Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Triple Century!

I completed my first triple century (300 miles) at the Texas Time Trials this weekend. :D :D What a rush! I finished in about 21.5 hours. I'm one sore cyclist today though, but it was definitely worth it.

I spent about two months preparing for the event, doing longer and shorter distances in an attempt to peak out for this event. My longest training ride prior to the event was 192 miles about two weeks prior. Apparently, the training worked, as I felt strong throughout the ride and never doubted that I would be successful.

The Texas Time Trials is a tremendous event. If you live anywhere in Texas and ride century, or longer, rides, you owe it to yourself to come to Cleburne next year and compete. There are 6-hour, 12-hour, 24-hour, and 500-mile events all on the hilly 20-mile loop course. It's a very well organized event and you'll have a great time.

Congrats on a great ride!

Contrats! 300 miles wow.... Doubt I'd ever be able to do that. I've heard a few people say they've done long rides via loops. Sounds pretty boring to me. Would I be right or is there more to it?

Contrats! 300 miles wow.... Doubt I'd ever be able to do that. I've heard a few people say they've done long rides via loops. Sounds pretty boring to me. Would I be right or is there more to it?

I prefer riding a long single loop rather than a shorter one multiple times. But this was a race and it wouldn't be practical without a shorter loop. However, there's still something different with each loop. The weather changes, you feel different, there are different people ahead of you on the course, etc. And the competitive aspect helps as well. I never felt bored.

BTW, I couldn't have dreamed of riding this far even a year ago, so don't say you couldn't do it!

I like riding a 53 mile loop and I've done it 3 times in a day and hoping to do 4 next summer perhaps in June with the long hours of light. I'd like to hear of how you did the nutrition and hydration?

I completed my first triple century (300 miles) at the Texas Time Trials this weekend. :D :D What a rush! I finished in about 21.5 hours. I'm one sore cyclist today though, but it was definitely worth it.

I spent about two months preparing for the event, doing longer and shorter distances in an attempt to peak out for this event. My longest training ride prior to the event was 192 miles about two weeks prior. Apparently, the training worked, as I felt strong throughout the ride and never doubted that I would be successful.

The Texas Time Trials is a tremendous event. If you live anywhere in Texas and ride century, or longer, rides, you owe it to yourself to come to Cleburne next year and compete. There are 6-hour, 12-hour, 24-hour, and 500-mile events all on the hilly 20-mile loop course. It's a very well organized event and you'll have a great time.

Sounds like fun, congrats on the triple. Any idea when they are going to post results? I heard a couple Bacchetta riders did 400 on the course. Awaiting full results.

I like riding a 53 mile loop and I've done it 3 times in a day and hoping to do 4 next summer perhaps in June with the long hours of light. I'd like to hear of how you did the nutrition and hydration?

Nutrition was pretty simple. I tried to take in about 250-300 calories per hour, usually at the start/finish area. I used mostly liquid nutrition in the form of Ensure Plus, Gatorade Endurance (higher sodium than regular Gatorade) and some canned espresso for caffeine. I did eat a couple peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and a couple energy gels. I also drank a couple Coca-Colas but generally avoided carbonated beverages because they take longer to drink than non-carbonated drinks.

Hydration was Gatorade and water. I swapped out bottles after each lap for full. Hydration wasn't critical as it was pretty cool during most of the ride. I basically drank a few times around the course at the tops of hills. Gatorade is actually a bit sweet for me, but with the cool weather and frequent replenishment, it was usually cold and acceptable.

I was fortunate to have the support of one of the four-person 500 mile teams who would help me out by having things ready for me when I would finish each lap.

For your situation, if you can manage 150 miles, then you must have a good handle on nutrition and hydration. For longer distances, there's really no change required. Just keep doing what works for you.

Most the Bacchetta guys were on Hammer Perpetuem, John Schlitter said he was getting sick of it towards the end. :) Any ride over 2-3 hours needs to have a different fueling strategy than the average club ride.
Here's some good info on malto fuels.

http://www.arniebakercycling.com/handouts/hn_fa_maltodextrin_nutrition.htm

Iowa is relatively flat, if you picked a calm day you should be able to crank out 200 during daylight. Mike Trevino crossed the whole state in 10 hours on Highway 92. Look at the metamora 4x50 next fall, and some of the other doubles and brevets in the area. There's also the UMCA 12/24 next Sept which I'm going to try and put on my race/ride calender. On the longer events, it's good to have friends/family doing support. I know a couple of the wives and parents of Bacchetta riders were out at the Texas TT doing support for the group.

