My goal this year is to actually have a comfortable double century. To actually not be beating on my self in the last 50miles to turn the cranks over just one more time, one more time, just one mor.... : (
I'm riding with some 200 mile in a day virgins so I should be able to haves some control of the pace and I'm not going to allow myself to get caught up in the tempting overly fast paced tandem lines.
Last minute Ideas:
1.Night before Ride: I usally get a Subway sandwich (Turky/Swiss, mustard, sweet sauce, no mayo or very little, on whole wheat). I have it cut into four sections. Freeze of Refridgerate over night and start munching at the first rest stop. Small amounts of solid food work well in tamdem with the sports drinks and gu's and what not.
2. Not to long at the rest stops. 10 mins tops. Try to find a group that works well together and stay with them through the duration. It's a lot of fun when you build a team and will help you discipline your riding and make you more efficient. Plus the group will incourage you to keep going. Try to stay away from riders that have bad choppy pedaling technique. It will wear you down and piss you off. A longer lunch is ok. Takes about 40 minutes for that sandwich to kick in.
3. Pinapple juice is great for recovery. Peanut butter and jelly is the perfect recovery food along with pasta.
Coffee is better than aspirin for pain relief. I like a V8 juice towards the end of the ride to replace minerals and salts.
More tips power riders? and I'll post them on my tip blog too...
Pete
The BikeForums Team
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My goal this year is to actually have a comfortable double century.
Seems like a contradition to me :p. Can there be such a thing?
On a more serious note - What about wearing a heart monitor to gauge your pace more precisely? Keep it in the 80-85% zone mos
jonathanb715
Well, there's always Machka's tips: http://www.machka.net/century.htm
Geared for less experienced cyclists, though. She's done some pretty phenomenal rides.
If I know I'm riding all day, I try to keep my heart rate lower than what Sesame Crunch said - around 70 - 75% of max works really well for me. Then I have plenty in the tank for the inevitable painful climbs.
As for food, I like to carry baby carrots and/or sliced apples with me - easy to eat, no mess, tasty and a good change of pace from the energy bars/drinks. YMMV.
JB
Red Rider
Chocolate milk is a great recovery drink, too.
I take Gu that has caffeine towards the end of the ride.
Your plan sounds good, especially the comfort part.
redspoke
I'm planning on going to bed as soon as I put my kids down every night until the ride. I think extra sleep will do more for me than anything else right now. Extra sleep being at least 8 hours a night. ;)
Also, loading up on calories between now and then. Om nom nom everything.
Keeping the training light from here-on as well. No Thursday night training ride next week. Starting a 200 mile ride with sore legs would suck.
Pete, I can't agree more. V8 is the ultimate recovery beverage.
Oh, and lastly... HAMMER ESPRESSO GEL! Your friend it is.
(edit)---> Extended forecast is showing a high of 87 degrees in Clearlake and 92 in Guinda... :eek:
Which is where I'm guessing we'll be between when the peak of the heat occurs (5pm). Don't forget to bring enough sunblock for multiple applications people!!! Lip balm with sunscreen too. Your friend it is as well. Nothing worse than burnt crackly lips. Oh yeah!
uspspro
Oh, and lastly... HAMMER ESPRESSO GEL! Your friend it is.
+1
Also HEED and Endurolytes
redspoke
I'm afraid of Endurolytes. I've heard they're addictive. I'm already hooked on that GEL of theirs.
As for HEED... I've only tried it once. The Mandarin Orange flavor. Is it supposed to taste like orange Alka Seltzer? (i.e. not good)
bigbossman
I'm afraid of Endurolytes. I've heard they're addictive.
They are not addictive - I use them all the time. :D
uspspro
I'm afraid of Endurolytes. I've heard they're addictive. I'm already hooked on that GEL of theirs.
I took 4 throughout the course of the 200K WCC. All I know is that I felt good enough to crank it up very hard for the last 15 miles without letting up. Felt pretty damn good, no feelings of onsetting cramps or anything.
As for HEED... I've only tried it once. The Mandarin Orange flavor. Is it supposed to taste like orange Alka Seltzer? (i.e. not good)
Yeah. I kind of like it because it's mild even if you use a lot of it. Unlike other drinks that I have to make really weak in order to deal with them. Then I am not getting the full benefit of the drink.
BlastRadius
I like Soy "milk" for recovery. Good amount of protein and carbs and none of the lactose that I can't handle.
Other than that, the V8 is a good idea, especially the V8 Fusion or Juicy Juice Harvest Surprise.
cccorlew
I think I'm hitting the pasta feed the night before.
I plan to follow Pete.
I'll be drinking a ton of water and Hammer Magic Powder.
I'm worried about surviving. Does it count as a double if it takes longer than 24 hours? Would a mid-ride hospital break invalidate the doubleness off the ride?
uspspro
I'll be drinking a ton of water and Hammer Magic Powder.
Which one?
ericm979
Hammer makes both "plain" and "unflavored" HEED. I don't know what the difference is. Neither has enough taste to be identifiable.
Perpetum, however, is nasty. I'll drink it if I have to but it sure tastes bad.
BenRidin
The day before, I would plan on drinking a lot of water. Get yourself hydrated and keep it that way.
E-caps or Endurolytes are good to carry on the ride. Take a couple before you start. If you don't have those products, carry some Tums. They might even work better.
Since you're going to be carting around some things, don't forget to pack the Vitamin "I" (Iboproferin), you'll never know when that will come in handy.
On long rides, I carry the my own drink powder which is Hammer Perpetuem. My tummy is used to that and I don't want to drink Cytomax or other products. I usually mix Perpetuem with Apple Cinamon Gel. To me, it tastes better that way.
