How To Cycle Further Than Ever Before

Are you gearing up for an event that will test the limits of your endurance? Or maybe you just want the feeling of accomplishment from hitting the next milestone. We're here to help you ride further than you may think you're capable.

0:00 - Intro
0:51 - Training
2:09 - Mentality
3:20 - Buddy Up
3:52 - Fuel Up
5:00 - Rule of Thirds
5:35 - Pedal Like You Mean It
6:06 - Comfort

Useful Links:

What's the furthest you've ever ridden? Let us know down below 👇

Watch more on GCN...

🎵 Music - licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵
Can't Get You off My Mind - Rambutan
Humbot - Wave Saver
Never or Right Now (Instrumental Version) - ELFL
No Way - Rambutan
One Direction (Instrumental Version) - Nbhd Nick
The Streets (Instrumental Version) - Roof

#gcn #cycling #roadbike #endurance #challenge

The Global Cycling Network (GCN) is the largest online cycling channel in the world, bringing together a global community of road cyclists to celebrate everything that’s great about the world of cycling.

Our videos bring fans compelling daily content including expert tutorials, techniques, training, racing, cutting-edge bike tech, unparalleled behind the scenes event coverage, humour, entertainment, and more.

Presented by ex-pro riders, GCN offers a uniquely qualified insight into the world of cycling, and most importantly it’s fuelled by our passionate and enthusiastic fans – everyone who makes up the GCN community. We also bring the latest and greatest tech to your attention, showcase the best places in the world to ride and get exclusive access to events and races.

Welcome to the Global Cycling Network | Inside Cycling

Thanks to our sponsors:

Watch our sister channels:

[gcn]

So turns out we've had a blunder and published a bad coppi of the original... What is your biggest blunder?

[ndennan]

Started cycling in August 2020 because of Covid and I did a 300km charity ride in August 2021. Previous longest ride before the 300km was 120km.

[bleckandbleck]

When I was 20 I did a 124mile ride and that remained my longest until I was 57 and did the Ride Across Wisconsin RAW. It was 180 miles, just shy of 300km in under 8:30. I’ve done it two more times since. The biggest help was riding with other good riders and everyone keeping below 300w as much as possible. My average was 247w.

[frazergoodwin]

My longest single day ride was the route of stage1 of the 2019 Tour de France that started and finished in my home town of Brussels - as I was a volunteer marshal for the race I rode it one year later on the Grand départ anniversary - with the stage's neutral section and getting to the start and back home from the finish it was a total of 227Km. But I've also ridden from my home in Brussels to my in-laws in Sweden over 9 days - 1400Km...

[leehyson]

The black and photo is not Coppi. It's a French rider called Raphael Geminiani born in he's still alive. Awesome.

[leandreyfantilaga]

The timing of this video is impeccable! I was just about to do 160k, all alone too! Wish me luck 🤞

[mariaaguiarfreitas]

Very good vídeo. My longest ride was last year 106km (up 3000m) the Granfondo Madeira island. Full agree with : MENTALITY, BUDDY UP and COMFORT. But BUDDY UP was the one, we were a group of 5 (that we call 'family riders'), 2 of them fastest arrived first, and other 3 was me, my husband and godson, we support each other and arrived together to the goal...it was magic!!!

[stephenrgentry]

Thanks for the tips. You're spot on. The annual Seattle to Portland bicycle classic is my longest ride; 204 miles (328 KM) in one day. This year will be my 17th time.

[linus_hille]

That comes in very handy for my 250km attempt next Sunday.

[bobinjc]

Love your channel! My longest ride was 100 miles, from Madison Square Garden in NYC to Montauk Point, Long Island, NY. It was appropriately called; "The Ride to Montauk" organized by Bike Guy Glen Tours back in 2006, if I remember correctly. I had the hottest of hot feet on that grueling day. The ride itself was not difficult, but the pain I had to endure and overcome from those hot feet was intense and hard to describe. But I did it!

[LUCYDIAMONDBOXER]

My longest ride is a solo 358km. I found what helped mentally, was playing the alphabet game and singing like no one was watching. 😐

[deanb]

So far, a couple of 100 mile sportives, but in June I'm doing my first ever full distance triathlon, 112 miles after a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a marathon. That should be fun.

[stihldavebergen]

I did an 120km shortly after I bought my first carbon bike in '07, got lost at a fundraising ride.
Always happy to get motivated by Manon, great vid.