Most the Bacchetta guys were on Hammer Perpetuem, John Schlitter said he was getting sick of it towards the end. :) Any ride over 2-3 hours needs to have a different fueling strategy than the average club ride.
Here's some good info on malto fuels.

http://www.arniebakercycling.com/handouts/hn_fa_maltodextrin_nutrition.htm

Iowa is relatively flat, if you picked a calm day you should be able to crank out 200 during daylight. Mike Trevino crossed the whole state in 10 hours on Highway 92. Look at the metamora 4x50 next fall, and some of the other doubles and brevets in the area. There's also the UMCA 12/24 next Sept which I'm going to try and put on my race/ride calender. On the longer events, it's good to have friends/family doing support. I know a couple of the wives and parents of Bacchetta riders were out at the Texas TT doing support for the group.

10 hrs crossing Ia on Hiway 92? Is that possible? It's got to be close to 350 miles. RAGRBRAI takes a week to cross the state. I'm kind of a loner when riding distance and thought I might do RAGBRAI'S route next yr a week before it's schedule and shoot for doing it in 3 days.

Nutrition was pretty simple. I tried to take in about 250-300 calories per hour, usually at the start/finish area. I used mostly liquid nutrition in the form of Ensure Plus, Gatorade Endurance (higher sodium than regular Gatorade) and some canned espresso for caffeine. I did eat a couple peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and a couple energy gels. I also drank a couple Coca-Colas but generally avoided carbonated beverages because they take longer to drink than non-carbonated drinks.

Hydration was Gatorade and water. I swapped out bottles after each lap for full. Hydration wasn't critical as it was pretty cool during most of the ride. I basically drank a few times around the course at the tops of hills. Gatorade is actually a bit sweet for me, but with the cool weather and frequent replenishment, it was usually cold and acceptable.

I was fortunate to have the support of one of the four-person 500 mile teams who would help me out by having things ready for me when I would finish each lap.

For your situation, if you can manage 150 miles, then you must have a good handle on nutrition and hydration. For longer distances, there's really no change required. Just keep doing what works for you.

What's worked for me is water with food and Accelerade in between. I eat early and often but never too much at once. I can't do carbonated drinks because I get really bloated. I think I might try the starbucks cold coffee drinks next long ride. How bout Red Bull???

Most the Bacchetta guys were on Hammer Perpetuem, John Schlitter said he was getting sick of it towards the end. :) Any ride over 2-3 hours needs to have a different fueling strategy than the average club ride.
Here's some good info on malto fuels.

http://www.arniebakercycling.com/handouts/hn_fa_maltodextrin_nutrition.htm

Iowa is relatively flat, if you picked a calm day you should be able to crank out 200 during daylight. Mike Trevino crossed the whole state in 10 hours on Highway 92. Look at the metamora 4x50 next fall, and some of the other doubles and brevets in the area. There's also the UMCA 12/24 next Sept which I'm going to try and put on my race/ride calender. On the longer events, it's good to have friends/family doing support. I know a couple of the wives and parents of Bacchetta riders were out at the Texas TT doing support for the group.

OK - I looked it up and Mike Trevino did cross Ia in a little over 10 1/2 hrs with the distance being 273 miles for an ave of 25.7. By I-80 it's much further due to extended lump in the state line by Quad Cities. What's really impressive about that is that you go thru at least a dozen towns and 92 is not always the smoothest road.

OK - I looked it up and Mike Trevino did cross Ia in a little over 10 1/2 hrs with the distance being 273 miles for an ave of 25.7. By I-80 it's much further due to extended lump in the state line by Quad Cities. What's really impressive about that is that you go thru at least a dozen towns and 92 is not always the smoothest road.

92 smooth?? Heh, not a chance, down by my parents it's pretty rough. I'd like to make a go of a single day crossing, drag my mom and dad out for SAG support. I doubt I could hold 25+ for that distance.

Hey, the preliminary results are out.

http://www.tt24tt.com/results/2006/2006RESULTS_102106_Prelims-1.pdf

400 miles in 23:02, ouch... How'd those guys look out on course? I crewed for both in ultra events, and both those guys can get those bikes moving, roadside bottle handoffs were interesting.

What's worked for me is water with food and Accelerade in between. I eat early and often but never too much at once. I can't do carbonated drinks because I get really bloated. I think I might try the starbucks cold coffee drinks next long ride. How bout Red Bull???

I've used SoBe No Fear and Monster energy drinks on brevets when there is no hurry to get back on the bike. Like Red Bull, these are carbonated.

