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Background
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Training season for the Alps Unicycle Tour (AUT) officially starts on April 1,
2005 and continues for sixteen weeks until the start of the tour.
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Training responsibility
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Training is the responsibility of each rider. Each rider needs to make sure
they are in the proper condition that is necessary for the tour. While the
riders can decide how rigorous the training will be, all riders need to do the
minimum amount of training.
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When to start training
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The official training starts in April. If April does not work because of other
commitments, start the training when possible. The later the training starts
the more rigorous the training schedule and the more dedicated time will be
needed to train.
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Knowing your equipment
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Knowing how the Coker handles and what problems may arise is very valuable
information. Learning this information on training rides is much better than
dealing with a unknown problem on the tour.
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Cross training
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Cross training is a good way to enhance your overall readiness and fitness.
Focusing on more than one type of training helps strengthen muscle groups
making for a more well balanced body. There have been instances when there has
been knee pain from long distance unicycling and running helped balance out the
muscles and removed the knee pain.
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Training Accountability
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In order to make sure everybody is doing their part in training for the tour,
monthly stats will be asked to be posted to the AUT website. While nobody wants
the job of making sure everybody is doing an adequate job with their training,
there have been too many cases in the past where people did not train enough.
Not training enough will cause extra strain on the whole group and support.
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Peaking and Overtraining
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The training schedule is designed to have the riders at their best physical
condition just before the start of the tour. For past tours, some riders have
peaked too early, sometimes weeks or up to a month ahead of the tour. Take into
consideration that pushing too hard early in the season may cause early
burn-out. Another possible downside of overtraining is injury or sickness that
in extreme circumstances could even stop you from going on the tour. It is
better to moderate training early and push later in the season than the other
way around.
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Enjoying Training
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Training is actually fun! It can be as fun as the actual tour. Even if it's
hard and you have to make sacrifices (or long drives to get to hills), even if
it's raining, it's still can be fun. That multiplies if you are training with
someone. If you're alone try to find partners, bike or unicycle. That can
change it from drudgery to awesome excursions. Training can get you out in the
community and lets you see things that you wouldn’t normally take time to see.
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Journal
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Keeping a record of all your rides is essential for successful training. It
will let you know how you are doing and how much more riding you need to do
before the real thing. For your training journal, keep track of:
* Distance ridden
* Average kph for actual riding
* Time of actual riding
* Max Speed
* Elevation gained/lost
* Anything else that describes the ride
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Suggested training schedule
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Below is a suggested training schedule that people can use to prepare for the
ride. A lot of insight has been gained from other long distance rides. During
every tour, all riders have said they didn’t train enough. Do what you can in
training. The more training you get in the better chance the ride will go well
and you will enjoy the actual tour more.
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Types of training
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x km total riding goal for each month – The suggested minimum total of
km that a rider should complete each month. The suggested total will help
attain the final distance goal before the start of the tour.
x meters in total elevation for each month – The total amount of
elevation gained/climbed for each month.
x km with no breaks – This means there are no breaks at all; no
dismounting and no resting allowed. Idling would be ok if waiting for a traffic
light or at a stop sign.
x km for y days in a row – For every y days ride at least x km. This is
to build up endurance by going at least a certain number of kilometers each
day.
x km of riding in wet conditions – It is good to practice to ride while
everything is wet so the riders are comfortable with wet feet and making sure
the equipment works correctly. If possible, try to get out and ride when it is
really raining hard. While we hope it doesn’t rain for the days that we are on
the trip, it is best to plan for rain.
x rating within y days – For y days do a total of x rating. The entire
rating can be done on the first day or spread it out over all the days. For
each month there are several different scenarios of days and rating.
10 km timed course – In order to help with speed and stamina, each rider
should setup a 10 km course for speed comparison throughout the training
season. The course is setup by each rider and can be as challenging or full of
obstacles (traffic lights, stop signs) as they want. As each riders’ 10 km
course may be different, the times are only for comparison by that rider
throughout the training season.
x meters in one day – The rider should do a least x meters of climbing
in one day every month. This will help to simulate the mountain passes in the
Alps.
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April
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30 days of available training
250 km total riding goal for April - averages out to be 8 km a day
2000 meters in total elevation gain for April
10 km with no breaks
10 km a day for 4 days in a row
5 km of riding in wet conditions
10 km timed course in the first week of the month
500 meters of elevation gain in one day
50 rating within 1 day
100 rating within 2 days
150 rating within 3 days
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May
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31 days of available training
400 km total riding goal for May - averages out to be 13 km a day
3000 meters in total elevation gain for May
15 km with no breaks
20 km a day for 5 days in a row
10 km of riding in wet conditions
10 km timed course in the first week of the month
750 meters of elevation gain in one day
100 rating within 1 day
150 rating within 2 days
200 rating within 3 days
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June
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30 days of available training
500 km total riding goal for June - averages out to be 17 km a day
5000 meters in total elevation gain for June
20 km with no breaks
30 km a day for 5 days in a row
15 km of riding in wet conditions
10 km timed course in the first week of the month
1000 meters of elevation gain in one day
150 rating within 1 day
200 rating within 2 days
250 rating within 3 days
300 rating within 4 days
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July
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31 days of available training
750 km total riding goal for July - averages out to be 24 km a day
6000 meters in total elevation gain for July
25 km with no breaks
40 km a day for 5 days in a row
20 km of riding in wet conditions
10 km timed course in the first week of the month
10 km timed course near the end of the month
1250 meters of elevation gain in one day
150 rating within 1 day
200 rating within 2 days
300 rating within 3 days
400 rating within 4 days
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August 1 to 19 (Alps Unicycle Tour)
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19 days of touring (15 days riding)
883 km total riding for the tour - averages out to be 56 km per riding day
11,243 meters in total elevation climb for the tour - averages out to be 740m
per riding day
40 km a day for 5 days in a row (days 5-9)
?? km of riding in wet conditions
1568 meters of elevation gain in one day (with 1781 m descent the
same day)
238 rating within 1 day (day 9)
395 rating within 2 days (day 8,9)
510 rating within 3 days (day 7,8,9)
670 rating within 4 days (day 6,7,8,9)
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Excel Training Document
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Here is an Excel Document that can help with the training goals. There are two
tabs in this document. The first tab is labeled Training Milestones. The second
tab is a calendar for April, May, June, and July.
Excel Training Document
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Excel Rating Document
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Here is the rating system formula in an Excel document along with an
explanation on how the formula works.
Long Distance Rating System
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Contact