First 400km week – Bryan Prestidge

The last month has seen a noticeable increase in milage on the bike. Two weeks ago saw my biggest ever training week, with 25 hrs, 415km (all on MTB) and some swimming. The biking included a mid week 148km ride, followed by a weekend trip from near Timaru to Twizel and return. Last week I rode in Micro Adventure 3 around the Methven area. Some knee problems saw me cut the ride short, but i still managed my first night out in the new tent and got to test my gear out in some pretty cold conditions. A trip to the physio showed the problem to be a muscle imbalance problem pulling my knee slightly out of alignment, rather than any structural problems. With my long rides now getting up around 12 hours (away from home) the little things are starting to become important!
Having now ridden with a few different people, mostly experienced in Brevet style riding, I am starting to find the pace that i can sustain all day, and for multi-days. It is a far cry from the intensity and speed of 100 mile bike race and Iron distance tri pace, but i’m loving the more relaxed attitude to riding and the essential cafe stops!
last week I received my front roll, feed bags and top tube bags from Stealth bike Bags and had the opportunity to test them on Micro Adventure 3. I have some minor adjustments to make, but they worked superbly. Being my first opportunity to ride with a full gear kit, the set-up worked remarkably well and it made a world of difference having ready access to food and gear.
Training wise, it is now just a matter of keeping the milage rolling along and keep on testing the gear. Each time I load up the bike i find a better way of packing things. As I am anticipating taking around 17 days for Tour Aotearoa, if I can save 30 mins a day in packing, unpacking and sorting gear out during the day, I can gain nearly a full day!!