joker70

This will be my first century so any advice will be greatly appreciated. I'm shooting for sub 6 hours of riding time.

I hear the rest stops are well stocked, but I've never tried the SPIZ drink. My stomach is pretty sturdy but I've never used a soy protein drink for during an event. I regularly use Accelerade though. I'm assuming there will be plenty of water. How about whole food at the stops?

Right now my plan is to carry two small water bottles, one with just water and the other bottle with water + 6 scoops of Accelerade. Take a sip of the Accelerade and gulps of the water. Refill the water only bottle at the stops.

Breakfast at 4 AM (Denny's grand slam breakfast or a breakfast burrito) & coffee.
1 Powerbar pre-ride (if hungry).
1 Endurolyte capsule every hour.
1 PB&J sammich at around mile 40.
2 powerbars and 4 gels as needed.

Thanks!

knotty

I just did a solo century this weekend and all I ate on the ride was a PBJ sandwich, 2-250 cal Ensure bottles, 1-bagel and 3 bottles of water and 1-bottle Gatorade.

For breakfast, just a large bowl oatmeal.

I feel a century is not that long of a ride.

knotty

aikigreg

Congrats, you have successfully demonstrated your superiority over the OP. Enjoy the glory!

Joker - you should be fine! Might be a bit of overkill perhaps, but you don't have to eat the gels and bars if you don't need em.

valygrl

Solvang was my first century too, a few years ago. It's lovely and very moderate, an excellent choice.

I usually ate too much on centuries when I first started out. Don't eat a grand slam or a breakfast burrito unless that's what you always do before a big ride. Eat small amounts frequently. Don't overeat the night before or your pre-ride nerves are going to send you to the loo multiple times.

You should try to eat and drink the way you always do on longer rides - don't try something new on the century day. Eat LIGHTLY at the stops - don't think of it as a feeding free-for-all - just eat a small amount of something you know agrees with you. You can grab something and put it in your pocket to eat in between stops if you want, too, just as insurance. I usually do this end end up with all that food still in my pockets at the end of the day.

I hated Spiz on the one ride they had it - but I think mostly it was the name. I wouldn't really like to say what that word reminds me of. ;D

Sleep is important - try to sleep the night before.

Also, try to go out slowly and warm up -- better a longer time at the finish than to blow up in the first 40 miles and suffer the whole rest of the day. Pick a MPH for yourself you know is a little too easy, and force yourself to stay under that for the first 30 miles or so. Or if you use a heart rate monitor, pick an easy HR and stay under it.

Have fun!

ronjon10

It's short for Spizerinctum, which I find even more funny, and reminds me of other things I wouldn't like to say

ericgu

You don't want too much breakfast, and especially not too much fast. Grand slam is contraindicated, but the breakfast burrito is probably okay. I look for perhaps 400 calories before a century - not a ton of food.

For food, target around 250 cal/hour of food, mostly carb and a little protein. For me that's a large bottle of water with two scoups of accelerade, and a bit of solid food (part of a bagel, some newtons, etc.). That works well for me. I used to do clif bars, but they're too heavy for my stomach and gels don't work well for me.

Don't try a new hydration drink on a long ride - only bad things can happen. The soy stuff gives me bad stomach issues. You can carry extra accelerade in small snack-size ziplocs and then tear off the corners to refill at stops.

Don't bother with the endurolytes - they don't have enough salt to be useful even if you take the maximum per hour. Jerky is pretty good.