How can I prepare for the Paris Brest Paris 2023? Is there a Training Plan specifically designed for the same?
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I have put it into my calendar as a stage race, with the brevets as well (estimate dates). Then I did the Plan Builder starting on Dec 1st 2022 up until PBP.
But thatās a long way from now
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There are quite a few threads on here discussing āultraā distance events. Have a search for āultraā and youāll find lots of different approaches and different ideas from a range of riders.
Given all TR plans are really designed for riding indoors primarily, you will find also ideas about how to combine them with longer distance outdoor rides to best effect.
I asked something similar here. Like you, I wish there was a plan for ultra-endurance events but TR focuses a lot on shorter races.
I should definetely reply to my thread to show how it went tho. Iām back on SSB training for the same race this year (2600km in less than 10 days - aiming for 7 - in June) for the winter, and then Iāll probably keep 2 VO2max sessions per week with very long rides every week-ends.
Interested to follow this and thanks for the link @Shanx - lots of good stuff in thereā¦
Found out on Friday I have a place on London-Edinburgh-London this August, 1500km in 125 hoursā¦ so just thinking about how Iāll do that. Previous longest rides are a few 260-300km one day rides and a few fully loaded tours where I did back to back 150k days, so itās a little differentā¦
My previous low volume Plan Builder plan was based around 2 XC Marathon events, one in May and one in August (handily the same weekend as LEL starts). Iāve always used LV plans and then top up with other riding, 10hr/week average in 2021.
For now I have changed my Plan Builder as follows, bearing in mind I am a n00b at this too:
- Downgraded the May MTB event to B. Also possibly will ride to get there if I have the spare annual leave
- Added the LEL as a stage race over 5 days, put the event type as Gran Fondo
- Planning to āload upā with endurance in each final block week prior to the recovery weeks (as far as I can around work etc.)
- Adding two-a-days during the working week as I have seen on here/FastTalk podcast etc it is a good way of getting some of the benefits of longer rides in a more time-crunched fashion
The way I am looking at the two-a-days at the moment is using Alternates to downgrade the TR workout to a 45 min workout (which I can do at lunchtime) then adding a 60-90 minute evening ride (say, one of the Baxters).
Itās putting me back into Base and Build rather than what it had before which was Specialty in the run up to the May event, which makes sense. But generally I am planning to keep the TR plan to develop power and use outside riding to develop the endurance.
Thanks Bigpikle. I have done a number of Brevets; including one of 600 kms - mostly on flat roads. Just one of 300 Kms with 25 Kms of climbing (ascend of nearly 2000 m) was the only one which was tough. I am wondering is there will be a plan to follow to set me up for climbs in an ultra event.
There is no plan specific to riding PBP on TR. That being said, you can still use TR to increase fitness. However, you will need to do things other than just a TR plan.
I see from your other comment you have some experience with 600k rides. Honestly, I wouldnāt worry about the hills in PBP that much - itās not completely flat, but there are no real steep sections.
This winter I did the 8 wk polarized build high volume, and now SPB HV and thatās going well. Come snow melt, will start riding mostly outside with 1-2 100-200k rides a week, plus 1-2 vo2 rides a week.
Your best preparation for a 1200k ride is going to be just lots of riding over a year or more, and ample practice refining your bike fit and nutrition on long rides.
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I think the Century Plan plus the compulsory qualifying SR-series and an occasional 100 mi/200km will do just fine.
Disclaimer - Iāve never done the PBP but completed both 1000 km breveta couple of times and local 1200 km.
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Iād be careful about making statements like this regarding a ride with 11,000m of climbing in it! I did a lot of hilly qualifiers, and am glad I did as ārollingā hills when tired and carrying the extra stuff I thought sensible were pretty tough. A lot of the people from Asia/India seemed to be very surprised we were doing up and downs on relatively small roads, it seems that a lot of the rides theyād done in qualifying were out and back blasts along the hard shoulder of a motorway (that being the only place relatively safe to cycle apparently) and therefore theyād had very little applicable training for the ride. The finishing stats backed up the fact they struggled and I think theyāre trying to put in place measures to give riders a better chance next time.
As for ātraining for PBPā, my best advice would be to practise being semi-functional after being awake for three days!
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Thatās 11k of climbingā¦ over >1200k! So less than 1% average gradient.
I agree thatās not pancake flat but also not profoundly hilly. So sure, if youāre used to riding completely flat then you probably want some experience riding in rolling terrain when tired.
Yeah itās the old āknowing the audienceā problem. We both likely know the score, but there may be people reading this that donāt. If theyāve never done a ride with more than 1000k climbing, PBP will be a hell of a shock and possibly lead to some of the statistics for finishing numbers from 2019 likeā¦ checks notesā¦ 82% DNF from India, 81% from Thailand, 63% from China etc etc* **
*a lot of people including myself were surprised by the temperature as well - 0.5 degrees Celsius at night was no joke for August!
**by contrast, US were 23% and UK were 13% DNF.
Interesting. Id assumed the high DNF from some of those places was more weather related.