Like a lot of other people, I find that things that taste great at the beginning of a ride can lose all appeal after 100 miles. I also have to be careful at convenience stores not to eat "heavy" foods like burgers or corny dogs. They are too hard for me to digest while riding and lead to a miserable hour or so down the road. At the Texas Time Trials, I even passed up on the pancake breakfast because I didn't know how I would react to it. With about 100 miles to go, I wasn't keen on experimentation!

hawkijohn,

Oh, here's an ultra you should do next year. My buddy did it this year, and I'm going to try and do it on my Bacchetta next year. Fast 200 in your area.

http://www.big-dogs.org/umc/mm4X50/mm4X50home.htm

hawkijohn,

Oh, here's an ultra you should do next year. My buddy did it this year, and I'm going to try and do it on my Bacchetta next year. Fast 200 in your area.

http://www.big-dogs.org/umc/mm4X50/mm4X50home.htm

TNX for passing that along. I'm going to shoot for that too. I didn't see a date for '07?

supercom -- congrats on a great ride out there! 300 miles on that course in that wind is impressive. Even moreso since you left a bunch of time on the table (next year! ;)).

MarkW -- the Bachetta guys were smokin' it all day long. I got passed by them multiple times and they looked solid each time. It's probably a good course for a 'bent, especially one that can climb like those bikes can. None of the climbs are steep. And I'm sure they had a real advantage in that wind with the lower profile than us hapless DF guys and gals.

It's also a testiment to how tough that course is that the Bachetta folks couldn't beat Hopkins's 400-mile 24-hour record. No one has ever done 425 for RAAM-qualification in that event (although John got it due to his age with his 400-mile ride!). On the flatter events -- Sebring in particular -- the 'bents rule the roost. It's a rare DF rider who can keep with them. So that's really saying something about the course, and about all the folks who stuck it out through the breeze and the hills to finish the job....

job well done. gotta be tough passing the finish 15 times. It's a lot easier to bail on multiple loop rides. One loop and there's no going back but 15 loops and 15 chances to bail. You won the a tough mental battle not to mention the physical one. congrats.

supercom -- congrats on a great ride out there! 300 miles on that course in that wind is impressive. Even moreso since you left a bunch of time on the table (next year! ;)).

MarkW -- the Bachetta guys were smokin' it all day long. I got passed by them multiple times and they looked solid each time. It's probably a good course for a 'bent, especially one that can climb like those bikes can. None of the climbs are steep. And I'm sure they had a real advantage in that wind with the lower profile than us hapless DF guys and gals.

It's also a testiment to how tough that course is that the Bachetta folks couldn't beat Hopkins's 400-mile 24-hour record. No one has ever done 425 for RAAM-qualification in that event (although John got it due to his age with his 400-mile ride!). On the flatter events -- Sebring in particular -- the 'bents rule the roost. It's a rare DF rider who can keep with them. So that's really saying something about the course, and about all the folks who stuck it out through the breeze and the hills to finish the job....

Check the results, John Schlitter did tie the record with 400.2 in 23:02 and had 58 minutes to spare. He stopped, figuring they'd start the dinner and award ceremony without him if he went out for another lap, plus I'd guess he was pretty tired at that point. :) John has been RAAM qualified since 2005. He was beat by Chris in the Iowa Ultra by like 2 miles back in September. He'll be out on 2 man RAAM next year with Phil Plath. I crewed for him on RAO this year, and also crewed for Michael Wolfe on Furnace creek this year. Those races have climbing, with RAO being the most, John and Tim finished 3rd overall for 2 person teams out of 9 teams. Michael finished the 508 in 35:49 with an 80 minute train delay. Anyway, Bacchetta's got quite a few RAAM qualified riders, just need to get one to do solo. :)

I firmly believe they have the platform to use for distance riding/racing. They actually climb well because they don't weigh a ton like a majority of the bents. Bacchetta's carbon bike can weigh in at less than 18lbs. That bike John was on weighs 20lbs with the 404's and triple crank. Aerodynamics and power to weight rule in bicycle racing. 220 watts has me moving at 23+ on a flat, I'm not going to complain as it'd take 350-400 on my road bike, plus I'm not sore at the end of a long ride. :)

edit: I can't leave out Jim Kern, he also tied the record at 400.2 in 23:54. I think John should've done another lap, but I'm not sure if you have to do complete laps or a partial would count, I don't think he had it left to pull a full one in 58 minutes, seeing how his first lap was 55 minutes 23 hours earlier. I may have to try the 12 or 24 next year. Looking at Sebring for my first Ultra.

Pretty awesome! Congrats! :)