Longer race bike training -- how many full distance rides

Your body knows time not miles....your mind is what wants us to go xxx distance before an IM.

Hard to answer how many as it depends what you do in your training on your long ride and your other rides.

I rarely ride more than 95 miles during training for an IM. First IM I wanted to know I could do the distance.

Take a look at my log today (11/27/11) and you will see a note on some of my big workouts planned for next years build into IMWI. That said you will find many different distances from varying people. If you buy into the EN philosophy you may not ride more then 4 hours all year, but those 4 hours will be hard with lots of intensity. If you follow a volume based plan that is where you will see the 100 mile rides and up.

From my POV I prefer high volume session (time permitting) as I believe and have been taught that volume builds a greater efficiency then intensity. This has come from university teachers and not endurance coaches, although some of them have worked with many endurance athletes so take it for what it is worth.

When I raced IMWI in 2012 I did one ride of 120 miles just to make sure I could do the distance with many other rides in the 70-100 mile range. However, this year I have learned that I ride stronger and my body is more efficient when I ride more longer then just a couple of rides. One thing I will be changing on a lot of my long rides next year (minus the two posted in my log) is ending each ride with a 1 hour TT, and seeing how strong I am at the end of these rides. Hope my rambling here makes some sense!

best advise that "I don't remember who" gave me was:

Don't waste your time with extra long super easy rides, instead try to ride hard for X amount of hours and on race day just dial back your power/HR...

Worked like a charm for me

I want to say I got about 5 longer rides in.  They varied from 5-6.5 hours which, around here, results in about 80-105 miles.  So I never did a full distance ride.

However, my bike split (112 miles) for IMAZ was sub 6 hours, so I felt perfect off the bike.  It's more about the time, than the miles.

That sounds suspiciously like LeadMan.  I'll see you there! 

Based on my IM experience (one good and one bad), and speaking only for myself, I plan on getting in at LEAST 3-5 rides of 130+ miles.  I don't see any long  ride after early March being less than 90-100 miles long.  And, even at that, the shorter rides will have more total elevation than the total LeadMan course.  I'll also plan on 2-3 hours per week on the trainer, with some significant time being spent letting Mr. Troy kick my .

Based on my own experience, the delta in pain and suffering from mile 80 to 100 is signifiant, and the delta from mile 100 to 112 is even worse.  I'd imagine that the suffer level continues to grow from there, if not exponentially, definitly more than linearly.  Add in the heat and wind that we'll likley have to contend with and I want to make sure that the body and mind are well acquainted with what miles 130-140 are going to feel like and be well-prepared to deal with it. 

All that said, I do plan on backing off on the run training, keeping it slightly elevated from what I'd typically do for a HIM distance, but nowhere near the volume that I'd do for a IM distance. 

My longest ride in prep for my second IM in AZ this year was 60 miles.   I did however ride 6 or 7 days a week (all on the trainer) in the 1-2 hour range and a good intensity.   I rode a comfortable 5:33 in Arizona last week.

I will no longer suffer from the guilt of not wanting to spend 5 hours of my weekend time on the bike. 

I don't think that's a bad approach at all.  By contrast, I did 1x per week at 5-6 hours outdoors, and only 2 trainer rides, usually 45-60 minutes each.  Did a very comfortable 5:39 at IMAZ which included a mechanical delay of about 10 minutes.  Either way, I think you need to plan on 8-10 hours of bike time per week. 

Hmmm, this is all great feedback, much appreciated.  Yep, I am contemplating Leadman, you got that exactly right.

My training schedule would probably have me doing 2-3 bike workouts a week.  Long on the weekend, and 1 or 2 interval sessions on a stationary during the week.  That's about all I can reasonably plan on doing.  If just 1 during the week, I'd try to make it 60-75 minutes of intervals.  If 2, then probably 40 minute interval sessions with a 40 minute run brick.  I guess my weekend long ride would rotate through 60-80-100 mile distances, or something like that, aiming for 4-7 hours more or less.  Perhaps not ideal, but the best I can do right now.

I worry that this race might go away after this year, otherwise I'd be tempted take a pass and wait for the next time around.  Vegas is pretty close, and I like the shorter run given the challenges I've faced with run injuries.  I don't know of any other long races with a relatively short run like this one has.

That sounds exactly like Leadman.  Look at time more than the distance. Plan more than 7 hours on the bike, likely 8-9 minimum unless you're really good. 10 is not out of the question. And yes, that is bike segment only.  Jordan Rapp was the only finisher to break 7 (6:24). A couple other pro guys were right around 7, but dropped out.  Bike monster Angela Naeth was over 7, Troy Jacobson was too. Course is always changing and is something like 8,500-10,200 ft of ascending depending on who's Garmin you believe. Be used to very hot and windy conditions.

So for you others making recommendations, how long would you go for a course like this?

Exactly!!!

no point to spend 7 hours on the bike every single week if you can get the job done with high intensity rides plus some volume during the week! (IMHO)