No lapse, you two used the same picture, are you all related? Why would you both use the same damn picture? Sorry but I didn't read the names, the picture is unusual and not unique so I never even looked at the name under it.
What do you bring for a century ride?
- Thread starter Uawadall
- Start date
No lapse, you two used the same picture, are you all related? Why would you both use the same damn picture? Sorry but I didn't read the names, the picture is unusual and not unique so I never even looked at the name under it.
Guess you didn't see in my first reply that I specifically said that we are two different people
...Neither of us "used" that picture, and its not unusual. It is the default picture the site uses if you don't provide one...Carrying a bit of fruit, and then 1-2 of those Gatorade power bars w/20 Gs of protein usually gets me through any ride.
I carry Cliff Bars, or power bars, though on a cold day, trying to chew a power bar is like trying to eat hard tack. In the past, I used to take apples, oranges, and bananas, but those really weight down your back pockets. Bananas are always great to eat, but they don't always agree with my stomach.
I rode 251 miles yesterday on 2 1/2 bottles, half a coke, and a chocolate milk for fluids. Two mounds bars, a handful of cashews, two gels flasks, and one Kind bar. This is about 2100 calories and it was way more than I actually needed, believe it or not.
My point (I'm not the OP BTW) was to demonstrate with real data that the online calorie calculators for cycling are totally wrong.
BTW, just did my first long solo metric+ century. 80 miles, it was tough and honestly a little disappointing. Everything that could go wrong did. My chain fell off at least 20 times,phone and gps ran out of battery the basic wheels and old tires began to creak and add unnecessary resistance and I honestly wasn't ready for it physically(had to get off the bike countless times, didn't walk it any though). I was going pretty strong and steady for the first 40 before(17 mph) most of the problems started. I'm still new at and will use this at motivation to get stronger.
Saying all this, the weather was great as well as the scenery. Aside from my subpar performance,it wasn't a bad day
Saying all this, the weather was great as well as the scenery. Aside from my subpar performance
,it wasn't a bad day
BTW, just did my first long solo metric+ century. 80 miles, it was tough and honestly a little disappointing. Everything that could go wrong did. My chain fell off at least 20 times,phone and gps ran out of battery the basic wheels and old tires began to creak and add unnecessary resistance and I honestly wasn't ready for it physically(had to get off the bike countless times, didn't walk it any though). I was going pretty strong and steady for the first 40 before(17 mph) most of the problems started. I'm still new at and will use this at motivation to get stronger.
Saying all this, the weather was great as well as the scenery. Aside from my subpar performance
Sounds like your front derailleur high and low stops need adjusting so your chain doesn't fall off when you shift. Your wheel creaking sounds like your spokes may be too loose and your wheel needs truing, perhaps.
As far as GPS and a phone, I carry a basic phone that I never turn on, except for emergencies. I just don't think that $600 is worth spending for an expensive GPS speedometer. I'm low tech. I love my Sigma $33 bike computer. If I'm unfamiliar with an area, I go to my state's Department of Transportation and get free maps of all the surrounding county roads I want to explore.
In any event, it sounds like you're getting there, and soon a century will be nothing to you.
BTW, just did my first long solo metric+ century. 80 miles, it was tough and honestly a little disappointing. Everything that could go wrong did. My chain fell off at least 20 times,phone and gps ran out of battery the basic wheels and old tires began to creak and add unnecessary resistance and I honestly wasn't ready for it physically(had to get off the bike countless times, didn't walk it any though). I was going pretty strong and steady for the first 40 before(17 mph) most of the problems started. I'm still new at and will use this at motivation to get stronger.
Saying all this, the weather was great as well as the scenery. Aside from my subpar performance
Well done overcoming adversity. Live and learn. They make these little USB rechargable lipstick batteries that can supplement phones or Garmins. I use a Gomadic that holds 4 AAA batteries that will power my Garmin 800 for almost 50 hours straight. Good wheels, tires,and maintenance are critical if on an unsupported, long ride.
Sounds like you had a great ride, congrats!!!!
I think eating a good breakfast definitely helped me early in the ride(the first half) I had 1 bottle filled with gatorade and the other with water. Next time, ill bring two sports drinks... I drink the water too fast and it doesn't seem to help much. The taste and the few calories in the sports drink kept me satisfied with a little sip. I had a cliff bar and made a pit stop to eat. A guy along the way was kind enough to tell me where the closest place to eat was and gave me an apple. It was the best apple I've ever tasted. Dry fruit will be in the jersey pocket next time.
