I’ve been a Sufferlandrian for nearly a year now. I’ve been doing “proper” cycling for only a few months longer than that. The impetus was to do a long sponsored ride (organised through work) from Cheltenham in the UK to Amsterdam. Covid meant that wasn’t possible, and in the end we did a 4 day Tour de Wales in September 2020, covering about 360 miles. I’ve kept training in Sufferlandria since, did the Tour of Suf this year and have announced my sponsored KoS attempt for the day I turn 50 on 31 March this year. At least I’ll remember it!
Any tips for someone of my vintage? My main problem during training has been a really sore bum from sitting in s stationary saddle for 6 hours+. I think I’ve solved this with a gel cover. I have my hydration and feeding planned, and intend to reduce my FTP/MAP/AC/NMP to 70-75% from the start.
One question I have is whether it’s OK (legally) to include the running app in a video stream I might set up for my attempt. This could be either public or private - does that make a difference?
@RobH Chamois cream is the way to go along with making sure that your bike fits properly and also making a point of getting out the saddle when you can. BTW age 50 is the new 25 - you are going to crush it.
Stand up on the pedals every so often. Even if the workout doesn’t say to.
Take advantage of your breaks in between videos to walk around.
Change your chamois after 3 or 4 videos. Have 2 or 3 extra bibs or shorts available. You never know if your favorite chamois will feel as good after 5 hours as it does after 1, 2 or even 3 hours.
Thanks for the replies. I have 250ml of luxury chamois cream which I hope will see me through. My sore bum during training was localised in my sitting bones rather than caused by abrasion. I think that means that my saddle is the wrong size or shape for me, but I haven’t had this problem on the road over long days and there is no time to replace it now. I stand frequently but find it a quad-killer on a trainer where my bike isn’t moving laterally underneath me. A gel cover seems to have helped, but I haven’t done more than 3 hours in a single session on it yet, so fingers crossed!
Also possibly bouncing in the saddle from high-cadence efforts. When I launched into SUFF, my pedal stroke form took awhile to come back, so I had a lot of bouncing at high-cadence - led to the same sit bone (and coccyx) pain as you’re describing. Also didn’t experience on the road, but then I seldom pedal 120-130rpm on the road!
Refrigerte that creme. Seriously. It will feel SO good when you put it on. Also, if you haven’t, dial in your nutrition. This stops more DOs that having a sore bum. People get to video seven or eight and then bonk, hard. If you haven’t done a test run, do it tomorrow. Start with video #1 of your plan @80% intensity and go through to video four or five. Drink and eat what you plan to on ride day. See if that will work. It’s really too late to tweak anything in that area. Riding a KOS is vastly different from a 360 km sportive due to the level of effort.