[kreesemath]

My longest ride was 106 miles (170 km) with 3700 m of climbing, just yesterday. I've done century rides many times but this one had way more climbing. The rule of thirds was helpful, as was imagining Manon rooting me on when I felt like quitting. The timing of this video was so fortunate.

[lukehaddix]

I participated in a benefit ride this past Saturday. Up until then the longest I've been on the gravel bike was 11.8 miles. I use the exercise bike and I've been on it for an hour a few times. But normally I ride it about 30 to 40 minutes. The benefit ride was said to be 20 miles long. Turns out about 18.4 miles. Luckily I accidentally did most of your tips from this video lol. I eat good the day before had good sleep, paced myself in the beginning and eat a snack halfway through, kept my comfortable cadence up until the end and I was on the attack. I thought I passed everyone in my age group, but I didn't. I had so much energy left at the end. I went back out and met up with my group. I clocked on a few more miles totaling about 22 miles total that morning. Thanks for this video. I'll make sure I fallow the advice next ride.

[johannadamson]

258 km from Kingston to Negril in Jamaica. Totally agree... get that training in, Buddy up, eat frequently and don't push it too early. Try to enjoy the journey.

[roleypup]

Thank you GCN for the advice. My previous longest ride was 205 km. Well just today I completed my longest ride ever, 234 km solo, with 3200 m of climbing, & on a whim I included some impossibly steep & rocky fire trails that I'd never ridden on with my roadie. Some cyclocross was required. What stopped me today was my knees feeling quite weird, at that point just before soreness. It's familiar & not something I've wanted to ignore. I thoroughly enjoyed myself today & if not for some difficult terrain (+1100m with sections over 20%) & surfaces (rocks, dirt, mud) towards the end I possibly could've gone another 30 km or more.

I'd like to add a couple of extra tips.
* In terms of the coffee stop, I thought what's the difference between having lunch & a hot choccy at a café & stocking up on ride snacks & water there, & nicking home for the same period of time to do the same thing but not showering or napping? So I did that. My plan was to knock off an imperial century before going home for a lunch break. Long enough for my second stint later but not so close to my previous best that I'd be tempted to decide, nah that's enough. Then on that break I could see how I felt, check over the bike, & if something was going horribly wrong with my bike or my knees or other joints, well I was home & didn't need picking up. If you have the time, I suppose you could break the ride up a couple of times like this.

* For the last couple of weeks I've been following Si's lead of sticking to zone two, because it makes a lot of sense, especially for me with my poor on-bike recovery between efforts. So I took it one step further, for the initial 160k I stuck to zone one for as much as I could, & freewheeled most of the descents. Basically I wanted to get home with my legs feeling like I'd barely gone for a ride at all. Mostly it worked. Seriously I felt like I'd only done about 60 km. After having stopped for about 50 minutes & with 165 km in the bag already, I went out again & rather than just doing the extra 40km to best my previous, I completed another 69 km. Mostly zone two now, some flirting with zone three where the roads were steep. When the heart rate got a bit out of control I stopped for a minute or two.

* For gearing, don't be afraid to go lower than what you have. A smaller chainring or a larger cassette, eschewing the 11t or even the 12t. When you're tired, you won't care about having big gears. My low gear is a 26t granny/32t sprocket underdrive. It gives me a lot of options. As with GCN advice elsewhere, make sure you give it a proper test-run.

* I checked the weather last night & saw that the wind was supposed to be northerly today, 20-30 kph. Knowing that the breeze is often stronger during the day here than the night before, a couple of hours before sunrise I headed out to the north, then lo & behold for my return the wind, a tailwind, was actually marginally stronger. My turnaround point at 70km was also several hundred metres higher in altitude than my start point. Still some hills to climb for the return but by & large they were very easy kilometres & left me feeling confident & accomplished.

* If you're the type who sleeps poorly the night before a big event, add an extra rest day beforehand.

Another tip, not relevant for my ride is, daredevils may get some assistance on dual carriageways. Tailwinds every time a car or truck goes past.

[JMcLeodKC]

That picture was not Fausto Coppi, it was Raphael Geminianni. The Coppi-Geminiani connection was pretty deep but has a very sad ending.

[jack_keyes]

The Buddy Up tip is crucial. My biggest ride (so far) was 210km, and we greatly enjoyed the training before, the suffering during, and the recovery and “high” for weeks after. SO much fun to ride with your mates on such a hard ride.

[psycho]

My longest ride was my Everesting-Ride, 310km.