Project 100 kilometres: Not a hell of a ride with good preparation
A hundred kilometres sounds intimidating. Three-digit distances are already an unpleasant experience for some people travelling by car. For the predominantly flat route of the "Project 100 Kilometre Challenge" from Bad Tölz to Innsbruck, we reckon it will take five hours - our protagonist Conny only realised what that meant during the bike fitting. So far, she had only had positive experiences with her E-Cube. But staying in one position for so long? She must be getting a bit fed up after all. The bike had been ready for the challenge since the fitting appointment, but the rider still needed a little tweaking, both physically and mentally. The latter is particularly important for people without competition experience.
Endurance sport, and that includes a five-hour ride even on an e-bike, is largely a matter of the mind. You should be prepared for moral lows, just as you should optimally prepare your body and equipment so that said lows only occur late or not at all!
The training plan for the 100 kilometre project
To make sure Conny didn't lose interest before the event, she wasn't supposed to "eat up the kilometres". The plan was rather to make the most of her time. She was to cycle two short distances during the week and one longer distance at the weekend, increasing in distance up to around two thirds of the "competition length".
If you stick with it, the 100 is not rocket science afterwards. The preliminary run was too short for any noticeable muscle building or leaps in endurance performance anyway, so it was more about getting used to the posture and continuous movement, and the kicks become increasingly "rounder" and therefore more efficient.
Stretching and strengthening: stable core and leg muscles are the basis for long bike rides
Small exercises at home to increase muscle tone, improve posture and mobilise the body made more sense. Targeted stretching make the pelvis more flexible, which frees up the spine and requires less work from the supporting muscles. After 25 years in the saddle, we know the critical points on long trips. However, because it is important to us that Conny doesn't torture herself over 100 kilometres, but has fun all the way to the finish, small preparatory lessons were also included, mainly to avoid incidents during the ride.
Stretching the pomus muscles
Lying on your back on a carpet or mat, grasp your right knee with your right hand, pull it over the centre of your body and towards your chest so that it is perpendicular to the end of your sternum. Left hand grasps ankle, and while the knee remains in the same position, pull the ankle towards the left armpit. Hold the stretch in the outer pomus muscle for 15 seconds, then slowly release, repeat three times on each side.rholen.
Stretch leg flexors
Stand barefoot on firm ground, place your toes up on a book or board, keep a hand's width between your ankles, lower your upper body including your arms forwards and simply let them hang while continuing to breathe. After 10 seconds, clasp your legs and bend your back properly, pull your face towards your knees, hold for another 10 seconds, repeat 3 times, slowly straighten up in between.
Leg extension activation
Just as important as stretching the muscles is the Strengthening of the key muscle groups. To strengthen the leg extension, find a free wall or door frame, stand with your shoes approx. 30 centimetres in front of it, feet shoulder-width apart. Lean against the wall with your buttocks so that your knees and hips are at a 90° angle. The straight upper body is tilted forwards so that it rests neither on the wall nor on the thighs, arms spread out diagonally downwards! Remain in this position, alternating between placing one foot on the ball of the foot and bringing the heel down again, about 40 changes per minute. Hold for as long as you can, stand up briefly, take a few minutes break and shake out your legs, repeat three times.
Strengthening the trunk extensors
Lie on your stomach on a not too soft surface, holding a small weight in your hands, e.g. a can of cola. Stretch your arms forwards and raise them a hand's width, continue to raise them in a slow, arching movement and at the same time move them backwards, as if you were lifting your hands over a packet of flour, until your arms and body form a Y shape. Don't put them down, slowly lift them up again and bring them to the side at right angles in an arc, then lift them up again and slowly over the "obstacle" downwards at an angle... and gradually lift them up again; it looks like flapping your wings. Repeat until your back or shoulder can no longer cope, three times a day.
Training the supporting muscles
Partner exercises are great here, but can also be done against a wall: depending on your fitness level, roll a ball towards your partner from a push-up or knee support (same position but with knees on the floor), slowly increase the speed and angle of rolling as well as the frequency; it's more about making the "in support" more entertaining than the actual game.
Important: Prepare your head
Sports psychology - Competitive athletes do it intuitively: the "emergency plan" for the mind. When parts of the body start to ache or the carbohydrates are used up, there are coping strategies to deal with emotional lows, but everyone has to develop these individually. Pain or extreme hunger are just messages from the body to the brain that something is wrong. As athletes know that there is nothing threatening, they manage to ignore these signals for a long time. Others visualise the moment they have completed the task, sometimes even the actual finish. Another option is to do the maths. Out of 100 kilometres, the last ten fly by, the first 35 are also quite easy, as are the 25 after the first break. Now there are still 30 kilometres to go; that sounds a lot friendlier than 100.
Tips for travelling: the right clothing, nutrition and riding technique
Acquire a point of view
Newbies often want to look as straight as possible at the road, tilting their head significantly backwards. Please ensure that the cervical spine remains in line with the thoracic and lumbar spine, i.e. the head is also tilted forwards depending on the position of the upper body, sitting straight on the torso, so to speak. The direction of gaze is determined more by the position of the eyes; the "standard gaze" hits the ground about 15 metres in front of the bike.
Customise clothing
A sensible Touring wardrobe seeks the middle ground between office clothes and skintight professional cycling skins. The cycling shorts and insert are the ideal solution - not only because of the padding, but mainly because they are shaped in such a way that there are no creases on the saddle; the seams have also been moved away from potential friction points.
Important: Don't wear underwear underneath! And rather thin on the legs and thicker on top. Tip: for women rather strapless cycling shorts, because these make going to the toilet easier.
Correct gear selection
The combination of gear and assistance level should result in a cadence of between 70 and 90. Test: You need a watch and a straight, level route of at least 500 metres. Count how many pedals you make with your right leg in one minute, flying start. The target should be 80, more would be better. Memorise your rhythm and try to keep it uphill by using smaller gears and more motor power.
Avoid blows
Harder bumps on the road should be absorbed by keeping your arms and legs slightly bent at all times; you don't have to get out of the saddle before the obstacle, but at least increase the pressure on both pedals so that significantly less body weight rests on the saddle. One pothole weighs more than 10 kilometres!
Traffic light stretching
At each short stop, automatically place your palms together and briefly overstretch your fingers over the entire surface and not just at the tips towards the back of your hand, not forgetting your thumb. Then briefly arch your back and carefully pull your head onto your chest - and continue!
Proper nutrition
With a calculated five-hour journey, you definitely need to refuel beforehand and top up during the journey. To avoid digestive problems, you should try out beforehand what you can tolerate well during physical labour. We suggest a rice dish the evening before the journey, rice provides a lot of energy and is easier to digest than pasta for most people.
In the morning I like wholemeal muesli with two bananas and nuts. It is best to drink a non-carbonated juice spritzer and an iso drink. You should try all these foods beforehand, regardless of whether you have an intolerance or not. Ideally, you should also try them during exercise. Energy bars and gels for "emergencies" don't hurt either.
