Long Distance Cycling - Am I going to make it?

I've been weekend warrior cycling for about two months now, and am up to 90 miles with 4200 feet of ascent in a day. There's a small group ride scheduled at the end of the month (22 days away) that's 132 miles with about 6600 feet of ascent. It's a self-supported ride, under a half dozen riders. I've been invited to go, but I don't want to go if I'm going to hold up the pack or otherwise ruin the ride for the others.

My biggest concern is not so much the extra mileage as it is extra ascent, and me not knowing just what/when/how much to eat/drink as I go. The ride has climbs throughout, but looking at Google earth shows some serious climbs 75-80 miles into the ride, and I'm not sure I'll be ready for those - I'm usually quite wiped at the end of my almost-centurys. I can usually deal with grades up to 9%, but if I run into that at 90 miles in I suspect I'll be in troube. Is there some concise source for long ride nuturion I can read?

I've probably got another couple of weeks to decide if I'm going to go. What should I do to prepare and convince myself that I can really do this? Can I do this if almost all of my on the bike training is on weekends? What should I do in the gym during the week?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

I'll give you my century article too: http://www.machka.net/century.htm

You're pretty much at a century now, so some of it won't apply, but it might give you an idea about eating and drinking.

Can you ride the stationary bicycles at the gym during the week? I know they aren't the best, but 30 - 60 minutes a day on those will help matters. Go through one of the hill programs they have.

And yes, I think you should be fine out there ... just take it easy. :)

Thanks, I read through that yesterday. I struggle with what to eat for breakfast on the day of the ride. I start my rides early - earlier than my normal work week, and don't know whether I should eat a big breakfast or go light on the day of. I eat pasta and such the night before, and have a nice steak and veggies after the ride.

Also, for drinks during the ride - I don't like most of the "energy" drinks. On a whim I got some Sobe/Fuze green tea, and did fine (they're sweetened with sugar/honey, not high fructose corn syrup). Are these a bad idea?

I suspect nutrition will be key for the ride, as there are stretches of 20 or so miles at a time with no stores at which to pick up food/drink. That means 3 bottles (2 on bike, on in shirt), and as many clif bars as I can carry. Right?

Breakfast ... mine usually consists of something like, a can of Ensure and maybe a couple oatmeal cookies. That's about all I can stomach.

Energy Drinks ... I use HEED on the bicycle, which you can buy in a powder and add to water. However, at convenience stores, I drink 100% pure orange juice, sometimes Iced Tea, occasionally Coke.

On the bicycle ... you only need 250-300 calories per hour. 20 miles or so is what ... 1.5 - 2 hours? If you like Clif bars, that's only 2 of them. Personally, I CANNOT stomach Clif bars. In fact, I dislike most energy bars. I eat real food on the bicycle ... granola bars, cereal bars, fruit bars, and lots of cookies (soft oatmeal raisin cookies!). If you stop for lunch somewhere, have a good lunch -- 500-1000 calories or so. Don't be afraid to eat pizza, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, or whatever strikes your fancy (just don't go with something you rarely eat ... for example, if the last time you had pizza was in 1975, you might want to avoid it, but if you eat pizza once a week and love it, then it is a good option). That lunch will tide you over for a couple hours before you need to start nibbling your bars or whatever you've brought with you again.

The key is to keep eating all the way through ... and to choose things you like to eat.

You have to realize that this forum is full of types 2-3 standard deviations from the mean.
For us mortals, the legs run out of glycogen energy stores between 45 and 70 miles and
unless you are already eating you will run into trouble. The principle is easy and Machka's
site is a good start but you should realize that one thing separating the Spartans from the
rest of us is an iron stomach and never say die constitution where the gut keeps working,
appetite does not fail or rebel and the ability to keep stuffing in the necessary calories and
fluids is not impaired by increasing mileage. 130 miles is a very significant increment beyond
90 miles. 90 is reachable with a moderate stretch of internal resources but the additional
40 requires some fortitude. My experience is that the leg torque goes away somewhere
around 80-100 and I can spin along on the flats at 15-20, occas 22-24 depending but any
little rise and I am down to 12-14mph and hills drop me to 5-6mph, a slogging grind.
The urgent thing is food and fluids, the rest you will just have to see how it goes. I hope it
is a benign, retrospectively invigorating adventure afterward. As Machka has hinted elsewhere
there is a lot of discomfort and outright pain in ULD riding that later is blurred out and
leaks away leaving only the good feelings that keep the ULD riders out there. One other
thing: get some petroleum jelly and generously lube up your crotch and sides of your legs
before the ride. Helps a lot of us with those long hours on the saddle to reduce skin discomfort.