It feels good to be sore today, it only means it will be easier next time. I'll keep all these tips in mind.
. Dry fruit will be in the jersey pocket next time.It feels good to be sore today, it only means it will be easier next time. I'll keep all these tips in mind.
This thread is making me crave some fruit now! Haha apples, oranges, and bananas are my go-to if I'm ever going on a longer ride, I just pack them into a light rucksack with a few power bars and I'm good.
30 calories/mile - 3000 calories for a century, is a good estimate of the amount of food you need to eat. But you can eat that before the ride, during the ride, or after the ride.
When I was young, I would ride fast enough that stopping every 50 miles for water and food worked out well. A candy bar and 44oz pop worked out well.
Now I am old. I don't ride that fast and 33 miles seems like a good distance between stops. A 44oz pop for the first stop. A quart of chocolate milk for the second.
But for a first time rider, you eat what you want when you want. Convenience stores are good places to stop.
Fueling and doing a Century is simple...Follow the original long distance guru Velocio's Seven Commandments makes it relatively "simple" to do long miles:
1. Make your stops short and infrequent so as not to lose your drive.
2. Eat lightly and often. Eat before getting hungry, drink before you are thirsty.
3. Never ride until you are so tired that you cannot eat or sleep.
4. Put on extra clothing before you're cold, and take it off before you're hot.
Don't be afraid of exposing your skin to the sun, air, and rain.
5. Don't drink wine, eat meat, or smoke---at least during the ride.
6. Never rush things. Ride within yourself, particularly during the first few hours of a ride when you feel strong and are tempted to force the pace.
7. Never pedal out of vanity, don't be a show-off.
Without going into details on the Krebs' cycle, there are basically six sources of energy fueling a long ride that should be considered.
1. Stored glycogen within the muscles (maybe 1000 Calories in the legs)
2. Stored glucose with the liver (maybe 400 Calories...mostly to the brain)
3. Fat "converted" to energy in your muscles (mitochondria....virtually unlimted)
4. Amino acids "converted" to energy in your muscles (not good, who wants to lose muscle)
5. Foods that you eat during a ride (there is a finite limit to processing during a ride)
6. Ketones (very few riders have developed this source of energy)
As a distance rider gets fitter, they rely less and less upon the glycogen stored within the working muscles by using fat (beta oxidation) and this is a good thing for two reasons. First, most of us have limitless stores of fat for all practical purposes. Secondly and much more importantly in my view, oxidation of fat has a higher yield of ATP compared to burning glycogen (gluconeogenesis) and fat burning generally results in fewer H+ ions hanging around although with training, lactate is being recycled more efficiently plus H+ concentrations are lower than in the untrained state. So, it is kinda complicated. Riding just a little slower can very significantly tip you toward burning fat and a much greater time to exhaustion. Finding that pace is important. I've spent a lot of time reading and applying what I have learned and have ridden nonstop for more than 48 hours straight. What a rider eats varies a lot but one thing is certain, successful riders at longer distances eat and drink a little bit frequently. For instance, fruit does not work for me. Fructose makes me nauseous. YMMV. Some riders like to eat "real food" such as a hot dog or PBJ or chicken nuggets. 100% liquid works for me. I use First Endurance Pro in my bottles when I can afford it and make my own powders using highly branched cyclic dextrin, maltodextrin, D-Ribose, BCAA, and some minerals most of the time because it saves a lot of money although my brew does not taste as good.
The main reason to do longish training rides is to build fat burning capability because it is impossible to replace all of your glycogen once rides go beyond a certain distances and therefore, you must burn fat or bonk and hopefully spare the burning of your muscles. Stopping for a long rest also recharges the batteries if a rider bonks (depletes liver glucose and the brain becomes very unhappy). None of this matters much for short rides (say under 3-5 hours depending upon your RER) but fueling and the ability to burn fat becomes critical at around 6-10 hours of riding unless you want to feel really lousy. For the typical criterium rider, these long miles are junk or counterproductive because their success is mostly determined by the ability to laydown a lot of power for 5-8 minutes during crunch time and their races are short. But someone wanting to do a Century should be able to do 60-65 miles in training and if they can do that, a Century is almost in the bag.
