Multi-day events = multiple kinds of fun. Here's how to do them
Fascat Coaching
You know what's more fun than one great day on the bike? Multiple great days on the bike all stacked together. Here, Coaches Sierra Sims and Ricky Arnopol explain how to maximize your results and enjoyment at stages races and other multi-day events.
Coach Ricky has been racing UCI stage races this year in Europe, and Coach Sierra has been guided many of her athletes in their preparation for multi-day events. Joining them on the podcast below is Ben Delaney, who just won the three-day version of Transcordilleras in Colombia.
WHY DO A STAGE RACE?
Doing a multi-day event really lets you explore an area, expand your fitness, and engage in a higher level of tactics and strategy than a one-day event.
If you travel to an event with a team or friends, a multi-day event becomes a bike camp for adults, as you can enjoy the camaraderie of shared goals and challenges over multiple days, hanging out in between the racing.
"One of the big things about stage racing is it takes a different skill set," Coach Ricky says. "It's not like you can just prepare for single day racing and hop into a stage race and expect it to feel the exact same. For the athlete who doesn't excel at one-day, more explosive kinds of effort, and who recovers really well and they fatigue less, then stage racing can be a really good option."
Coach Sierra says many athletes like the idea of a big challenge. "If you are traveling all the way to a cool area, for instance like British Colombia, then maximizing the trip with something like the BC Bike Race where you get to race multiple days is a great way to go," she says. "It's an immersive experience and often is what someone who is not out there to win is looking for."
A FEW STAGE RACES TO CONSIDER
On the road side there are classics like the Tour of the Gila, Redlands Bicycle Classic and Green Mountain Stage Race. There are also events like the Tour of America's Dairyland and Speedweek that feature a string of criteriums every night.
For mountain biking, there is Breck Epic and the Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic and the BC Bike Race.
For gravel, there is the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder and Rebecca's Private Idaho.
These are all in North America, and of course there are many excellent options in other beautiful places around the world.
HOW TO TRAIN FOR MULTI-DAY EVENTS
Regardless of what type of event you're doing, you need to start by building a solid base.
"This is similar to other athletes," Coach Sierra says, "but then at a certain point you neeed to start stacking big days together. First on the weekend and then maybe add on the Friday or Monday to replicate some of the demands that you will be facing."
Coach Ricky applies the same methodology for his athletes and for himself, when he is prepping for stage races.
"It is all about compounding days, compounding volume and compounding specificity," Ricky says. "Also, you need to understand the specific demands of your event, what the layout of the days are like. A lot of times you can identify easier days. So as FasCat Coaches we build in training that is specific to the demands, like say for the Gila, doing a 5-hour effort the day before doing a time trial effort."
GET COACHED FOR MULTI-DAY EVENTS BY RICKY, SIERRA OR COACHCAT
If you have a multi-day event on the calendar, maximize your training now by hiring Coach Sierra or Ricky. You can learn more about them on their respective pages here.
Alternatively, you can subscribe to the FasCat App for unlimited training plans - including stage-racing plans - and access to CoachCat, our AI-powered coaching technology that gives you instant workout analysis, answers your questions and can adjust your training based on your feedback.
Start with a free first month on the FasCat App by signing up here.
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