I've been weekend warrior cycling for about two months now, and am up to 90 miles with 4200 feet of ascent in a day. There's a small group ride scheduled at the end of the month (22 days away) that's 132 miles with about 6600 feet of ascent. It's a self-supported ride, under a half dozen riders. I've been invited to go, but I don't want to go if I'm going to hold up the pack or otherwise ruin the ride for the others.

My biggest concern is not so much the extra mileage as it is extra ascent, and me not knowing just what/when/how much to eat/drink as I go. The ride has climbs throughout, but looking at Google earth shows some serious climbs 75-80 miles into the ride, and I'm not sure I'll be ready for those - I'm usually quite wiped at the end of my almost-centurys.....

You've really ramped up quickly -- I wouldn't expect that most people could handle the rides you're trying with just a couple months of saddle time.

I'm wondering what you mean be feeling almost wiped out after 90 miles and 4200 feet of climbing? Legs burned up? Head in a fog? Both?

There are a couple things to watch out for. The first is riding too hard. Do not try to match anyone else's pace. If the others are going slightly faster than you, tell them that you'll hang back and that they should go ahead. Riding even a couple tenths of a mph faster than you should is a recipe for pain and problems.

Based on your comments, I'd be worried about you getting adequate nutrition on the ride. For breakfast, I'm a huge fan of downing a couple bottles of Ensure Plus -- it works well. Although solid food is more satisfying, it also can wreak havoc on your insides when you're stressed. As far as hydration goes, I really wouldn't recommend tea. Even if you don't like them, find the endurance drink you tolerate best and consume that. Alternatively, drink plain water, but take gels.

If there's only 20 miles between opportunities to fill up on water, I'd only take 2 bottles even if all 20 miles are uphill unless it's scorching hot. You need to be well hydrated, but you also don't want extra weight. On a related note, if you want to rely on energy bars, I wouldn't carry more than 3 or 4 since you'll have ample opportunity to replace them. Even if you just drink water, you barely need to eat more than one per hour. I wouldn't recommend drinking tea for this purpose. Water or sports formula really is a better way to go for most people, but everyone is different.

Whatever you do, don't wait until you are hungry/thirsty to take in hydration or food. Otherwise, you're likely to get tired, not feel like consuming anything, and you'll have problems. It's better to figure out how much you're going to eat/drink how often and stick to that.

You must be in pretty good shape to even be thinking about this. If you can do 90 miles with 4200 feet, I think you can pull off 132 miles with 6600 feet. The longer ride will be much harder, but you may well find that the mental part is as tough or tougher than the physical part. Just prepare well, relax, and listen to your body on the day of the ride. You can do this.

You've really ramped up quickly -- I wouldn't expect that most people could handle the rides you're trying with just a couple months of saddle time.
Well, I had been riding on and off on my mountain bike (with road slicks), doing about 25 miles or so when I did ride earlier this summer. Getting a real road bike (probably less than half the weight of what I had been riding) and being motivated have helped. I was initially embarrassed about spending as much as I did on a real road bike, but clearly it's made a big difference in my riding.


I'm wondering what you mean be feeling almost wiped out after 90 miles and 4200 feet of climbing? Legs burned up? Head in a fog? Both?
General exhaustion, as well as tired legs. Head fine. Stomach fine. Back OK. The usual rear-end discomfort (I've been trying a different saddle every couple of weeks), but no rubbing-related issues (I have a good pair of padded bibs).


Do not try to match anyone else's pace.
So far, I've been riding completely on my own. The ride I'm going for is small and they keep together and understand my situation, and are very supportive. So much so that my concern is letting them down by slowing them down way too much.


Based on your comments, I'd be worried about you getting adequate nutrition on the ride.
Yeah, I'm thinking that nutrition is my next major hurdle. I'll try the Ensure, even if buying it will make me feel old(er). I'm on the CA coast, so it's neither too hot nor too cold. I'll also work on eating more regularly - I'm very good about drinking on a regular basis.