1. Make your stops short and infrequent so as not to lose your drive.
2. Eat lightly and often. Eat before getting hungry, drink before you are thirsty.
3. Never ride until you are so tired that you cannot eat or sleep.
4. Put on extra clothing before you're cold, and take it off before you're hot.
Don't be afraid of exposing your skin to the sun, air, and rain.
5. Don't drink wine, eat meat, or smoke---at least during the ride.
6. Never rush things. Ride within yourself, particularly during the first few hours of a ride when you feel strong and are tempted to force the pace.
7. Never pedal out of vanity, don't be a show-off.
Without going into details on the Krebs' cycle, there are basically six sources of energy fueling a long ride that should be considered.
1. Stored glycogen within the muscles (maybe 1000 Calories in the legs)
2. Stored glucose with the liver (maybe 400 Calories...mostly to the brain)
3. Fat "converted" to energy in your muscles (mitochondria....virtually unlimted)
4. Amino acids "converted" to energy in your muscles (not good, who wants to lose muscle)
5. Foods that you eat during a ride (there is a finite limit to processing during a ride)
6. Ketones (very few riders have developed this source of energy)
As a distance rider gets fitter, they rely less and less upon the glycogen stored within the working muscles by using fat (beta oxidation) and this is a good thing for two reasons. First, most of us have limitless stores of fat for all practical purposes. Secondly and much more importantly in my view, oxidation of fat has a higher yield of ATP compared to burning glycogen (gluconeogenesis) and fat burning generally results in fewer H+ ions hanging around although with training, lactate is being recycled more efficiently plus H+ concentrations are lower than in the untrained state. So, it is kinda complicated. Riding just a little slower can very significantly tip you toward burning fat and a much greater time to exhaustion. Finding that pace is important. I've spent a lot of time reading and applying what I have learned and have ridden nonstop for more than 48 hours straight. What a rider eats varies a lot but one thing is certain, successful riders at longer distances eat and drink a little bit frequently. For instance, fruit does not work for me. Fructose makes me nauseous. YMMV. Some riders like to eat "real food" such as a hot dog or PBJ or chicken nuggets. 100% liquid works for me. I use First Endurance Pro in my bottles when I can afford it and make my own powders using highly branched cyclic dextrin, maltodextrin, D-Ribose, BCAA, and some minerals most of the time because it saves a lot of money although my brew does not taste as good.
The main reason to do longish training rides is to build fat burning capability because it is impossible to replace all of your glycogen once rides go beyond a certain distances and therefore, you must burn fat or bonk and hopefully spare the burning of your muscles. Stopping for a long rest also recharges the batteries if a rider bonks (depletes liver glucose and the brain becomes very unhappy). None of this matters much for short rides (say under 3-5 hours depending upon your RER) but fueling and the ability to burn fat becomes critical at around 6-10 hours of riding unless you want to feel really lousy. For the typical criterium rider, these long miles are junk or counterproductive because their success is mostly determined by the ability to laydown a lot of power for 5-8 minutes during crunch time and their races are short. But someone wanting to do a Century should be able to do 60-65 miles in training and if they can do that, a Century is almost in the bag.
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1500 would definitely be overkill for me, I can't stomach that much food while riding. My first 50 mile ride I consumed roughly 250 calories from sports drinks and another 250-300 from a mini pouch of trail mix.
Those are good tips, stopping too long definitely does more harm than good. I like riding with others,but number 1 is very true. Sometimes people chat too much and take one or two unnecessary brakes too many. I hate stopping and starting again. I overachieved in terms of distance(not speed..) that last ride. It was more than double 99% of the rides i've been doing during the winter. I will do at least 1-2 longish rides (50-70) a week starting the end of winter or when the weather permits.
Calories eaten are about equal to KJoules produced. The rule of thumb is 30 cal/mile. An easy road session for me is 28 KJ/mile. My trainer is set up differently and requires 44 KJ/mile for a bit harder ride.
I currently do my daily 60 mile rides with no food, but they still require 30 cal/mile - more or less. I can eat enough at night.
When it warms up and my route changes, I will do 60 mile rides a bit harder and will stop at a convenience store for liquids - some type of pop with calories.
But for a one off century there is no need to pay much attention. One day does not affect your weight much.
I like sticking to just powders that go in my water bottle that I get ready before the ride. It makes it easier during the ride cause I only have to grab my bottle to get my calories, don't have to open any packages or anything.
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