Training for distance

You don’t need a training plan to ride a 200, just regular riding and a few rehearsals. The rest is learning to pace, eat and keep going, one distance at a time, up to a 600.

Your first 200

If you can ride 100 km comfortably, a 200 at audax pace is within reach: the time limit is 13½ hours, stops included.

• Ride regularlyShort rides during the week count. Consistency does more than one big ride.
• Change one thing at a timeAdd distance or climbing gradually, and let your body catch up.
• Rehearse your kitTrain on the bike, bags and clothes you’ll ride. Fix what aches before the day.
• Start shorterA 50, 100 or 120, often run alongside a 200 on the same day, is a gentle first event.

Pacing and stops

The limits work out at about 15 km/h overall, and the clock never stops. Ride at 20 km/h and this is what’s left for eating, fixing and resting:

• Start slower than feels right. The first hour is when riders go too hard.
• Have a stop routine: food, water, toilet, photo, go. Time disappears at controls.
• Ride at your own pace. A group helps, but not one you have to chase; take your turn at the front, and be ready to ride alone.

Food and drink

Food is mostly your own: controls are usually shops, cafés and filling stations, and the organiser often suggests where to stop. Eat little and often, before you’re hungry. A common guide is 30 to 60 g of carbohydrate an hour at audax effort; a banana is about 25 g.

Real food keeps going down when sweet things stop: sandwiches, bananas, rice pudding, something salty. Drink to thirst, and get salt from food or an electrolyte drink on warm days. Don’t try a new food on the day.

Riding at night

Practise on familiar roads first: your lights, your route on the GPS in the dark, and how cold you get when you stop. The lights and reflective clothing rules are on Rules.

Dawn is often the lowest point. If you’re drifting across the road, missing turns or seeing things that aren’t there, stop somewhere safe and sleep, even for twenty minutes: no finishing time is worth it. And don’t drive home straight after a 400 or 600.

Building through the season

A 200, 300, 400 and 600 in one season, November to October, make a Super Randonneur. Each step adds something new:

1. 200km13½ hoursYour first long day. Winter 200s finish in the dark, so bring lights.All year, from January
2. 300km20 hoursBudget 13 to 14 hours or more, a finish in the dark, and reflective clothing.From April, often the same day as a 400
3. 400km27 hoursA night on the road. The Easter Flèche is a good first taste of one.Spring and summer
4. 600km40 hoursA sleep plan. Where and how long you sleep is up to you.May to August

Ease off training for a few days before a big ride, and eat and sleep well after it. A flatter route helps for your first of each distance; the calendar shows each event’s climbing.

After the ride

Stopping is always allowed; tell the organiser and get yourself home. Either way, a short review afterwards makes the next ride easier. Look back at five things:

• Pacing
• Food and drink
• Sleep
• Contact points: hands, feet, seat
• Kit and navigation