Originally Posted by umd
I agree to the eating early part, but you aren't going to "unload" anything you ate at 6am before the start.
Doh! It wasn't clear, but I meant 6pm, the night before.
As far as the morning of, I just do my regular breakfast. Two scrambled eggs & toast or similar. I don't worry about eating x hours before the morning of a century or similar. Typically, it'll be an hour or two before I start, and I don't go hard enough early in a century that it's a problem. That way, it's still fueling my first hour or two. That might be a little risky for some... you probably have some idea about how riding affects your digestion (and vice versa). Working out when and how much to eat is a big part of training for a century. As is pacing yourself. When riding with a group, it's easy (and fun) to go too hard too soon. Hurts later.
