Yeah, it's all contextual blah blah but can't you just give a single concrete example? Since you were discussing a Gran Fondo so much, why not try and discuss a hypothetical taper - how many workouts two weeks before, how many in the week before? Do I ride at all on the day before the event? Sure this will differ for different riders, but surely NOT riding (or at least not riding long/hard) on the day before is an obvious piece of advice that hopefully no one will question?
Two day before a gran Fondo - ride easy to assure you've shed fatigue. Then (continuing to work backwards) , I've found a cycle of hard - easy - hard - easy days that can last roughly 2 weeks. Gradually reduce the duration of your hard days so you're keeping intensity up but not wearing yourself out. On easy days, cut the duration of these in half from what you'd normally do (a 1.5 hour endurance ride should be cut to 45 minutes) . At a really high level, that's a good place to start. 👍🏼
