Any serious endurance challenge requires training and London 2 Paris: Inspiring the Revolution is no different. You will be covering 500km (300 miles) in just four days, which is no mean feat! It is important to make sure that both you and your bike are in the best possible condition to take on the challenge.
With the right preparation, reaching Paris is achievable for everyone, whether you’re a weekend warrior or brand new to cycling. The best way to prepare is to start with short rides and slowly build up to your final daily mileage.
When you register for the ride, you’ll receive a welcome pack with more detailed training tips and a monthly programme to help prepare you for your inspirational challenge.
We’ve broken the training programme down into monthly chunks to help you build up your rides and prepare for the event.
Start with at least two rides of 15 miles and one of 30 miles a week. During this time, if you are new to cycling, you will start to become familiar with how your bike works, riding on the road and toughening your body to a new activity.
You should find that if you are riding regular routes and hills, training should start getting easier. Start to concentrate on achieving the average speed of your chosen group during your training rides, and begin to increase your distances.
Keep your distances the same on general training rides, but begin to introduce more hill work. Hill climbing rapidly increases your fitness levels and will help to prepare you for the route. Keep an eye on your average speeds and make sure that you aren’t dropping below the target for your ride group. At least once a month, complete a longer ride – ideally 50-60 miles.
By now, you should have trained your body and gradually increased your fitness levels. If you haven’t, then trying to cram the training into these few weeks isn’t going to work. Try to complete two days of longer riding, back to back.
If you have any questions or concerns at any point, seek advice from your local bike shop, friends who ride regularly or, of course, the Cure Leukaemia team.