Long distance training

[Ron]

"U guys are loco! 700 mile days? Holy Smokes. I'm planning a xcountry in Sept. and hope I can do 400 per day. I'm not experienced in distances, but I hit most rest areas for a break. I would estimate I get off every 70 ish miles.
I'm sure things will be completely different than here in Boston, but speeding in heavy traffic wears me out fast. Up it's speed or get tail ended."

Do what's best for you. When I'm by myself, I don't plan stops or reserve motels ahead of time. I stop when I feel the need. I've done everything from a 300 mile day to over 1000 mile days. Running the I-state, I plan on an average of 600 mile days. That's to go A to B. If I'm sight seeing, it ends up where it ends up. I have Pepsi and peanuts at gas stops. If it's hot, I alternate water and sports drink at the next stop. I try to get gas and back on the road in 20 min.

I have also spent a lot of money and time getting my bike comfortable for me. I have replaced the seat (Russell), handle bars (Heli-Bars), windshield (Rifle), grips, highway or forward foot pegs. and a Darian suit.

 

[Shawn K]

U guys are loco! 700 mile days? Holy
Smokes

You build up to it.

My job has me driving 400-500 miles a day, every day, so a 500-mile ride isn't that big a deal for me.

I've done Saddlesore 1000s and numerous 700+ mile days, and I've found a few truisms that work for me:

* The more skin you have exposed, the faster you dehydrate. And skin does not like being constantly stimulated. So wear a jacket and pants.

* Drink water. Avoid sugary drinks. If you feel thirsty, you're behind the curve.

* Get a good night's sleep the night before

* Take a decent anti-inflammatory before the ride. I'm partial to Aleve.

* The rest is mental.

 

[Larry Fine]

I have also spent a lot of money and time getting my bike comfortable for me. I have replaced the seat (Russell), handle bars (Heli-Bars), windshield (Rifle), grips, and a Darian suit.

Add a pair of forward foot pegs.

 

[Ron]

Yes, I forgot my forward pegs. I'll edit that in. Thanks.

 

[dduelin]

I’m contrary to forward pegs. I prefer my feet under me even on long trips. I’ll dangle a foot down off the peg to change up position or shift to a passenger peg.

Stamina is built over time. A 300-500 mile ride once a month can be a goal in prep for longer ones plus the experience of what works for seats, bars, pegs and clothing.

Stopping all the time is a time killer. Try shifting positions in the saddle and go another equal distance before stopping.

 

[Ron]

About the only time I use the forward pegs is on the I-state. I've used every combination of the passenger pegs, rider pegs and forward pegs. I have also done the foot dangle.

 

[st11ray]

When I do long days, 800+ miles, I do like most here have already said. I start early. I stop at a half tank and walk a bit. I stop again for gas and pee but usually don't walk then. I wear a CamelBak and listen to music. I just like to ride.

 

[Larry Fine]

I’m contrary to forward pegs. I prefer my feet under me even on long trips. I’ll dangle a foot down off the peg to change up position or shift to a passenger peg.

I usually do, too, but sometimes my hips and knees start burning and screaming, and I absolutely must unbend them some in order to keep riding. The PSR blades allow me to do that, and it also changes the pressure points on my butt in the saddle.

 

[Highway STar]

I don't know what happened but when I stopped 100 miles later I was hurting and cramping. Got off the bike in Oklahoma and laid in the grass until a biker came by and asked me if I was ok. I told him I was overheated and he rode to the station up ahead and got me 2 bottles of water. I was dehydrated even though I was drinking water.

Electrolytes, my friend. Go to the store and buy yourself some Potassium tablets - Gluconate, not Chloride - and take several before you start riding. You can drink water but more important than the fluid loss is the electrolytes you also lose through sweating. Gatorade does a good job but has too much sugar for my tastes, but you can find other stuff to add to water in a sports supply place if you don't like swallowing pills.

Cramping is also Magnesium deficiency. There are cheap powders for Magnesium supplements as well. Just be sparing with it until you find your level of need as it is also a laxative...

 

[Shawn K]

First stop for gas was in Springfield Mo was starting to get warm so I took my textile jacket off and took my face shield off my helmet.

There was your mistake. As the temperature rose, you transitioned from the wind cooling you, to the wind heating you. Your body was sweating profusely to keep you from getting heat stroke, and it was evaporating immediately. Your cramping and fatigue was a sign that you were severely dehydrated, and your core temperature was dangerously high. You're lucky that you got away as easily as you did.

It's counterintuitive, but in hot weather a jacket's purpose is to keep the heat out.

