LONG DISTANCE PLAN

200km and beyond. Where the limiting factor stops being fitness and starts being everything else.

THE THING THAT ACTUALLY MATTERS: DURABILITY

Two riders with identical FTPs can perform completely differently at hour six. What separates them is durability — the ability to still produce good power after thousands of kilojoules of work. It is a distinct trainable quality and it is the whole game in long distance riding.

You train it by doing quality work when you are already tired, not by riding easy forever.

THE KEY SESSIONS

Session	Structure	Trains
Fatigued intervals	3 h Z2, then 3 x 12 min @ 88% in the final hour	Durability — the single most important session
Back-to-back long rides	4 h Saturday, 3 h Sunday	Riding on tired legs, recovery between days
Big kilojoule day	5-6 h steady, full nutrition rehearsal	Gut training and mental patience
Low-cadence torque	5 x 6 min @ 85% at 55rpm	Muscular resilience on long climbs
Night ride	3 h after dark with your event lights	Kit, cold, navigation, staying awake

A 16-WEEK SHAPE

Weeks	Focus	Long ride	Weekly hours
1-4	Base — steady volume, sweet spot midweek	3-4 h	8-10
5-8	Durability — fatigued intervals appear	4-5 h	10-12
9-12	Specificity — back-to-back weekends	5-7 h plus a 3 h day after	12-14
13-14	Peak — one ride at 70-80% of event distance	7-9 h	12-14
15	Reduce — half volume, keep one hard session	3 h	7
16	Taper — short and easy, event week	90 min	4

Every fourth week, cut volume by 40% regardless of what the table says.

FUELLING AT SCALE

80-100g of carbohydrate per hour for anything over six hours, and train your gut to take it.
Real food alongside gels — rice cakes, sandwiches, pastries. Sweet-only nutrition fails after hour five.
Sodium matters: 500-1000mg per hour in heat, more if you are a salty sweater.
Plan your stops. Where you eat, what is open, and what you do if it is not.
Caffeine is a tool, not a constant. Save it for the hours where you will really need it.

THE NON-FITNESS LIMITERS

Contact points

Saddle, hands and feet end more long rides than legs do. Test everything you will use on a ride of at least five hours before the event, including chamois cream, shorts and gloves.

Sleep and alertness

For events over 300km, plan sleep deliberately — even twenty minutes at the right moment transforms the next four hours. Never improvise this on the day.

Weather and kit

You will get cold at 3am and hot at 2pm in the same ride. Layers that pack down small, and lights with genuinely more battery life than you think you need.

Mental strategy

Break the event into stages between controls or stops. Nobody rides 400km; they ride eight fifty-kilometre pieces.

FAQ

Do I need a huge FTP for long distance?

No. A modest threshold combined with excellent durability and fuelling beats a big FTP that collapses at hour four.

How long should my longest training ride be?

Roughly 70-80% of the event duration for events up to 300km. Beyond that, back-to-back long days matter more than one enormous ride.

Can I train for this indoors?

The intervals and much of the volume, yes. The kit testing, night riding and contact-point work must happen outdoors.

How long to recover afterwards?

A week of easy riding or nothing at all, then a gradual rebuild. Most riders underestimate the depth of the hole a very long event digs.

KEEP READING

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

LuftQuest is a free indoor cycling app: pair your power meter, pick a structured workout and let a very opinionated coach keep you honest.

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