attempting long ride
 

My goal is 50 miles.

Have a good ride!

Take it easy so you have some gas in the tank for the last 10 miles.

Shh, don't tell - I stopped and took a 10 min. snooze yesterday at about mile 60. It was over 90 out, I was over heating and just needed to cool off in the shade. As long as you don't do that at a bus stop in Fullerton you're probably OK. :D

Yes I have to agree its harder in your mind than your legs. Untill yesterday I had never ridden longer than 32 miles...then 63.

I just watched my hr and tried to keep it where I know I can ride for hours

I took a few 2-3 minute breaks and one 10 minute one.

I ate about every hour and kept up on my water....worst part was my but hurt and my shoulders....legs feel pretty good today

SART is a good choice for a first 50.

attempting long ride
 

Made it! 50.82 miles, moving time 3:55 with avg speed 13 mph and avg hr 129. Ride may have been a smidgen longer as the garmin loses signal when going under the major roads. See what Strava adjusts things to after I upload. I forgot to take my Motrin before leaving and at the 35 mile mark, my hips and lower back were hurting. I stopped and stretched a few times after that point. Now I feel ready for the metric next Sat!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/190167208

Strava shows me as short of 50....which is so wrong.

Looks like you turned your garmin off for 7 min. up by 4 points, maybe that had something to do with it?

I wouldn't worry about it. Strava has been gypping me out of altitude all month. :D

Congratulations on your ride!

some advice from my marathon training days (which I still apply to cycling training).
Unfortunately, it's too late for you this time. Hopefully, you're in good shape and it won't matter.

The idea is that rest is most important before your event. My marathon target was 4 hours of exercise. The training plan had me do the last long run 3 weeks before the event day. It worked! It's been working ever since.

Like when I had my 1-week tour ride, some mountains, about 60 miles a day for 6 days straight: I trained a lot during weeks 7-6-5 and 4 before the event. I did maybe 600 miles in a month. Then just slacked off (tapered) for weeks 3, 2 and 1 before the event. Awesome!
Another benefit to this approach is you get more time off the bike, which you use to fine-tune and maintain the gear. So it's all ship-shape when you need it.

So in your case, I would have done the long training ride 2 weeks or more before the metric.

You'll probably do well enough in the metric. And you can use this kind of approach at your next metric and compare the results. Good luck!

Congrats I am hoping to do a 50-65 mile ride this week and thus far the longest ride I have done was 42.

My plan was to do the long ride earlier but a crash on May 20 resulted in needing to replace my bike. I just got the new bike about a week ago. Today was my first opportunity to go for this distance (tried last Sat on the bikes maiden voyage but my body was not cooperating).

I will most likely do no riding this week except for maybe a short easy ride on Wed (weekly ride we do)

It wasn't off for long (I thought anyway). I thought I hit the stop button with one of my girls when I leaned over the bars to rest at the 45-46 mile mark...I hit the button again and that stopped it, so I turned it on again immediately by pushing the button again. Then I resumed my ride and watched to make sure I was tracking my ride... (it auto pauses when I stop)

Well Done!
First the fear you can't do it...
Then the exhileration when it is accomplished.
There's no feeling like it.

I'm sure you will do just fine! Good job on your first 50!

Great job! The rides just get better and better the longer you go! If you can do 50, you will do great on your metric century.

Semper Fi

I don't know about your garmin, but I turned auto-pause off on mine. I'd be seeing "pause" messages while bombing down a hill, but of course I had a faulty garmin speed / cadence sensor at the time too. Ironically, that should make your garmin mileage shorter. Seems bizarre that one would be different from the other. I just checked my ride from yesterday and they're dead on, and I forgot to turn my garmin on twice (for maybe a hundred yards, nothing dramatic)

The times are different though, which leads to different average speeds. Go figure.

Oh, by the way - have you ridden part of your metric route to familiarize yourself with it? I believe Mr. Beanz said that Nohl Ranch Rd was pretty hilly but you'll see that right after that you turn right on Cannon Rd and that is a Hill. I went over that road on Saturday and I think the way I went was a little easier than the way you'll be going. Heh heh. Of course, it's at mile 45 too, so you'll be nice and warmed up by then.

I would suggest riding (or at least driving) the part of your route from mile 39 or so to mile 45 or so. If you ride, you can come back on Villa Park Rd to Wanda Rd, start and stop from Eisenhower park or something like that.

O.K. I see you're in Lakewood. That makes SGRT a logical choice. I used to ride it fairly often between Norwalk and El Dorado Park. I've been meaning to do it coast to foothills one of these days.

I see what happened with the mileage. For some reason the Garmin map shows my start point two miles into my ride (and notes it as 2 miles...I started where I ended but it has me starting ON the SGRT just north of South Street)....which is approx 2 miles from my house I guess. So Strava used THAT as my start point and dropped off the part of my ride from my house to that point. Not sure why the Garmin map shows me starting up there and not at my house tho DOES include the mileage.


I had planned on riding that hill....but it just isn't going to happen. If It is too horrible, I will get off and walk it. I am not too proud. :)

It gets pretty steep but it's manageable if you just stick your bike in super low and pedal away. I'll be virtually cheering you on from my kids' swim meet that day. :)

I started to think I might have that problem yesterday. I rode 50 mountain/desert miles, in the scorching sun. It was brutal, the Garmin registered 80 F in the shade! Plus there was a bit of climbing, and some getting lost. Then I went by a 'restaurant,' and had an emergency iced cream shake.

Today I look like a lobster. It was humid and massively overcast in Seattle, so I'm proud of my sunburn.

I read an article yesterday that said hyperthermia removes your DESIRE to exercise... so it's a sort of mental thing. I think its when your core temperature hits 103 or something. Acclimatizing yourself helps maintain your core lower, proper hydration as well, but I was a little surprised by the conclusion that you don't lack the strength to continue, it's the willpower. I don't think they were suggesting a dose of HTFU or anything, more of an awareness so you can manage your temperature. I had to take a short break in the shade on Saturday when I went out too, I was riding in the 90s in direct sun for 5 hours. Hawt.

You also lose 50% of your body heat through your head, so maybe there is something to be said for pouring water on your head when it's hot.

It was warm out (above 80 I think) when I left the house at 1:15pm. I put ice in both water bottles (one is insulated, the other not). I also put a bunch of ice in my Cambelbak. I like having the camelbak for the additional H2O even if it is a fredly thing to do on a road bike. I don't care...I want to be able to stay hydrated. I drank both bottles of water (24 oz each with a NUUN tablet in each) and probably 3/4 of the water (plain) in the Camelbak during my ride yesterday. I also ate 1 pkg of Powerbar Energy Blasts, 2 Clif Energy Gels and 1 mini clif bar at various points.

My main issue was forgetting to take my Motrin before leaving...resulting in the pain and discomfort in my hips and lower back. I was so busy getting everything else in order that I forgot one of the most important things for me to do pre-ride when I want to do more than 25 miles.

Funny thing, but it is a myth that you lose half or more of your body heat through your head. You lose heat through your head the same as any other part of your body. http://sciencebasedlife.wordpress.co...ugh-your-head/

Nice Job. I am sure you'll do great on the metric. Remember to get a good night sleep, two nights before the metric. Put some Advil in you bike bag tomorrow...keep it there.

Good Luck!!