This will be my first century so any advice will be greatly appreciated. I'm shooting for sub 6 hours of riding time.

I hear the rest stops are well stocked, but I've never tried the SPIZ drink. My stomach is pretty sturdy but I've never used a soy protein drink for during an event. I regularly use Accelerade though. I'm assuming there will be plenty of water. How about whole food at the stops?

Right now my plan is to carry two small water bottles, one with just water and the other bottle with water + 6 scoops of Accelerade. Take a sip of the Accelerade and gulps of the water. Refill the water only bottle at the stops.

Breakfast at 4 AM (Denny's grand slam breakfast or a breakfast burrito) & coffee.
1 Powerbar pre-ride (if hungry).
1 Endurolyte capsule every hour.
1 PB&J sammich at around mile 40.
2 powerbars and 4 gels as needed.

Thanks!

I'll let the faster riders respond to your question in full, but I'd definitely discourage you from trying anything new like SPIZ without having tried it out first for a long distance event. I, like an idiot, tried Sustained Energy on the Butterfield Double last year and almost was too ill to finish as I over consumed, not knowing what I was doing. Definitely stick to what you're use to.

Welcome, by the way, and good luck on your first century. :)

ME is right....NEVER try anything new on a ride like this...
I usually think of it as a partly self-sufficient ride....
I carry my own powder mix in baggies - they always have water...and I take gels and bars...I rely on the rest stops for bananas, oranges, and a sandwich...and water of course...

As ME said, stick with what you already have experience with. Don't start trying new items during your first Century. You should already have your fueling figured out, for the most part.

I notice you said you are taking two small bottles with you. I suggest taking full sized ones. On a long ride, you need to keep your hydration levels decent.

Sheldon

Wow thats tons of food. I think there enough calories in that breakfast to carry you through the century. lol. Just remember with power bars it takes a while for them to get digested, so have them earlier in the ride. So you will have energy for later in the ride.

What about Optygen? Has anybody tried it? Optygen really works for me or it might be just psychological:rolleyes:. Anyhow, when I take it I feel that I can go a bit faster then ususally:rolleyes:. I take two Optygen pills in the morning before the ride and two pills on mile 50. And of course I take Enduralyte pills as well. Like Herb, I bring my own mix of Carbo-Pro that gives me complex carbs (highly recommanded) and at the SAG stops I just eat fruits and try to stay away from simple carbs (sugar). And of course no alcohol drinking the night before but don't mind getting slightly dehydrated the night after the ride:D.

Never tried the Opty. My Century ride fueling is generally like this:

Breakfast: oatmeal, OJ and wheat toast.
On bike: HEED, Sustained Energy, Hammer Gel (gee, ya think I like Hammer stuff? :) )
Maybe one Power Bar.

Rest stops: nibbles of PB&J, fig newtons, sometimes a few orange slices. On rides with lunch stops, like Cool Breeze, I skip loading down a plate full of stuff. I see riders with full on turkey sandwiches, sides, etc. I can't do it! I'd want to just lay down under a tree for a few hours.

At the finish, then I eat! I remember completing my first metric and just destroying a bunch of rolls and pasta. Thought at the time it was the best meal I'd ever eaten!

Sheldon

Here's the info from their website:

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All SAG stops will have fresh bananas, oranges, cantaloupe, pineapple, trail mix, salted peanuts, raisins, bagels, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, freshly baked oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies from the Solvang Bakery, Fig Newtons, Arrowhead Water and SPIZ, the only nutritionally complete energy drink (www.SPIZ.net (http://www.spiz.net/)). Additional food items may be added as available.

http://www.bikescor.com/solvang/rideinfo.htm

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Say hi to all the TnT'ers as you pass them. Eventually one of them will be me :p

It sounds like you will be carrying a lot. I plan to have 2 Clif Bars and 4 Gus for the ride. I might snack on some SAG goodies if something catches my eye. My bottles will start with Cytomax, and get refilled with water as needed. Breakfast will probably consist of a Clif Bar and bagel.

