lsberrios1 

Will do, thanks for the advice!

1FatBikeRider

I like to take a 5-10min break every 20-25 miles.

McCallum

Not that it will help the OP, but I stop as needed which is usually every 20 miles or so; if it is an organized ride I stop if there is a water/food stop, top water and top off me ---- usually eat a piece of fruit or a cookie or two. If I am solo riding, the usual for me, if I know I am going over 25-30 miles I carry almonds, cashews, dried fruit, granola bars or some of all of the above! I did not once and ended up VERY HAPPY I HAD MONEY or I would have had a problem --- I had to buy some nuts to not bonk; this was a fifty miler and I was +/- 30 miles in. My usual stop is standing over the top bar but I have lead bike against tree/building/road sign and walked around a bit. I usually drink on the move but will also do so at stops.

Lacumo

Cyclists whizzin' in their fancy cycling shorts so they can stay with the peloton. Wow. Thanks for sharing that one.
I knew there was some unknown, intuitive reason I've always been a solo rider... Now I know what the reason is.

Spanky58ggpt

So far my longest ride was a solo 60 mile jaunt with temps starting at 84 and seeing 104 on the computer during the ride. Stopped briefly every 12-15 miles as needed and consumed a homemade energy bar at 30 and 45 mile stops. Had 2 bottles and my camelbak(70 oz., loaded with ice/water) and consumed nearly a gallon of fluid (water and gatorade) during the ride. Weighed before and after the ride. Five pounds lighter after the ride so you can see that hydration is important during a long summer ride. I am preparing for a Bike MS event so I make my stops similar to what will be on the route. Hope to do 75 each day this year, did 50 both days last year.

Jarrett2

I probably should have reported back in:



I didn't stop until around 28 miles and that's just because I had to pee. That was my only stop. I ate before the ride, nothing during, then had lunch a couple of hours after the ride. I noticed that I felt like I had lost some noticeable weight after the ride. Which I liked. Also go a nice post ride buzz

I took my full 70oz Camelbak and two bottles. I drank about 90% of the Camelbak during the ride, but didn't touch the bottles. I was really glad to have the Camelbak for this ride, made it much better. If it had been cooler, I think I could have gone longer, but as the Texas August temps started climbing my energy levels dropped fast, so I decided to stop at 40 and be done. I figured out later this was a half metric century. That sounded like a fancy name for this milestone When the temps drop a little, I'm going to go for a half century to see if I can do it. After doing 40, I feel confident I can now.

Also, another thing. I noticed on my daily rides this week, I'm faster and can go longer. Also, when playing racquetball now, my legs are a little stronger and I don't hardly lose my breath at all. That 40 mile ride paid some quick dividends in my fitness level I think.

contango 

Don't worry about standards. Personally if I cover a distance in a day it counts as one ride. Breaks are what you want, when you want, for as long as you want.

Some people will say if you ride 30 miles, then stop for a couple of hours to soak in the view and have a meal, then ride 30 miles back, it doesn't count as a 60-mile ride but as two 30-mile rides. Others say it counts as a 60-miler. Most people won't care - compared to the overwhelming majority of people out there you're riding further than they can imagine riding with both halves of the ride so count it however you want it, and enjoy the ride whatever you decide to call it.

ill.clyde

Congrats!

Now, tomorrow, consider a recovery ride. A short ride, maybe 10 miles most, and a VERY leisurely pace. So leisurely you'll wonder WTF you're doing.

Basically you just want to get your legs moving.

Again congrats, that's fantastic. Gotta love that post-ride buzz

matthewk459

You're not drinking enough if you have lost weight in 3hrs. On a long ride this will make things really hard for you.

contango 

Good call. If you sweat a pint of fluid you'll lose somewhere around a pound in weight. To lose a pound of fat you'd need to burn 3500 calories, so you're not going be losing much fat in the course of three hours.

ETA: I weigh about 240 and as a rough-and-ready guide I reckon on burning about 40 calories per mile. So to burn 3500 calories I'd need to be going something like 90 miles, which isn't going to happen in three hours. If I'm going well I'll be looking at covering 50-odd miles in three hours, so burning something like 2000 calories, which equates to something like 9 ounces of fat. My weight fluctuates day-to-day by more than that.

If you don't drink enough you will find yourself flagging and sooner or later you'll start getting cramps. I demonstrated this quite admirably today when I did 70 miles without drinking enough water, and towards the end of the ride I was struggling with cramps and when I got off the bike I felt quite lightheaded until I'd got some fluids in me.

Jarrett2

I drank about 16oz before the ride, 65oz during, another 60oz after. If that's not enough, then I don't know how I'm going to get more in there I ran the calculations and the ride burned just at 4,000 calories for me. So I lost a pound that way and then dropped some water weight I'm sure.

jsigone

for me, dropping weight on a longer ride is normal. my ride last saturday, I was down 5lbs from just the ride. It was a 6hr/100 mile ride with 6k ft gains. I hardly ate much but drank plenty. Went through 7 water bottles (7x24oz = 168oz), 3 Gu, 1 stinger waffle and a Snickers bar. I normally gain the weight back over the next 2 days as my body recovers from being depleted.

rumrunn6

my 1st (and only) century attempt I stopped a lot. at the 1/2 way point I even changed clothes, changed bikes and took a nap ... turns out afterwards, after all that bother, it was only 88 miles ...

ill.clyde

indyfabz

What if it's 95 and humid? This is August, you know.

Mr. Beanz

One option riding our local mtn road (GMR to the Village) is barely doable with 3 water bottles in the summer and it's only 20 miles.

Jarrett2

I try to hit the trail between 6:30-7am during Texas summer. I'm not into the hot rides at all

donalson

the other option is waiting till shortly before dark... but that requires some decent lights

sucks I stepped out a little before 11 today here south of houston and it was "nice" so I went for a ride... I ended up cutting the ride short as the temp rose quickly... was in the 105* heat index when I got back... grr :-/

Mr. Beanz

I say stops depends on what you are trying to accomplish. I've done fun organized rides where I stop at every stop and hang out with partners for 20 minutes every 20 miles. Then I have done centuries where I wanted to post a good official time where I only stopped 30 minutes total throughout the ride because I had to stop. Other rides we ride for 30 miles then sit around and shoot the breeze for 2 hours with friends. All depends on what you want to accomplish.

dogfather69

i here ya, that heat index on the gulf coast of Texas sux.