How to start training for ultra-cycling

If you love solo miles and have distance in your legs, lungs, and heart and you’re considering your first ultra-cycling event, this blog is for you.

Ultra-endurance cycling is a special kind of pursuit. I know, because I’ve been doing it for a very long time.

But the ability to cover big distances doesn’t automatically translate into race miles. And if you decide to enter an ultra-endurance cycling race, you need to be as prepared as possible because distance will find and exploit your weaknesses.

Here are the basics you need to consider.

Core training

Whatever the distance, you’re going to need a strong core. It doesn’t have to be fancy. I do all my core body work on the floor at home, but I do it consistently five times a week.

Do pay special attention to your upper back and neck. Shermer’s neck is a relatively common condition that affects ultra-cyclists, and it is entirely preventable if you do the work.

Bike set-up

Talk to a bike fitter about an ultra-endurance set-up but be cautious because most facilities do not understand the nuances and needs of ultra-endurance cycling. Finding the balance between aero and comfort takes time.

The bottom line is – you need to be able to stay on the bike.

Sounds basic, I know, but if you reach a point where you can’t sit in the saddle, hold your handlebars, and keep your feet clipped in, you’re going nowhere. Your contact points have to go the distance too.

Gearing and clothing choices

Gearing and clothing are often afterthoughts, but they should be considered as soon as you choose your event.

Study the race profile carefully, and here’s a hint – a hill at 75 miles is not the same hill at 200 or 400 miles. Fatigue, sleep deprivation, and weather exposure are all part of ultra-endurance racing, so remember that when you look at the course profile in the warm comfort of your living room.

Distance brings weather exposure. After all, you’re out there for longer now. Make sure you have clothing that adequately protects you. Remember, you’ll feel the cold more when fatigued, and the impact of heat accumulates over time.

Ultra-cyclists often experience weather extremes; can your clothing cope with that?

Know yourself – what kind of ultra-cyclist are you?

If you’re beginning your ultra-endurance journey, you are most likely a completer – you want to complete the distance in the best time possible. Essentially, this is a meaningful, personal challenge.

If you’re a competer, you’re aiming for the podium or a high-place finish. You’re in the business of distance at speed.

So, which one are you? The answer may dictate which event to sign up to and how you approach it.

Don’t make this ultra-endurance mistake!

Many would-be ultra-cyclists don’t make the start line because they went heavy on volume too soon. It can lead to injury, fatigue, a depressed immune system, and an inability to recover and adapt.

Volume by itself won’t get you to the finish line within the cut-off time. You also need a certain amount of speed and a race plan.

Ultra-cycling is about managing distance, speed, fuel, weather, fatigue, and multiple other factors over the entire route. This starts at mile one and ends at the finish line.Your training must address all of the above, and that’s going to take a variety of different training loads put into a realistic plan and timeframe

Nutrition and fuel

All athletes need to pay attention to their general nutrition and how they fuel their training sessions, especially ultra-cyclists.

Your general nutrition should address overall calorie intake. You need enough to support the extra training load and your general life activity. You need to address your protein and nutrient requirements. You need quality carbohydrate, healthy fats, and adequate fibre.

An ultra-cyclist needs to be resilient and healthy.

If body composition is a focus alongside training, it’s best to speak to a qualified nutritionist to strike the correct balance between performance and deficit.

Fuelling training and your event is key. Once in the saddle, you are managing fuel, hydration, and electrolytes. Knowing how much, how often, and the kinds of fuel you can tolerate over distance is critical.

This takes a bit of experimenting. Again, speaking with a qualified nutritionist can point you in the right direction in a time-efficient manner.

Training principles for an ultra-endurance cycling race

So how do you actually train for all of this?

Training is meant to elicit fatigue. In fact, it’s designed to exceed your threshold of fatigue just enough to cause a positive training adaptation. Adaptation occurs as a survival mechanism.

When you train, you apply a measured load, which rings alarm bells in the system you are applying that load to. Those systems are response based. They adapt with specificity so that the next time that load is applied, the system can better deal with it.

This is progression.

For ultra-endurance racing, you need a strong core. You need to be able to sustain speed over distance within your aerobic zones and below your anaerobic threshold, the point where hydrogen ions rise steeply in your blood and muscles, causing a sharp decrease in performance.

The sweet spot is where distance, sustainable speed, and the ability to fuel the effort come together.

Aerobic zones and your anaerobic threshold

There are a couple of ways to determine your aerobic zones and your anaerobic threshold. You can either visit a specialised laboratory, or you can conduct a 20-minute home test on a smart trainer called a functional threshold power (FTP) test.

My preference will always be a specialised laboratory. An accurate blueprint of your current aerobic and anaerobic physiology means that your coach can prescribe specific loads which result in specific adaptations.

Adaptations like shifting your anaerobic threshold upwards and building power in your aerobic zones.

Structuring your training week

This depends on what time you have available. There’s no point in designing a training plan that your schedule cannot realistically cope with. That’s something I pay attention to.

You need to balance workload, training load, and life load.

Every hour of training should have a purpose.

Sessions that are designed to move your anaerobic threshold upwards are intense, but they are shorter. Often, they can be done on an indoor trainer. I typically schedule these at the start of the week, followed by sustainable efforts below threshold as the week progresses.

There should be a steady decrease in intensity as the week progresses so that recovery, an area driven by nutrition and recovery nutrition, can keep up with training and life load.

The higher-volume, lower-intensity sessions are usually scheduled for the weekend (or whenever you have time). Once again, recovery is a priority as these days tend to be back-to-back.

Rest days are important within the week, and rest or lighter weeks should be scheduled within the month.

Your first ultra-race

At a certain distance, there is no place to hide. It’s the same for all of us, but this is the appeal – you want to discover who you are under this kind of pressure.

You’ll find that you can redefine your limits and break through barriers that you thought were impossible.

It’s rewarding to do so…but you have to earn it.

If you’re considering your first ultra, you don’t have to work all of this out alone.

---

I’m Joe, an ultra-experienced cycling coach for athletes who want to perform over ultra-distances.

I work both with completers and competers.

Go ahead, fill in our contact form, or email me directly at Joe@barrultra.com, and let’s talk about your ultra-ambitions.