FarmallM51

I rode 150 miles yesterday to prep for a 600K next weekend. First 100 miles went fine, 11:30 am, 70-80-degrees, consuming 350 calories/hr, drinking 20oz/hour., average speed around 15mph, heart rate around 125 on the flats. Then I hit a headwind and the temp went up to 90 degrees, my feet started to hurt, I had to ride on the aerobars because my arms were weak, heart rate increased to 140 and higher. Even when I would gear down and slow the cadence I could barely get my rate to below 140. Does riding in the heat automatically increase your heart rate? When I hadn't urinated in 5 hours I knew too late that I hadn't consumed enough fluids when the temp went up (had not been a problem the first 100). With no thermometer around, how do I detect the increased fluid loss and start to compensate before it's too late? I have Shimano RT80-SPD shoes that I wore on the 200 & 300K, I moved the cleats back as far as they could go and put credit card-sized pieces of plastic over the cleats inside the shoe but still had pain between the first & second digit metatarsal/tarsal joint. Any other adjustments I should make? I have a pair of Shimano sandals, but I'm afraid the soles might not be as firm as the shoes. Thanks.

Richard Cranium

I don't know, weather reports usually work for me.

Your post is a little confusing. Many issues sort of lumped into an overall "bad time."

First of all, when approaching a distance like 600k - there is no such single training ride. Either you have learned to ride all day, for several days or you haven't.

As far as the "heart rate" thing goes - you were indeed experiencing "cardiac-drift" - which is usually a result of dehydration and reduced blood pressure/volume. This sort of thing can be dangerous, and if it happens during a long-distance event, you really are screwed.

Any problems with your feet always show up on a hot day, and especially in to a head wind. Again, this is not a training issue, its another fit/form problem that you either fix or manage.

The one thing you are doing right is trying to ride your guts out. It is important to try really tough training rides if you going to face up to real long distance riding.

unterhausen

I probably wouldn't have done such a hard ride just a week beforehand. Definitely take it easy now and as you start your 600k. The distance is doable in the time allowed without straining yourself too much.

FarmallM51

You're right, and I've been working the kinks out for 4 months, but with 1 week to go I am trying to glean as much additional info as possible. I don't want to "over-analyze" the ride, but neither do I want to miss something important. Thanks for the help.

Carbonfiberboy 

When you haven't peed for 2 hours, you'll know you're dehydrated. Use that metric. Yes, the elevated HR was from dehydration. So watch that, too. It's sometimes impossible to drink enough on the bike to prevent slow dehydration. Sometimes you just have to stop, cool off, and drink for a while. Slow dehydration isn't such a big problem on the shorter brevets.

You can build up a slight ridge in the center of the shoe, under the ball of your foot, using layers of electrical tape or similar. Don't make it so high it's uncomfortable. If you try it and it doesn't work, it's easy to rip out.