You must be in pretty good shape to even be thinking about this. If you can do 90 miles with 4200 feet, I think you can pull off 132 miles with 6600 feet. The longer ride will be much harder, but you may well find that the mental part is as tough or tougher than the physical part. Just prepare well, relax, and listen to your body on the day of the ride. You can do this.
Thanks for the support. I'm really not in that good a shape - that's one of my problems. I can do 90 miles, but I take a pretty long break or two near the end of the ride, and I really slow down on any up hills after about 65 miles. Since I often ride the same course twice in a day, I see just how much slower I'm going up the same hills late in the day compared to the morning.

It was also very interesting to read the previous post about doing 80-90 miles on internal resources, and running out of leg torque, etc., because that's exactly what I'm feeling. I could probably ride longer if the terrain was flat. Matter of fact, the ride I'm training for has uphills at 30 miles in and again at 80 miles in. After 100 miles it mostly levels out, so I'm somewhat counting on that. I am worried about the second batch of hills. Here's a link to a story someone wrote on the first 100 miles:
Highway 1: The best bike ride possible (http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/columns/story?columnist=caple_jim&id=2629491) and here's a link to the map, with elevations: MapMyRide (http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/ccp.asp?ievent=146257&lis=1&kntae146257=295756DC6A504566A6ED9AF40805349A&ccp=39855)

Finally, here's the elevation profile (only look at the ride #1):
http://www.kintera.org/atf/cf/{53603d43-c166-4491-8742-27d04fc9df77}/hc07eleveationprofiles.jpg
"Note: The elevation profiles are substantially scaled. Despite what looks like gradients of 30% or more we can promise you that the hills, while challenging are not at any point incredibly steep or prolonged. The route is rolling."

Do you anticipate that you'll have to ride in the dark? If there's even a chance that you might -- i.e., you lose time because of a flat tire, you take longer at a stop than you planned to take, etc. -- bring some lights with you.

You will likely slow down some, but the hills depicted don't look like real
killers. If the last 30mi is truly flat then, this looks more doable with the
proviso you need to start eating about 30-40mi into the ride and drinking
at least 750ml/hour starting from the first. Drink whatever you find
palatable, but water should be available only to wash out the mouth and
as an occasional drink. You really need fluid + calories and combining the
two is easier as the miles pile up. Contrary to some others opinions I find
gatorade a good compromise on longer rides. HEED makes me want to
vomit, ditto Red Bull and similar variants. Don't know why. Chocolate
milk is another option.
Rereading your post and your mention of Highway 1 suggests to me that
the 'relatively' flat last 30mi will be more up and down than I first thought.
While the 600' climb over 5mi or so at 60-80mi again doesn't seem like
a killer, the last 30mi look less like rollers and more like leg killers.

General exhaustion, as well as tired legs. Head fine. Stomach fine. Back OK. The usual rear-end discomfort (I've been trying a different saddle every couple of weeks), but no rubbing-related issues (I have a good pair of padded bibs).
This is a good way to feel after a ride -- it means you've used up what you have. If you cut your pace (or improve your conditioning), you will last longer. If you use a computer, turn the speedometer off during your big ride. If you try to match your normal pace even with a slight headwind, you'll be in for a world of hurt.

With regards to the saddle, I'd just pick one and try to get used to it. All saddles take some acclimatization, and I haven't found anything that works better than sitting in them as much as possible.


So far, I've been riding completely on my own. The ride I'm going for is small and they keep together and understand my situation, and are very supportive. So much so that my concern is letting them down by slowing them down way too much.
You won't let anyone down. Just being out there is a huge accomplishment and everyone will recognize this. They will also know that it won't help you (or them) if you ride too hard -- burning your legs up early can really slow you down overall. Riding with slower cyclists is not boring at all if you get to see someone do something impressive. I've seen people who didn't look like they could do 50 miles complete double centuries. They aren't quick by any means, but it's still very exciting to see them finish.

As you go further, the miles get progressively more difficult. Hills, wind, and other factors that normally wouldn't be that big a deal suddenly feel like torture. The key is to keep plenty in reserve so that you're not hurting before you start the second batch of hills. If you still feel like a million bucks when you only have 30 miles to go, you can always kick up your pace so you finish totally spent. Nutrition has a huge impact on how you feel mentally and physically.

It sounds like you're thinking about the right things, so I think you'll do fine. You might be feeling pretty spent by the end, but it will still be fun.

What are you using to see the grades from Hearst Castle to San Luis Obispo? I haven't found a good source.