You can carry some small zip-lock bags with pre-measured amounts of your favorite drink mix. I agree that trying a new drink on an important ride is a bad idea. Especially something called "Spiz".

On the other hand, it's not a bad opportunity to try a little of some new drink. Just don't depend on using it for the entire ride. I tried Spiz on the solvang a while back and it's NASTY. I mean spit and wash your mouth out nasty. But some people like it.

The "grand slam" sounds like an especially bad idea. Maybe if you already know that you are ok riding while trying to digest greasy mystery meat it'll work for you, but if you're not 100% sure that it's ok, I would recommend eating something that is going to be easier on your system. Oatmeal actually works pretty well.

You don't need to bring so much of your own food. I always bring something as a back up in case I miss a stop or forget to eat enough, but it's backup food. The stops on most centuries are close enough that even if you don't eat enough at one you can make it to the next and fuel up. You can also stuff a bagel or banana in your jersey pocket "for later".

oranges, cantaloupe, pineapple

I say avoid these things, unless you enjoy wicked diarrhea.
Everything else on the menu, okie dokey.

Never tried the Opty. My Century ride fueling is generally like this:

Breakfast: oatmeal, OJ and wheat toast.
... HEED, Sustained Energy, Hammer Gel
Maybe one Power Bar.
...nibbles of PB&J, fig newtons, sometimes a few orange slices. ... skip loading down a plate full. I...
Sheldon

I did similar in Palm Springs; breakfast was a single cup of coffee (6oz.) & food bar,
gel @ ride start,
food bar to 1st stop, (only stopped for a mechanical; no add'l food water @ 1st stop)
1/2 banana @2nd stop,
ATE TOO MUCH @ LUNCH: (1pb&j 3 fig newtons 1/2 banana 1/2 orange) Fig newtons should have put on the bike and waited 10 miles; I wouldn't have needed the 2xcaffeine gel to wake up my sluggish system.
4th stop 1/2 banana 1/2 orange, 3 fig newtons!
5th stop water water water & 1 gel.
I carried 4 packets of Cytomax, 1 packet in two 500ml water; goal was to drink the whole liter between ride stops. @ end of ride I had nine bottles in me by the finish line + 1 add'l water at stop#5. I had diluted more during the ride so @ the ride end I mixed the last packet w/ 2 more bottles. Rode to hotel where a Powerbar recovery drink was mixed and waiting; drank that in jacuzzi! About 2600 calories. Dinner was 2 hours later full on Mexican 3 entree meal & dessert. Full brunch the next morning & root beer float on the way out of town... and still hungry! I'm 5'6" 145#

I agree with UD, that is a lot of food. I generally don't like to eat a really heavy breakfast before a ride. Plus, if you regularly use accelerade, stick with that. Take a few extra pouches of accelerade mixed powder, and put it in a couple of ziplock bags. Fuel up at the rest stop with water, and put your accelerade powder in and mix.

I regularly drink Heed, and luckily for me, Planet Ultra events have them well stocked at rest stops (so I didn't have to worry about carrying extra pouches with me). But if you are not used to them, definitely don't take them. Riding on an upset stomach can really hurt you.

Make sure to take items you are used to eating on longer rides.. Fuel up at the rest stops.. Instead of triple dosing your accelerade in your bottles, go to REI and buy some of the individual servings and carry them with you.. They are very small and you can refill your bottles at the rest stops and just use them as you need them. They have most flavors and are 1.25 each..

I wouldn't count on the SPIZ. Last year it seemed every rest stop either didn't have any or just ran out. I'm bringing my own cytomax in little ziplocks. The food they have is good. mmmm Peanuts!

I bring 2 large bottles - 1 water, 1 Cytomax enhanced. I need water since I wear contacts and rinsing with Cyto ... yuck. 2 packets of mix (premeasured for 24 oz refill). 2 bars. The cookies at Solvang have been good. Except ... for those Fig Newton surprise. They may look like a fig newton, but they waste plain weird. Spiz ... spit probably tastes better. I won't drink the stuff.

