Folks, thanks for all the advice. I will try to take some of it on
board and see how I get on.
On Sunday I'm riding the Gran Fondo Milan Sanremo - all 186 miles of
it. It will be about 60 miles further than I've previously managed in
one sitting, so it should at least be "interesting". I'm counting on
there being lots of wheels to shamelessly suck, at least until we get
to the Turchino Pass at about half distance.
I'm anticipating on completing the ride in 12 hours - I'm not sure if
there is a elimination time cut-off as in the Etape, but the rules
state your bike should have lights, so perhaps not or at least it's
going to be a bit over 12 hours as the ride starts at 7am.
I *know* the advice is not to experiment with new feeding strategies on
a big ride, but clearly the current one isn't working too well - too
many sickly sweet carbohydrates? Whilst pork pies and fish & chips may
be in short supply in that part of the world, I'm guessing bananas will
be plentiful on the route!! I shall stock up on those and any other
'real' foods I come across at the feeds.
> I notice from t'other thread that Bronzie completed the 200km in just
> over 8 hours. I wonder if that is significant.
Yes, it could well be that I was justing pushing on too hard. I was
riding the event with a mate who is a bit stronger than me - much as I
enjoy his company, it is something of a two-edged sword as I have to
push myself a little into the red to stay with him. I know the
sensible thing to do is let him go, then he'd have to slow down and
wait for me (because I'm the one in charge of navigation and car
keys!!). Sunday was a bit of an exception however as I did want to
push myself and see how I coped with a higher average speed. Maybe not
too well as it turns out.
Keeping fingers crossed for Sunday then and praying for a decent
tailwind all the way.
Ta
Bronzie
