Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Rode my first century yesterday

And, I feel great today. It was the Los Angeles River Ride. It is a virtually flat course with some little rollers, nothing serious though. It had an annoying amount of city riding which forced a lot of stopping for lights and crossing railroad tracks, which made it hard to find my rhythm. I made a big newbie mistake of eating Del Taco hashbrowns before the ride, and the first half of the century I was very near throwing up. That grease does not do well when lugging around my big ass on a bike. All these things considered, I had a lovely time on the ride. It felt really great riding the home stretch after the last stop. I was thoroughly overjoyed to be finishing. After only about 3 months of seriously riding a bike, I made through. I wanted to get a 6 hour time on my first century, but between all the being sick and stop lights, I came in at 7 hours flat.
Major lessons learned:
1. Dont eat ****ty food, you will always pay for it.
2. My core strength is awful. I need to strengthen up a lot more.

Congrats on the first of what sounds like will be many long rides. 7h is a reasonable time to roll in with, especially if you were having stomach problems.

Personally, the hash browns sound like an awesome pre-ride meal. :) Some of my best rides have been on a breakfast of McD's sausage muffin, hash brown and coffee.
Leftover deep dish veggie pizza takes a close second place.

It was the grease that absolutely killed me. I will never do that again. I have always fancied myself the kind of guy who can eat anything, but I was seriously proven wrong yesterday. Next time it is going to be 3 pounds of plain oatmeal instead.

congrats on the ride! A successful century is a big deal, not many people can do it. In a curious way the greasy hashbrowns may have helped you even though you felt like tossing. On several of my long rides, I have behaved and eaten fruits, nuts ect. and by the end of the ride, I was running on fumes and absolutely craving a cheeseburger. I think getting frontloaded with that big helping of fats, may have given you extra fuel.

I was slamming the Hammer Gel, Hammer HEED, Hammer Perpetum and Water the whole ride. Energy wise, I was good. I know I would have done better if I substituted the hashbrowns for oatmeal. Oh well, lesson learned. I feel great. Feel proud today.
Thanks for the congratulations.

Congratulations!!!!! You did an outstanding job. I'm with you on your pre-ride meal, I couldn't have eaten that either. You learned a lot. Keep up the good work.:thumb:

Darn, I just learned from my friend that you should keep track of your riding time and the total time. I only tracked the total time. Now, I have no idea how long it actually took me to ride it. Another lesson learned.

Congratulations....

Del Taco burritos make an excellent POST ride meal. Sorry the hash browns let you down.

You rode a good time - but don't get too caught up in that. You'll forever be trying to go fast and won't get to enjoy the camaraderie and sightseeing that go with some of the best century rides. Try the Wildflower up in Chico (late April), the Solvang, or Palm Springs (in Feb.). Those are great, well-organized rides. Now you know you can do them.

Again congrats - there will be many more!

First of all, congratulations on a great achievment! Don't worry about your rolling time. A 7 hour total time is very respectable.


I was slamming the Hammer Gel, Hammer HEED, Hammer Perpetum and Water the whole ride. Energy wise, I was good.

I suspect this was your problem more than the hash browns. Your digestive system can only process about 250 - 300 calories per hour while you're riding. If you started with a full stomach and then added to it at a rate greater than your digestive system could process it, you're going to have problems. If you're "slamming" gel, HEED, and Perpetuem, you could easily be getting more than 300 calories/hour.

That very well could be true. One thing is, I am 235 pounds, and I burn through calories ridiculously fast. I bonk so easily. Yesterday was the first long ride where I didnt have any hint of bonking. I suspect it was the greasey hashbrowns because it was the only thing I did different yesterday than any other days. The stomach problems also started before I even used Gel, HEED Or Perpetuem. I don't know. As with all cyclists, it takes some time to get it fully dialed in.
I am thinking of riding the Grand Tour double metric later this month, so I might get another chance to get the calorie intake and diet right.

That very well could be true. One thing is, I am 235 pounds, and I burn through calories ridiculously fast. I bonk so easily.

I've got 20 pounds on you, but the 250 - 300 per hour rule still applies. It's not about how fast you're expending calories, it's how fast your body can process them for use.

Congratulations on the ride. The first and last parts are rather annoying since they are in the city but the river isn't straight through for riding. Good on you for being able to deal through such a boring ride and for dealing with the headwinds. From what many said, the ride was good as was the weather. I volunteered at the Shoreline rest stop.

Hey travelmama, thanks for volunteering. The stops were really great. Always well stocked and everyone was helpful. I somehow rode past the shoreline stop on the way back, so I didnt end up restocking my liquids for almost 2 hours. I got nervous when I ran out of fluids between shorline and the next stop on the way back. The headwinds were an absolutle bear. Somehow I experienced headwinds only and no tail winds. What gives? The cycling gods had it out for me the first time. My goal is to ride the river ride fixed next year. We will see how it goes.

This ride was my first century too! it was great, my energy and muscles held up pretty well but during the last 20 miles i got a little pain in my left leg... on the outside kinda near the knee. Either way, great ride, put together really well.

Good on you both. I am injured so I was left in the cold that is why I chose to volunteer. I hit headwinds going downtown and tailwinds going uptown. Perhaps when you (Marcus) left they were settling down a bit. That doesn't matter, just as long as you did it. N8tron, perhaps you should use THE STICK to rub out the pain in your left leg so that you will not tighten up too much and will be prepared for the next century ride?

Congratulations and nice job!

Dude, I feel like puking just reading about someone eating Del Taco before a ride. I can't imagine how you felt after actually eating the stuff. [/urp]