As mentioned elsewhere, the caffinated gel at the end of the ride is definetly your friend. Pick some up and use it. You will be surprised at it's effects.
Did I mention to DRINK the day before?
Oh, and don't forget to stretch during the ride. Stretch often. It will help. It's not a race.
And above all else...have fun.
BR
dauphin
I'm taking this with me... http://www.pacfit.com/perfect.JPG
redspoke
:hug:
Roll Call...
Taxi
CCorlew
Redspoke (yours truly)
Dauphin
JonathanB
:hug:
Who else is definite (ly insane)?
cccorlew
I mix lemon lime HEED and Perpetum (or is it sustained enegry?) and go for hours on it. I even like it.
What I've learned from my 3 doubles last year is sleep ... sleep sleep sleep. I know, it's kind of difficult especially when you just barely make it into Davis, but the worst part for me was riding on the road, almost in a hypnotic trance, and as if your body goes into auto-pilot. That's not a good feeling, thinking that you are not totally conscious, yet riding the course.
Make a checklist ... oh, remember, bike shorts! :D
I broke nearly all the rules at Davis. I was at the rest stop at Resurrection Point, or was it Inspiration Point? anyhow, I was there for probably an hour. This was because I was waiting for the rest of my group, plus I was about to leave, then I get a flat ... and this was after replacing the flat earlier on the hill. I had to get a new tire, because I was fearing I had the second flat so soon due to a bad tire.
taxi777
I think I'm hitting the pasta feed the night before.
I plan to follow Pete.
I'll be drinking a ton of water and Hammer Magic Powder.
I'm worried about surviving. Does it count as a double if it takes longer than 24 hours? Would a mid-ride hospital break invalidate the doubleness off the ride?
Hey Curtis be careful of the pasta feed. To much to late in the evening and you'll be bloated. Please no Buffalo Gas in the room we'll be sharing, And don't be laughing at me in my bunny PJ's... Oh did I tell you I talk in my sleep? Ya and I promise to have the girls from the bowling ally out by 10:30:thumb:
taxi777
Oh btw don't drink too much water before...I don't wanna stop every second...maybe bring some Huggies/Kimbies for the long haul.
Ty.S
400k?? Good grief man... I realize we all enjoy riding, but seriously, that is a distance that brings up the argument about the wonders of the modern gasoline/electric engine!
In any other cases, coming from a guy who has never done a century, but has completed 2 marathons, I always started hitting caffienated things in the last 20%, just to carry me across the line. In this case, I would think the new sport beans might be a welcome addition, small, easy to handle and fun to throw at your friends:)
My personal favorite power lunch food:
Peanut butter / Banana / Honey on wheat!! <--sugars, potassium, carbs the natural way, a little heavy though, so if you have some distance to go, I'd only eat half of it.
zonatandem
My best double century was 12 hours even and I was in my early 60s.
Rode it like eight 25-mile time trials. Never stopped for more than five minutes at food stops . . . p'd, stretched, grabbed some food, put some xtra food in jersey pocket and rode.
Did not use suplements. Water works fine + one water bottle with double strength tea (caffiene) to sip as needed. Also carried sliced apples (natural sugar) in baggie, hard candy and some dextrose tablets. Ate a bit of something about every half hour to keep tank full and drank lots.
Short breaks, maximize time on the bike, sit in with other riders if possible and keep mind active/occupied on the solo stretches.
It helps to be in decent shape and enjoy favorable weather (no 30 mph head/crosswinds, no rain) but it was in the 90s for temp.
Whatever works for you . . . go do it!
Pedal on!
Rudy/zonatandem
PrincessZippy
I ride my own ride. Usually that means I don't have much company, but I don't burn myself out trying to stay with a group that's got too fast a pace.
In and out at the rest stops. Davis has a lot more rest stops than some of the other doubles I've done and they don't do rider check ins at the stops - at least they didn't two years ago. I skipped three of the rest stops totally.
It will be tempting to really fly on the initial part of the course - it's so flat. Don't burn yourself out there. Cobb Mountain is coming and it's not an easy climb.
Remember it's not a race. :)
Veronica
spingineer
I ride my own ride. Usually that means I don't have much company, but I don't burn myself out trying to stay with a group that's got too fast a pace.
In and out at the rest stops. Davis has a lot more rest stops than some of the other doubles I've done and they don't do rider check ins at the stops - at least they didn't two years ago. I skipped three of the rest stops totally.
It will be tempting to really fly on the initial part of the course - it's so flat. Don't burn yourself out there. Cobb Mountain is coming and it's not an easy climb.
Remember it's not a race. :)
Veronica
Last year, there was a fire in the middle of the route, so they had to re-route it. We had to climb Loch Lomand, which was a bear to climb at mile 100 or so. They didn't have any rider checks last year, and we were really taking our time. We finished the ride a little after 11 pm. That just meant there was no food left for us, just some salad, and some ice cream. We were actually sprinting the last 10 miles (after 190 miles of riding already :eek:)
Rushfan
Simple stuff for the build up to your double:
-Train on roads similar to your event. If it's hilly, hit the hills. If it's moutainous, hit the mountains.
-Taper before your event to leave extra energy for your event.
-Test foods during training not during your event. Stick to proven foods on your event.
As for those doing the Davis Double next weekend, good luck. I'll be a corner marshall in the first 10 miles at the intersection of Roads 29 & 95.
redspoke
It will be tempting to really fly on the initial part of the course - it's so flat. Don't burn yourself out there.
Veronica
+2 :thumb:
BenRidin
...My personal favorite power lunch food:
Peanut butter / Banana / Honey on wheat!! <--sugars, potassium, carbs the natural way, a little heavy though, so if you have some distance to go, I'd only eat half of it.