Train for a long ride on ~6h per week, for GCN's Dan

Training
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There are a number of threads on this sort of topic already of course.

GCN’s Dan Lloyd is riding a 350km / 220 mile on 22 June 2025.

His specific training plan for the event has started in the last week or so (10 weeks, but he has a week of holiday in there, so 9 weeks really).

This video, from 24 April 2025, includes an overview of the training plan he will follow (from about 9’00" onwards)

4 cycling sessions per week, 6 hours per week

Tue & Thurs are 1 hour interval workouts: 10 x 1 min all out efforts with 2-3 minutes rest between

Sat is a 1h30m endurance ride “if you’re feeling good, start to introduce some intervals at threshold pace”

Sun is a 2h30m endurance ride “if you’re feeling good, start to introduce some intervals at threshold pace”

There is talk of a longer ride a couple of weeks before the event - half of the event distance / duration being mentioned.

And additional endurance rides if time and fatigue allows - protecting the Tue / Thurs interval days being a priority.

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What is his target time for the 350km?

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Dan has an already well-developed aerobic engine….one that let him compete at the highest levels of the sport.

I have no doubt such a plan can work for him…..but the idea that a 6 hour / week plan is somehow sufficient for most people is a bit suspect, IMO.

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4

I don’t know if he has set a target time. In the video transcript, he says

“i think there’s probably a few people watching this who are thinking Hold on a second you’re setting aside 6 hours a week when the ride’s going to take you probably at least 13 if not 15 hours. How important would you say it is for me to set aside a day I don’t know 2 or 3 weeks in advance of Manchester London where I do a very long ride not as long as the event itself but one where I know it’s 6 7 8 hours maybe 200 km is that something you would say I kind of need to do”