Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - My first half century

On Sunday I did my first 50 mile ride in the Shenandoah Valley Century at Harrisonburg, VA. It is a fairly small event with a limit of 300 riders which appealed to me. It also runs right by my parents' house in Bridgewater, so I had a place to stay near by. My only concern was whether I'd be able to handle the terrain, which has more hills than my home area in Maryland.

I took a test ride on part of the route near my parents' house on Saturday and was dismayed to find I was working a lot harder than normal to to maintain my usual pace. I also had trouble judging the grade of the road, probably due to the hills on the horizon throwing off my sense of level. Is this a common problem when you go to terrain with greater relief? I don't know whether the extra thousand feet of elevation added to my fatigue. After my Saturday ride of a mere nine miles I was seriously reconsidering the wisdom of taking on fifty the next day.

I managed to overcome my misgivings and showed up in time to start in the half century. It was a warm and humid day for mid September, probably our last day above 90 degrees for the season. I struggled through the first half (28 miles actually) and considered simply quitting when I reached the rest stop in Bridgewater. After resting for about 40 minutes I felt up to trying the rest of the route. It was fairly flat for five or ten miles out of Bridgewater which was very welcome. There were a number of Amish horse and buggies on the road and I even passed one going my direction. Then it got hilly again. I found that hills are mentally easier to deal with when you've only got ten or fifteen miles left to go. There was one hill at 42 miles in that I had to stop on and rest for four or five minutes before continuing. It was too much for me to handle in one go.

The ride was harder than I had hoped, but I did manage to finish. My heart rate monitor says I hit 183 BPM before I stopped on that one hill. That's 106% of my calculated maximum rate. I spent nearly the entire ride in heart rate zones 4 and 5, which seems excessive to me for an endurance event. I finished the ride four and a half hours after I started, with an average speed of 13.1 MPH if the rest stop is excluded. I probably should have taken it slower given the conditions, as I was just trying to finish and not set some record.

Way to go. I haven't been able to pull anything close to that distance yet. Thanks for the inspiration. I did get in 25 miles today and didn't have a single car cut me off or pass to close though.

Jesster1

Well done Landkurt.
I did my first 50miles recently( since 22 years or more ) so I know how it feels.
My backside was numb for hours after;)
I set off from work on route to my inlaws and my wife Sarah followed along two hours latter in the car.
I'd been on the road about 3 hours+ before she caught me and boy was I releived to see her little red Saab pull alongside. I tried the same on the return trip the next day but I was shot after 14 miles of headwind. Luckily she only gave me an hour headstart so I didn't suffer too long.

Keep it up.

My big challange is to do consecutive days of 60 miles.........:innocent:
It will come, soon I hope.

Good luck mate

nice ridin...did my first 1/2 cent on saturday, near salisbury md in the skipjack bike tour...all nice and flat, tons of wind though, but the aerobars helped. finished 3 hours, 15 min total riding time and averaged 15.3 mph on a fixed gear schwinn letour i built. I thought the rough part was going to be the fixed gear no-stop spinning (and i weigh 290), but the immense pain in my crotch more than drowned out the dull ache in my quads.

Great job! There are over 300 million people in the U.S., and on that day you worked harder than 299.8 million of them. (give or take....)

Well done Landkurt.
I did my first 50miles recently( since 22 years or more ) so I know how it feels.
My backside was numb for hours after;)


I guess I'm pretty lucky because I don't seem to have any problems in the saddle area. I hear how people go through multiple saddles trying to find the right one, but I'm doing just fine on the stock seat that came with my Jamis Commuter. No problem at all in that department for my half century.

My problem is with my hands. I get numbness in my right hand from ulnar nerve compression and my left thumb is bothering me a bit. I ride in a fairly upright stance and I still seem to put too much weight on my hands. I was glad to complete the half century without my hands going completely numb or something. I came off no worse than a regular twenty or thirty mile ride.

On Sunday I did my first 50 mile ride in the Shenandoah Valley Century at Harrisonburg, VA. It is a fairly small event with a limit of 300 riders which appealed to me. It also runs right by my parents' house in Bridgewater, so I had a place to stay near by. My only concern was whether I'd be able to handle the terrain, which has more hills than my home area in Maryland.

I took a test ride on part of the route near my parents' house on Saturday and was dismayed to find I was working a lot harder than normal to to maintain my usual pace. I also had trouble judging the grade of the road, probably due to the hills on the horizon throwing off my sense of level. Is this a common problem when you go to terrain with greater relief? I don't know whether the extra thousand feet of elevation added to my fatigue. After my Saturday ride of a mere nine miles I was seriously reconsidering the wisdom of taking on fifty the next day.

I managed to overcome my misgivings and showed up in time to start in the half century. It was a warm and humid day for mid September, probably our last day above 90 degrees for the season. I struggled through the first half (28 miles actually) and considered simply quitting when I reached the rest stop in Bridgewater. After resting for about 40 minutes I felt up to trying the rest of the route. It was fairly flat for five or ten miles out of Bridgewater which was very welcome. There were a number of Amish horse and buggies on the road and I even passed one going my direction. Then it got hilly again. I found that hills are mentally easier to deal with when you've only got ten or fifteen miles left to go. There was one hill at 42 miles in that I had to stop on and rest for four or five minutes before continuing. It was too much for me to handle in one go.

The ride was harder than I had hoped, but I did manage to finish. My heart rate monitor says I hit 183 BPM before I stopped on that one hill. That's 106% of my calculated maximum rate. I spent nearly the entire ride in heart rate zones 4 and 5, which seems excessive to me for an endurance event. I finished the ride four and a half hours after I started, with an average speed of 13.1 MPH if the rest stop is excluded. I probably should have taken it slower given the conditions, as I was just trying to finish and not set some record.

Ya done good. Nothing wrong with pushing yourself a little.

And you've persuaded me I need a heart rate monitor. Since clipless pedals are forcing me to exert myself more on the bike (unclipping on an upgrade is an iffy thing), I should know how hard I'm working.