 

[Highway STar]

I only got about 4 hours of sleep before my first SS1600km ride but had very little trouble with fatigue until it got dark the following evening (started at 4 or 5 am) Then music kept me alert.

I had done several 8-10 hour days prior on various trips to the States and the Maritimes. But not really any preparation otherwise. I do go to the gym regularly and work in construction so I am in generally good shape physically.

I did about 500 miles a day on my trip out to LA and up the Pacific coast and back, part of which was 2-up with the wife. I found it helpful to have a goal for the day, a place reserved that I could get to and end off the day without having to find a hotel after a day of riding. Others like to stop when they want, and I also get that. I might have done it that way but I had a sort of a timetable to meet the wife ( she flew out to LA for the California portion of the journey). I did feel like I would have liked to dawdle a bit here and there. But I plan to do this trip again so will work it out differently next time. So I would say to relax and enjoy the ride. You can always do it differently next time.

I do not consider myself a "warrior" but I do understand the term was being used metaphorically. For what it is worth I have found my IBA certificates conversation starters where I can give people who don't ride some reality on what it is I am so passionate about. It is certainly not to impress any other riders, most of whom could out-ride me any day.

You would be wise to get your seat tailored to fit you as this was the single biggest irritation I ran into in all my long distance riding. On the Victory I have a back rest and a sheepskin which have made tremendous difference for my butt's endurance. Then it is just time to get off and stretch your legs. I do this even when in a cage. Or on a plane. So on a bike it is no different.

 

[Larry Fine]

You'll never see a Bedouin or a cowboy in a t-shirt and shorts.

My mom still doesn't quite understand why I insist that any shirts she buy for me be long-sleeved, especially T-shirts.

 

[red one]

There was your mistake. As the temperature rose, you transitioned from the wind cooling you, to the wind heating you. Your body was sweating profusely to keep you from getting heat stroke, and it was evaporating immediately. Your cramping and fatigue was a sign that you were severely dehydrated, and your core temperature was dangerously high. You're lucky that you got away as easily as you did.

It's counterintuitive, but in hot weather a jacket's purpose is to keep the heat out.

Yes in hindsight you are right. My wife is a nurse and she scolded me big time. But I will tell anyone that this really sneaks up on you and by the time you know it it's too late. When I finally could pee it was coffee creamed colored. My wife told me to drink nothing but water and later on that night in the hotel it cleared up. But as I say I learn't my lesson as I now travel with bottled water and hydrate frequently.

 

[ST Gui]

But I will tell anyone that this really sneaks up on you and by the time you know it it's too late.

This is why anybody familiar with dehydration will say to drink plenty of liquid before you feel thirsty because by then it borders on too late.

When I finally could pee it was coffee creamed colored.

The local Sheriff's Office Academy required recuits to have 1L of plain water with them at all times except while running and it must be on their desk when in class. It must be filled to the top at every break and all must be drinking while in class.

The Academy is 5 days/wk (occasionally on a Sat.) and many workout over the weekend to qualify for physical evals or lose the job. They're instructed that if their urine becomes dark in color they've screwed up and need to report to hospital emergency immediately and advise their Recruit Training Officer asap. For the first couple of weeks RTOs are all over them getting them in to the habit of drinking regularly and staying hydrated as they PT twice a day (more if somebody screws something up).

 

[ST Pili]

I reread this interesting thread as I contemplate riding from Springfield MO to Boston in a couple of weeks.1400 miles each way, thinking of trying for 2 days but scheduling to allow 3. I've not had a bunch of seat time recently due to the pandemic and large amounts of rain lately. Some great advice here; hydrate and rest stops before you absolutely HAVE to get off. My first long trip I pushed too hard the first day and it took some of the fun away. One good thing is that even at 63 years old, I'm in the best shape I've been in in a while.
Right now I wish I had gone to a Day Long seat over the winter!

 

[red one]

I reread this interesting thread as I contemplate riding from Springfield MO to Boston in a couple of weeks.1400 miles each way, thinking of trying for 2 days but scheduling to allow 3. I've not had a bunch of seat time recently due to the pandemic and large amounts of rain lately. Some great advice here; hydrate and rest stops before you absolutely HAVE to get off. My first long trip I pushed too hard the first day and it took some of the fun away. One good thing is that even at 63 years old, I'm in the best shape I've been in in a while.
Right now I wish I had gone to a Day Long seat over the winter!

