than 20 miles for any one place, so could be a little boring to do really high mileage and I'm not enough of an enthusiast to repeat the same trails 3x to get ready for a ride.

Thanks in advance,
-John

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geofharries

· #2 · Feb 6, 2022

Even if you’re not racing, 100 km is a long mountain bike ride! Respect the distance.

You can train for this. Given the short period of time, use the trainer and road.

Generally, you can get by on 3 days per week. Distance and intervals. Add more of both, a little at a time.

Long road ride, 90 minutes or more
Flat to rolling terrain. Smooth high cadence

Hilly road ride, 30-60 minutes
5-10-20 minutes at a hard pace
Recover for one minute and repeat

Hard road ride, 60 minutes
30 second intervals: 30 seconds effort, 30 seconds recovery
Pedal easily for 5 minutes and repeat

Fit in mountain bike rides occasionally to keep up or build your skills.

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Wheelspeed

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 6, 2022

geofharries said:
Even if you’re not racing, 100 km is a long mountain bike ride! Respect the distance.

You can train for this. Given the short period of time, use the trainer and road.

Generally, you can get by on 3 days per week. Distance and intervals. Add more of both, a little at a time.

Long road ride, 90 minutes or more
Flat to rolling terrain. Smooth high cadence

Hilly road ride, 30-60 minutes
5-10-20 minutes at a hard pace
Recover for one minute and repeat

Hard road ride, 60 minutes
30 second intervals: 30 seconds effort, 30 seconds recovery
Pedal easily for 5 minutes and repeat

Fit in mountain bike rides occasionally to keep up or build your skills.

Huh. Thanks for the input. I'm not familiar with judging rides by time, so that's new to me. But okay... the times are nice and short so that's inspiring. I'll try those on Zwift. When weather agrees later, I might try to swap the "Hard road ride" for a hilly mtb ride because unfortunately my road bike and mtb are very different, so I'm worried about ergonomic cramps and stuff if I jump on my mtb for a long ride.

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geofharries

· #4 · Feb 7, 2022

Is this the event?

If yes, it looks like a fun combination of gravel/dirt roads and singletrack!

This is where having some road or gravel mileage is going to help tremendously, so you can cruise more on the roads and then ride the singletrack a little harder. If you do too much slow-speed mountain bike specific training, you will suffer on the road which will drain you for the technical bits. It also will help to lift some weights, do some pushups, pull-ups etc to aid with the singletrack.

I'm not a coach, but I've raced for a long time (since the late 90s) and have had coaches. With kids at home, a full-time job, etc. it gets really hard to dedicate tons of hours to being on your bike so you need to be smart with what you have, hours-wise.

The reason I suggested time over distance is that it's really about quality over quantity for the average person. The intervals are what will help you the most, but you also need some base miles in there.

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wolfmw

· #5 · Feb 7, 2022

I've done a few 100k races back in the day, like somebody said above the distance is real.

Putting in a LOT of miles/time between now and then will make a big difference. Supplement with some occasional intense rides, and strengthen your mental game. It'll probably suck, but the kind of suck you look back on proudly. You can do it if you're determined!

ETA: do what geoffharries says!

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AndrewHardtail

· #6 · Feb 7, 2022

If you have time, I'd also recommend doing at least a couple of long (4+ hour) easy rides, ie long enough that you need to take in a decent amount of calories to stay fueled, so you can practice feeding strategies and find out how much and what kind of food works best for you. Or maybe more importantly, what doesn't work. You can do this on a road ride, but even if you're on the road, ride the bike you're going to race on so you can also find out if there are any niggling ergonomic issues that will make you uncomfortable after a few hours in the saddle.

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scarkinsmel

· #7 · Feb 7, 2022

I’ve done the race, it’s not a terribly difficult or technically challenging course. Unless they’ve somehow built a bunch of new trail, it will be a similar route. Biggest issue is the local kids like to remove the signs and cause a lot of issues for people who have not done the race before.

As for getting in shape, or preparing to actually finish vs racing for a place, I have no clue how riding for an hour doing HIIT is going to do anything except totally make me hate my bike, and take any fun I could have had away. Seems, to me, like a recipe for failure and misery, but then again, I don’t win every race I do. In my category, 200 plus (if they have it) or age group I do better than most.

Personally, I’d increase time on the bike, maybe cut back a bit on food, not while riding, but at whichever meal is your biggest. For me breakfast. If you enjoy alcohol, a couple less or maybe just cutting it out all together until after the Mohican will make a difference in weight and fitness. The less you carry the better you’ll feel and the effort to move the weight will be lessened.

Unless you love the road, why bother? Ride to the trailhead, ride to work (if possible) just ride more on whatever you like. I do gravel because of fewer vehicles and I enjoy the tiny rocks.

To summarize, ride more, eat and drink a little less and finish…. You’re looking at a 6 hour race (10mph for 6 hours approx) and to prepare for that effort, IMO, and free advice is worth what you pay, l’d make every Saturday a long day starting at 3 plus hours working towards that effort being the norm. The race appears to be on May the 21st. Good luck, it’s a good race, if you enjoy it, check out the Shenandoah 100 either K or mile. One of my favorites

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Jp716

· #8 · Apr 18, 2022

@OP-are you still doing the Mohican 100k? If so, how’s the training going?

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