Multi day cycling, do you get stronger or weaker?

Daroxtar

I'm heading to Spain for a week cycling in the mountains in September. I've been over there before and always felt myself flagging a bit the end of day 3. Part of this is probably down to doing a couple of extremely tough climbs on days 1 and 2. It has never been a big issue as I have only spent 3 days there each time but now I'm there for 7 days.
Usually I've gone on my own but this time several club mates are coming too. They've been away on week long camps before and swear they're always stronger at the end of it.

I'm just curious as to other people's experience of a solid week on the bike.
Does a rest day in the middle leave you chomping at the bit, do you start easy and build for the week, do you go for the toughest days early while still fresh and then gradually wind down, do you bother with a rest day at all or just ride yourselves into top form?

Lumen

I did six days in Spain a few years ago. I was fit enough but coming off a knee injury and it was only March.

Typical day was a nice relaxed 70km / 1500m, but I did a couple of extra evening rides and then on the last day I went a bit mental and did 125km / 3300m.

No rest days. The key was to only do serious drinking every other night.

Not having work or family to worry about massively boosted my recovery!

strmin

I did 5 days without rest day in Spain in March. Suffered on 3rd and 4th day, but totally recovered on 5th. Go figure. 520km with 9000+m of elevation overall.

Depending where in Spain you are going, it can still be extremely hot in September.

Daroxtar

I think it'll be all about balance so. As it stands there's 2 potential rest days watching the Vuelta which should give me some bit of recovery although they'll still be 70+km and over 1000m climbing.
Weather-wise, I've been before so the temperature could be potentially anywhere between 3 and 30 going on past experience.

Wishbone Ash

In my experience it's much more motivating going with a group and especially when the end line is in a different town/village each night.

I don't find myself flagging towards the end but perhaps that's because I'm a stickler for pacing myself. I'm usually dropped by the group after 10 minutes each morning but I don't find it necessary to take short cuts or rest days (unlike some of the 'mountain goats'). We usually draw lots for driving duties but inevitability some lads will be begging to drive after a day or too (which suits me fine!).

I find when I'm solo abroad, I'm much less motivated and have a tendency to slacken off on speed and cut the length of what I hoped to do. Having to loop back to the same hotel every evening dampens motivation also.

jamesd

I always do a day on the bike and then a day off the bike when over.

Mercian Pro

Based on quite a few 5 day Hospice Cycles with days of about 130km and 1,400m, the third day can hurt but there is a good bounce back on days four and five. The key seems to be keeping the overall average relatively low, breaks every 35km or so, and the camaraderie of the group. We have a bit of fun on the main climbs when we are let off the leash but otherwise roll along together chatting and admiring the scenery. Heading off on the 23rd for this year's trip from Santander to Santiago de Compostela and looking forward to meeting old friends and making a few new ones!

Wishbone Ash

jamesd wrote: »

I always do a day on the bike and then a day off the bike when over.

If I did that I would be inclined to think I'm not getting my money's worth especially when factoring in the cost of bringing/renting the bike.

Cee-Jay-Cee

I done Mizen to Malin in 2014 over 5 days. Total of 665km with Approx 130-150km each day and thankfully had no bad days and definitely felt stronger at the end of it. I had a good bit of training done for it which helps too.

nilhg

I've done several trips with herself where she does the beach thing and I go for a spin each day, keeps us both sane:)

Last few times we've gone to Tenerife most recently last Feb, I had the bike for 8 days, rode each of them for a total of 500kms, 12500m climbing, including 3 times up Teide and wasn't a huge amount slower the last time over the first time. A couple of the days would have been genuine coffee spins, 30km or so but over there that usually means 500m of climbing.

The big difference on a trip, especially if you have no kids is you can recover properly, eat well and be reasonably fresh the next day.

Large bottle small glass

The answer is going to be very specific to you and in particular your level of fitness when you get there and how hard you ride.

If you put a big emphasis on recovery, you should be able to ride hard 5 out 7 days or so with the off days being easy days on bike and feel good for most of it. It would depend where on the holiday/training camp holiday your trip is; again a very personal thing. If you were to maximise recovery I'd be inclined to
*get up early, get on the bike before the heat and be home by early afternoon, eat well and then sleep the afternoon away.
*Beach, eat well again and have a beer or two
*rinse and repeat

No wife, no kids you'll find there is a lot of hours in the day for recovery!

There is a point on extreme multi day stuff where its a slow death march; have a look at the transatlanticway right now; none of them are getting stronger! With proper recovery that shouldn't ever be an issue on your type of trip unless ye take the p1ss at the bar every night!

I did a very very hard 3 days a few years back(800km solo cc tour with 14000m), took a day off and went to Pyreenes for 3 days. I went too deep on those first 3 days and really struggled in the high mountains. I'm not sure I ever recovered!

Wishbone Ash

Large bottle small glass wrote: »

...get up early, get on the bike before the heat and be home by early afternoon...

I totally disagree.

It's a cycling holiday so most of the day should be spent on the bike. When I go away with a group we always aim to get to our destination around 6pm. We're not talking about a Sunday club ride here - you won't clock up 4,000m over 150k and be home for lunch.

Daroxtar

Well I can't see myself doing 800km with 14000m in 3 days but it's very close to the target for 6!!
As for training and fitness, I'm currently just starting back after a bit of a smash. Was going well up till that but lost 5 weeks completely. I'll be alright but maybe not as good as I would have hoped.

The longer days will be early starts and can't see us being back before late afternoon. The rest days should allow an extra hour or two in bed and plenty of food and drink to replenish the stores. The other 2 days will be sufferfests no matter how they go as we're hitting multiple kms of 10+% gradient.
All the lads can climb steady at 5,6,7% but I know when you're hitting 15 and even 20% you're in the red no matter how good you think you are.

I'm pretty tempted to do the steepest 2 days first, rest, then a long day, rest and the really long one to wrap it up (I'm the one who has been tasked with planning the trip as I have been there a few times, the others don't know what's in store )