Ride like you train, wear what you normally wear, eat/drink what you normally drink.
Event day is a day of repeats.

Have a great, SAFE ride.

Well, there was one Accelerade person and one Cytomax person, so I was

inevitable: I use a 50/50 mixture of the two. Accelerade has protein, and

I find that it keeps me from getting too depleted. However pure Accelerade

is too much protein for me usually, hence the 50\50 mixture. The mixture

will vary depending on factors such as weather and how much I've eaten. I

also take powder in bags and mix with water on the road.

AND -- I will take a stash of ENLYTEN, which I use proactively to ward off

cramps. I had read good things about the stuff and used it proactively on

those recommendations. I became a true believer when I got some real-fun

cramps after a ride and couldn't get up. Fortunately my backpack was within reach and I took a dose of Enlyten. In a few minutes I was ok.

http://www.enlytenstrips.com/

dude you dont need all that crap

anyone who cant do a century without supplements needs to go ride more srsly

dude you dont need all that crap
anyone who cant do a century without supplements needs to go ride more srsly

+1 I'll have water and Accelerade (4 scoops in a 24oz bottle) and will take along a couple gels and a Clif Bar...

otherwise, you are paying for the event, so use the rest stops as your personal grocery store and eat PB&J, oranges, bananas and the newtons...

You can complete the event without too much distress by eating healthy foods... but remember that your body only digests about 250-300 calories per hour while you are riding...

I agree with Extort. Unless you have sensitive stomach, I think you only need to bring enough stuff to get you through the first rest stop + some spares for emergencies. Actually, I got that line from Jschen.

I normally start a century with two bottles of Cytomax/Accelerades/Perpetrum, plus a few gel packs; then pick up whatever drink powders they hand out over there. Except cytomax that upsets my stomach, I couldn't really tell much difference between all the stuff. However, I do eat a lot of the stuff they hand out at rest stops, so I'm not totally dependent on refueling through sports drink alone like some others. Try not to eat too much though. There was one time near the end of a century where I feel I lack the energy, but my stomach is so full that I couldn't eat anymore. That was a very bad feeling.

So far my most advance mixture is Perpetrum (self-brought) + (thru rest stop) Sustained Energy + Heed + gel + a few capsules of electrolyte. It was kind of fun. :D

Thanks for all the replies!

So I'm going to avoid SPIZ like the plague and use the rest stop goodies for my source of whole foods.

I'm still going to eat a big breakfast, peanut butter bagel and coffee minimum.

I'll carry two bottles with normal Accelerade mixtures. I'l also bring 4 snack size baggies with 1 scoop of Accelerade each I can mix up at the rest stops. 6 bottles of Accelrade should be plenty.

I'm still using 1 endurolyte capsule per hour.

1 Powerbar and 1 Hammer Gel for emergency.

To everyone riding Solvang this weekend, have a fun and safe ride.

+1 I'll have water and Accelerade (4 scoops in a 24oz bottle) and will take along a couple gels and a Clif Bar...

otherwise, you are paying for the event, so use the rest stops as your personal grocery store and eat PB&J, oranges, bananas and the newtons...

You can complete the event without too much distress by eating healthy foods... but remember that your body only digests about 250-300 calories per hour while you are riding...

the very first century I did all i had were some snacks at a store.

Why do ppl rely on supplements so much now adays...especially for a century

like 20 powerbars and gu and all sorts of stuff

I only take that stuff if I start cramping hard or hit a wall on a climb...

other than that give me a break

o solvang is ultra flat

...solvang is ultra flat

=5000 elevation gain

(Palm Springs =3000)

As long as you eat at the rest stops, you don't really need to carry any nutrition at all. Yes, none at all. That's what the rest stops are for. Riders are duplicating the effort with excess baggage. Just carry fluids.

BTW...if its like the prelude...there were homemade cookies...I usually dont eat cookies during a ride...but had to try..and they were incredible!!!