One Size Does Not Fit All

There are many ways to prepare yourself for a long distance cycling event. The most important variable in the process is you: your goals, degree of enthusiasm/commitment, available training time and natural abilities. Case 1, below, is my own stock training plan. Don't treat any of the material as an absolute prescription. Take a broad look at the information and extract some general principles, or maybe a few specifics which might be relevant to you.

I think that it would be fair to say that there are as many ways to prepare for a season of randonneur cycling, as there are randonneurs. With this in mind, I look at the preparations of two other experienced, but very different, randonneurs (cases 2 and 3), and then also reprint a set of notes from a fitness and training workshop talk by Ted Milner (case 4), a leading authority on training for distance cycling. Each of these four approaches have their own merits, and perhaps some drawbacks (see case 2). This is an opportunity to explore a few ideas which may suggest the sort of training method that will work for you. One way or another, I hope you find the training plan that fits your body and matches your goals.

Case 1: The Recreational Cyclist (Who Got Carried Away): Eric Fergusson
Case 2: Getting Away With Murder: Larry Wasik
Case 3: The Commuter Plus Plan: Deirdre Arscott
Case 4: An Expert Opinion: fitness and training notes from Ted Milner

also:

A Word About Training For The Big Ones
Two Sample Training Schedules