Yes learn from our mistakes please. Last year I took a long distance trip to Gulfport Miss about a 700 mile trip one way. Now i travel with bottles of water iced down in one of my hardbags. Stop every 100 to 120 miles and drink and drink. I made this trip by doing a two dayer. First night in Tunica Ms stopped at a hotel casino for the night. Left after a good breakfast and filled my little 6 bottle cooler with more bottles of water and got back on the road. Pulled into hotel room about 5:30 PM in Gulfport. Since I am retired i now don't need to travel at break neck speeds anymore ( as in making a 2 day trip into one). A good 70 to 75 mph on the hiway allows you time to enjoy the ride and see things instead of zooming right past them. But thats what i did 350 miles stopped for the day and rode in the next day. Really enjoyable as i wasn't aching or tired. At 66 years of age I have done 900 miles before plenty of times but that was when i was younger. Now it just doesn't appeal to me anymore.

 

[Gizmo]

Unlike many riders, I typically use the main compartment of my tank bag for food and beverages (and the side pockets for sunscreen, bug spray, visor cleaning fluid, wet wipes, etc.). I usually freeze 4-6 500 ml bottles of water in my freezer and the stay frozen or at least cold for the first day, no matter the temperature. I also add a small bottle of juice and often a couple of bottles of gatorade-type drink that are kept cool by the ice. If I'm staying at a place with a freezer I refreeze any that I haven't emptied.

Between the beverages and the granola bars and nuts I also keep there I can go an entire day without needing to stop for food or beverages. I rarely due to, but is an option. And if I get stopped at a construction site or something similar I can readily access it without getting off my bike and my modular helmet allows me to eat and drink. Of course it tastes much better if enjoyed beside a stream, waterfall, or park!

 

[Trussellcma]

I'd like to do some long distance riding this coming season, but I haven't really done much of it in the past. I have done some long days but not like SS1000 type days. I've done a three state twisty roads day and that was fine but quite easy to stay engaged during the ride.

I've done a ride from Minneapolis to Chicago and then back a few days later with relative ease. I'm wondering how you guys built up endurance to do long days rider? I want to ride to visit a friend in Detroit (again from Minneapolis MN) one day. I also have scheduled in a few years to ride to Colorado to visit another person and would like to ride to Phoenix AZ to visit my folks. I don't have an ST yet but I've started a fund. So in the mean time I will be using my Street Triple R. I'm sure it will break me in right and really make me appreciate an ST when the time comes.

Hopefully you have spent enough time on that bike and corrected any problems for LD comfort. My standard advice is to take whatever the river gives you. If the weather is good and you are feeling good, just keep riding. It helps if you are comfortable riding through the night once in awhile.

Also, I don't think of gas stops as "rest" stops. I think of sitting on the bike nearly motionless for hours at a time as my rest time. Learn to relax your body while you keep your mind alert, one does not necessitate the other. Keep reminding yourself to relax your body, but keep mentally alert.

If you are in a real hurry, stop, go in to use the bathroom first and get a drink at every stop, a snack if you want it. Then finish your drink while you top off the gas tank. Then get back on the bike to rest up until the next gas stop.

I have completed over a dozen SS1000 with new riders becoming IBA members, and many other rides on my own including a couple BB1500s and a couple SS2000s. I have also failed a few rides like the cc50 because I do not push myself, I just take what the river gives me. On that ride I barely survived the 115 degree heat all day but the heavy rain in the middle of the night with construction barriers on the highway caused me to get a hotel room and sleep it off for like 10 hours. Missed the 50cc by 4 hours but never regretted my decision to stop. I lived to ride another day.
Terry

 

[Fenianbastard]

In 2019 I rode from NJ to TX on HD Road King. I took 2.5 days there and 2 days on the way back. Rain was the most tiring issue I had. Last months I rode from NJ to Penn State then on to Notre Dame and the to the HD museum in Milwaukee. I did this ride on a Yamaha FZ10. Ear plugs, comfortable underwear and well set up bike are essential. Having cruise control on the Yamaha was brilliant and I thought the 125 mile range of the tank would be a problem, but it wasn’t. I just made every second stop a long one. For fluid replacement you can try flavored Pedialyte, which I use for my colonoscopy preps. I am looking forward to the 300 mile range of my ST when the NJMVC returns to normal.

 

[Larry Fine]

Rain was the most tiring issue I had.

I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate riding in the rain.

I hate riding in rain more than I do in snow.

The one thing worse than taking off wet clothes is having to put wet clothes back on.

Yes, I have a rain-suit, but I don't like being in it much.

Did I mention that I hate riding in the rain?