Road Cycling - 24 hour ride

Just started serious cycling last August when I purchased a new road bike, and just got back from the National 24-Hr. Challenge in Middleville, Michigan. What an incredible event! The longest distance I had ever ridden was a metric century in May. It was really a rush when I was able to keep up with the lead group for the first 125-mile loop in 5:39 (that's a little over 22 mph ave.)! Anyway, the "pros" went right to the 22-mile loop while I rested. I later went out and did 2 22-mile loops, rested some more and then did 22 or 23 6-mile loops. Total miles: 303.9


Most of the age-category winners did well over 400 miles. You've got to respect that!

The folks that put on the event were great and it was just a great weekend.

Anyone else ever do anything this crazy??

Ummmm, No! Congratulations!

BCBOY,
Excellent! You realize, of course, that now that you have accomplished this feat and posted about it, you are ours. It is now your responsibility to become a regular poster as well as a mentor and advisor to any of us who start thinking about trying some long distance rides. :)

You can start now. How did you prepare for this event? What did you eat during the ride? Did you eat on the bike or just when you stopped? Inquiring minds want to know!
Regards,
Raymond

RainmanP,

Thanks for the welcome to the forum. I have lurked for a couple of weeks, but decided to take the plunge when I got back from the ride.

Well, I will do my best to answer your questions in order, so, here goes. What did I do to prepare? starting last October when I purchased a set of used (but do they ever really wear out?) Kreitler rollers with headwind unit from my LBS, I used this following format during the winter:

Monday: 1-1.5 hrs. aerobic (hr between 130-140 with 39x17@100rpm)

Tuesdays: Sprints - warm-up 10 min (spin), attach headwind unit and get in 39x17@100 rpm for 5 min, sprint 30 sec, back down to 100rpm for 4.5 min, sprint for 30 sec, etc. for 8 times, then disconnect headwind unit, cool-down for 10 min. Total time on bike about 1 hr.

Wednesdays: skate (ice in winter, 5-wheel in summer)

Thursdays: power - warm-up like Tues, then with headwind unit start with 53x17 for 10 min, then 53x15 for 10, then 53x13 fo r10, then back to 53x15 for 10, then 53x17, then 10 minute cool down

Friday: Aerobic (like Monday) as I rode more, had to shift to more difficult gear to maintain hr at 130-140

Saturday: off - time with family

Sunday: skate

When spring came around, I started the Monday rides sponsored by my LBS (35 miles easy) and then rode Tuesdays in a "spirited" 35-40 mile ride with ave. speed around 20 mph. with 2-4 others. I did individual longer distances on Thursdays and Saturdays, usually 50 miles. In May, I did the Ft. Wayne May Madness Metric Century, continued the Mon, Tue, Thur, Sat rides, and week before, stopped after Tue.

My LBS gave me a set of Mavic Ksyriums to use (I had to give them back :-(, but it was great using them)

I rode the event unsupported, so the morning of the event,I left my house at 0530 with my cooler packed with 4 gallons of gatorade, 16 powerbars, and a change of clothes for night riding.

The first 125 miles was a big loop and I drank 20 oz. of gatorade every hour, and ate 1 powerbar every hour. I found it relatively easy to eat on the bike. There was a group of about 20 of us, and I just tucked in and nibbled my powerbar. We averaged 22.1 mph. for the first 125. At the second checkpoint, I had to re-fill my water bottles with water, and because I was unsupported, lost time and had to ride hard to make it back to the lead group. I made it though, and continued on to the next check point, where I needed to fill one bottle, but decided not to because I didn't want to lose the pack again. When we finished the 125 miles, I stopped to re-fill my water bottles and eat some banana and raisins.

I then went back out and did 2 22-mile loops, catching groups, drafting when I could. I stopped after every couple of hours to re-fill my bottles.

Later in the night, after putting on warmer clothes, I ate some pizza, adn kept going till I reached my goal of 300 miles. I finished the last lap at about 0630. I could have kept riding til 0800, but I was tired, so I stopped.

What did I learn from this experience?
1) parasthesia (numbness in the sadle area) sets in after about 8 hours on the bike. I will use a different saddle if I do this again
2) I will not ride unsupported again - someone there to hand me water instead of taking time to fill bottles would make a difference
3) People that volunteer to staff bike events are great
4) Riding in a group is better (when I was doing 23 mph in the group my hr was 134, but when it was my turn to "pull," it shot up to 165-175 range)
5) You can survive on gatorade and powerbars:-)

Well, I am sorry for writing a book, but I hope my experience will encourage others. I am not some "super athlete," but an example of someone who decided to try something I've never tried before and did it. I often read posts from folks who used to race, and they are just getting back into the sport, and they don't know if they should race again, and I say "Go for it." I did and had a blast.

BCBoy

Your "book" is great! Now, this is the kind of activity I cannot conceive that I would ever want to approach--but I'm fascinated to read about it, and even though it's outside my realm of experience, all the same I find it inspiring. I imagine there are others who feel the same--don't want to emulate it, but admire it profoundly.

Congratulations! And thanks for taking time to detail everything.

Well, it's not quite as crazy. Maybe not nearly as crazy, but here's what I'm doing Saturday.
http://www.bloodsweatandgears.org/
Why do we do it?:confused:

Roadbuzz,

I checked out the web site, and it sounds like a great ride. Let us all know how you do.
I noticed you are in Charlottesville - U of Virgnia country - beautiful area. I wasn't as fortunate when I lived in Virginia, I lived in Fairfax County. Anyway, I digress.
Be safe, do well, and have fun on that ride:-)

BCBoy

BCBoy,
Wow! Thanks for the detailed description! It was more than I hoped for, and I mean that in a good way. I really like to know detail about such things. It gives one an idea what it would take to achieve such a ride if I ever think about doing one.

What HRM do you use? I plan to get one and I am always interested in hearing how others like the model they use. Any particular features you find useful beside the usual upper/lower range alarms, average HR. What about time in zone?

Thanks,
Raymond

Originally posted by bcboy
Charlottesville - U of Virgnia country - beautiful area.
Yep. Every so often the university team riders show up for the club rides and smoke our b*tts good. It is good cycling country for sure.

RainmanP,

My current HR monitor is a SigmaSport PC6. I got it over two years ago, and it has served its purpose well. It is a basic model, upper and lower limits can be set, but in all honesty, I still don't know what my Max HR is. I am thinking about getting one of the newer Polar models that will tell me what my max is. I don't necessarily need to link it to my computer or anything, but I would like to know my actual, not theoretical (220-age), max HR.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

Ride well and ride often.

BCBoy

BCoy,
Thanks, again! As a commuter, I do ride often, 8.5 miles AM, 13.5 PM, but not necessarily very well. I am working on that.
Regards,
Raymond