JasonCarp

So training hasn't gone quite as planned this spring due to lousy weather and lack of time. So in preparation of my first National 24 hour challenge in a month, I signed up for a 147 mile group ride this Saturday with my local club. I plan on going with the B group (15-16 mph) and not put too much pressure to hang with the A group that I would normally want to ride with on a 20-30 mile ride. I did a metric century solo yesterday afternoon, and felt pretty good. (even ran 4 miles this morning). My longest ride to date was a solo century at the end of the summer last year where I felt I could keep going 15 plus miles per hour for quite a while.

I am anticipating being exhausted but feeling I can make the extra miles with the help of some group riders. Am I jumping up too fast mileage wise if I plan on taking it down a notch? This is a well supported ride, so I am not anticipating nutrition or hydration problems. Will the legs just stop working at some point or will my speed just dwindle? I just feel like the extra miles just become an exercise in mental toughness after 100 miles as long as you eat and drink.

unterhausen

Actually, I almost always start feeling better at 100 miles. Eating is everything. Too little and you suffer, too much and you suffer more.

downtube42

More or less. There's stuff to know that only comes from experience. Knowing what and how much and when to eat and drink comes from experience. When to tough through something vs when it needs attention. In the 24 hour challenge you'll likely deal with a range of weather conditions, and it's nice to have some of those under your belt before facing them at 2 in the morning. But it's an 8 mile loop overnight with shelter available each time around, so it's a fairly safe place to learn things.

One piece of advice is if you get to a point where you hate your bike and wonder why you're doing this and just want to go home and lay in your bed and never ride again, that means you're running low on fuel. Eat some carbs, drink some water, and in 10 minutes everything will be fine.

StephenH

Allow some flexibility in your time- the group may go slower or faster than you'd prefer. Be prepared to ride in alone, with lights, even if you shouldn't need to do that. Keep an eye on your co-riders, they may have more trouble than you do.

skiffrun

I can't agree that that is ALWAYS the problem, esp. for a first-time LONG rider.

My first 300k brevet, at about 140-miles, I hated the bike, my hands hurt, me feet hurt, my butt hurt, I could not understand WHY anyone had ever ridden a bike, I knew that IF I finished the ride, I would certainly never get on a bicycle again for the rest of my life!

Within 10-miles, I found myself thinking, "I can do this!" I was not referring to the 300k -- I was referring to the 400 and the 600 brevets.

What had happened to change my outlook? I hadn't eaten anything; maybe I had sipped some water.

Here is what was different: there was a light rain falling, a warm, Spring rain, yet it was cool enough to cool my legs; darkness had completely enveloped me, and I was concentrating on seeing through the dark and the rain. Maybe I had relaxed my body and arms/hands and legs/feet a bit. In other words, I found a comfort zone.

After the ride, I did put some additional tape, with more cushion, on the handlebars; a few months later, I replaced my falling apart shoes. But mostly, I think I learned a lot about relaxing while on the bike. And, I learned some of "what to expect."
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Btw, I have nearly run out of energy on a rando ride. I didn't hate the bike; I just needed to finish the last few miles and get out of the cold and eat (in the one case), and ride a few miles to get somewhere more amenable to a serious stop-and-eat.

I have also "bonked" on a ride (American def'n of bonked, not English def'n). I bonked so badly that my buddy decided to go get my car (which was only 3 miles away); but before he left he made me promise him that I was not going to die. I thought he was joking -- turned out that he was not joking.
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Hating the bike, etc. may mean nothing more than you are sore.

c.miller64

Normally, I would say to ride with the faster group for as long as you could hang on and then drop back to the slower group. But with your limited training this is probably not a good idea. If I were in your shoes I would just focus on nutrition and bike fit issues at this point. If you have a major problems with either, they will show up at this distance.

After the ride is over, I would make any necessary nutritional/fit adjustments and test them out by riding some longer solo rides (at low intensity). Once I was comfortable with my changes, I would eliminate any further long distance rides prior to the race and I'd focus on shorter higher intensity workouts, making sure to taper a week to ten days before the race.

unterhausen

when I feel really bad I just remind myself that I have felt worse and it will probably get better. I think the worst I ever felt was on a 600k at 6am on the second day, tired, hungry, weather wasn't great, had 100k left to ride. No more than 2 hours later, I was riding as hard as I could just enjoying myself.

k7baixo

This. I have to remind myself that even at the worst time, it will get better. Grind it out, spin it out, get mad at the world but keep moving towards your goal.

Good luck Jason!

DGlenday

Interesting reading in this thread, as I'll also be doing the national 24 hour challenge.

I should be easy to pick out, because I'll wear the jersey in my avatar for part of the ride. (I.e. the jersey promoting the bikeforums fifty+ group).

JasonCarp

I have to say, the 147 mile ride went really well. Teamed up with another guy and I did most of the pulling averaging 16 mph. drank lots, ate good and if not for the end in sight, probably could have kept riding. Ran a couple miles on the track the next day and dropped a PR on the local 15 mile time trials the day after that. I did make the mistake of trying a new saddle to combat some numbness and constantly sliding forward on the saddle. Now I have a nice saddle sore, and need to try another saddle. May just wait until after the 24 hour challenge to mess with this too much.

See you in a couple weeks DGlenday. Good Luck.

DGlenday

Jason,

Did ya see anyone wearing the jersey in my profile?

Tough ride - and the rain only made things a lot worse! I was going like a train until the rain started, and then went downhill

Congratulations on completing 232.5 miles, and coming 8th in your age category.

I'll post a more detailed race report in a different thread in the next few days, and will post the link here. I'll be interested to hear your experiences.

DGlenday

Done:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...higan-Mid-June