Joel,
I saw your training plan this morning - looks great, a nice gradual build up.
Couple of thoughts from what I learned from my endurance training that may be helpful:
· Make sure to have a cool down week (or two) before the start of your trip; this will give your muscles a chance to recoup before you start your big journey. I'm not sure when your trip actually starts but let's say it is two weeks after your 240-mile week. Following the 240-mile week you may want to consider a 180-mile week two weeks out and then a 100-mile week the week before your trip.
· Consider doing very short (~10 miles), very very low intensity (not letting your HR get above Zone 2) rides (or spins on the trainer/spin bike) on days you are not doing long rides; this actually helps prevent lactic acid from remaining in your muscles from the long rides. It sounds counter intuitive that you would ride/spin on a "rest day" but it helps to flush out the remaining lactic acid and better prepare your legs for the next long ride.
· On your long rides, try to do the majority of the ride in Zone 2; this is the fat burning zone (Zone 3 burns more carbs/sugars). And on endurance rides (what your trip across country will be) you'll want your body to burn more fat than carbohydrates as fat takes longer to burn that carbs which will increase your daily endurance on the bike. At first riding for 50/60 miles in Zone 2 will feel like you are moving at a snails pace, however, over the course of your training you will build up speed while being able to remain in your Zone 2. Be patient with this, but one day (several months into training) you will realize that you are cooking and still remaining in Zone 2.
· I would highly recommend getting your personal HR zones calculated.This is very important as people can vary dramatically - the stuff that is on the Internet is very general and may be off for your body by 10 beats or more which can absolutely negatively impact your training, especially if you decide to follow the previous bullet point. You can get this done for around $100 and will make a very big impact on your training, especially as you are diligent with tracking your numbers (which is great). However, I would not just go to the local shop to get this done. I would shop around and seek out a shop that is very well versed in this stuff (often triathlon focused shops because their customers tend to be on training programs that require HR zone workouts). Often these are folded into packages where you find out your VO2 max, etc.
· Nutrition is key for long rides. If you don't eat right and drink right long rides will be painful, not fun and can rough up your body.But eating and riding is not always easy. You should be finishing one tall water bottle per hour, and the longer the rides it is more important that what is in your bottle is not just water - you'll need things like electrolytes, carbs, proteins (which help with muscle recovery), etc. I used a company that made custom powder specifically formulated for me - which I dialed in over the course of a month or so of using it - each batch I would talk to the owner and tell him about my rides, how I felt, etc. They were able to adjust protein levels (I had some bloating from too much protein), adjust carb levels and all the other needed nutrients down to the mg (and can even adjust the flavor level - weak to strong - to none). The powder contained everything I needed (and was still as thin as water when mixed) so on 7-8 hour rides I literally never ate anything just drank which makes digestion easy. I'm not suggesting that this is the only way to go but may be helpful as you venture out on long rides where eating solids can be difficult after a while. And it is relatively inexpensive as you consider the cost of bars, gels, goo, etc. We can talk more about this if you want.
· Finally, have fun with this. When it's not fun then it becomes work. With that said, do ride on super cold days, in light rain (when it gets warmer) when you have a scheduled ride days. On your trip cross country you'll have to ride in all conditions regardless, therefore, best to condition your body to this now. If you have the right gear, riding in all types of weather isn't bad at all (only the first 15 minutes until your body warms up!).
Hope these insights help. There was a lot of trial and error on my part and help from a professional coach to understand the value of some of the items that seem counter intuitive.
Happy to talk through any of these bullet point if you'd like.
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