Attempted my first metric century, figure Id share the experience!
08-03-05, 08:00 PM
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Attempted my first metric century, figure Id share the experience!
I attempted my first metric century yesterday. Ive been doing consistent rides between 25-45 miles and was ready to try it. My longest ride prior to that was about 50 miles, never over 50 which was a goal of mine.
The only problem I ran into was the heat. I picked a day that seemed perfect, except it was almost 95 degrees out and a bit humid. I'm a leukemia patient, so right now my body is heat sensitive. Being an athlete all my life I loved working out in the heat and never ran into problems without warning. This time was different.
I was surprized at how strong I was now, because at the 55 mile mark I was flying and felt stronger and stronger. I was setting the pace for me and the friend I was riding with. Couldnt be happier. All of a sudden out of nowhere my body went into shock and shut down. I could barely talk or move and almost passed out. This was all without warning at the blink of an eye. Rescue had to come, but I was fine. I couldnt believe what happened. Just goes to show how important helmets are. I could have passed out on the bike and cracked my head open. I had no warning signs of fatigue or anything. I felt like I could do 100 miles then all of a sudden I just shut down and saw double.
Anyway, I was very pleased with the ride and cant wait to get out there again. Did a personal best 56.5 miles. My muscles and legs feel great. If it was 20 degrees cooler I feel like I could have biked forever. I was getting stronger and stronger as the ride went on, and felt like I could have sprinted the last few miles. I wanted to ride again today, but it's against doctors orders. lol. Ill be doing my recovery ride tomorrow.
Ive become a much better cyclist since reading this board. Good stuff here. Most of you guys really know the inside and outs of this sport, hobby, addiction, or whatever you want to call it!
The only problem I ran into was the heat. I picked a day that seemed perfect, except it was almost 95 degrees out and a bit humid. I'm a leukemia patient, so right now my body is heat sensitive. Being an athlete all my life I loved working out in the heat and never ran into problems without warning. This time was different.
I was surprized at how strong I was now, because at the 55 mile mark I was flying and felt stronger and stronger. I was setting the pace for me and the friend I was riding with. Couldnt be happier. All of a sudden out of nowhere my body went into shock and shut down. I could barely talk or move and almost passed out. This was all without warning at the blink of an eye. Rescue had to come, but I was fine. I couldnt believe what happened. Just goes to show how important helmets are. I could have passed out on the bike and cracked my head open. I had no warning signs of fatigue or anything. I felt like I could do 100 miles then all of a sudden I just shut down and saw double.
Anyway, I was very pleased with the ride and cant wait to get out there again. Did a personal best 56.5 miles. My muscles and legs feel great. If it was 20 degrees cooler I feel like I could have biked forever. I was getting stronger and stronger as the ride went on, and felt like I could have sprinted the last few miles. I wanted to ride again today, but it's against doctors orders. lol. Ill be doing my recovery ride tomorrow.
Ive become a much better cyclist since reading this board. Good stuff here. Most of you guys really know the inside and outs of this sport, hobby, addiction, or whatever you want to call it!
08-03-05, 08:19 PM
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Sorry about your incident.......maybe this fall when things cool off a bit youll be able to reach your mark!
Take care!!!
Take care!!!
08-03-05, 08:19 PM
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That uber-bonk sounds pretty awful. Sorry your ride got cut short. Better luck next time! Any ideas what caused it? Were you drinking/eating enough?
08-03-05, 08:40 PM
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I was eating and drinking plenty. Had about 4 liters of fluid (water, gatorate) and a big breakfast two hours prior to riding with a fig bar half way through. The heat was what caused the reaction. Just got heat stroke and it hit me instantly. It was way too hot for me to ride that far.
08-03-05, 10:07 PM
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Originally Posted by ac29593
I was eating and drinking plenty. Had about 4 liters of fluid (water, gatorate) and a big breakfast two hours prior to riding with a fig bar half way through. The heat was what caused the reaction. Just got heat stroke and it hit me instantly. It was way too hot for me to ride that far.
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08-03-05, 10:24 PM
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Sorry to hear that you didn't make it, I have just started getting chemo treatement for appendix (yeah appendix!!) cancer so I kinda know what you are going through. I have a couple of suggestions that you might like to try.
1. This is obvious but, did you ride early in the morning? I use to do centuries in summer in my old town leaving just as the sun was rising. Use to average 30km (18mile) per hour so by the time I finished the sun was no where near at its hottest. Just a thought
2. With respect to your drinking and eating plan, my suggestion and what my coach had me doing is the following. YMMV
- Go easy on carbs 2-3 days before the event and the night before have a big feed of pasta and potatoes, ie Carbo Load
- The morning of the event (if you ride early) wake up and have a Powerbar (or similar) at least an hour before you leave, you can also have oats or similar complex carbs.
- During the ride take both water and recovery (gatorade, cytomax etc) drinks and start the water 15 mins in and the recovery drink before half way and finish it at around 3/4 done. Drink the water constantly.
- I also use to use 1 powerbar and 1 gel (or 2 gels if no powerbars) through the ride and sometimes a banana or 2. Eating at 25, 50 and 75km.
Sounds like a lot of food but from my coaches first hand knowledge (Cat 1 racer and Elite Triathlete + accredited Coach) and experience I never bonked once!! Actually I lie, once I did but this was done on purpose by my coach (we didn't eat after the 50km point) as he wanted me to be aware of the warning signs so I knew what to avoid. Let me tell you it hurt, I bonked at 80km and the last 20km was the hardest thing I have ever experienced on a ride. Especially as my coach use to train with me and he was yelling at me and singing to make me concentrate...man he was a hard b@st@rd but it made me hard.
Anyway, I hope this helps and I wish you best of luck with everything.
Leon
1. This is obvious but, did you ride early in the morning? I use to do centuries in summer in my old town leaving just as the sun was rising. Use to average 30km (18mile) per hour so by the time I finished the sun was no where near at its hottest. Just a thought
2. With respect to your drinking and eating plan, my suggestion and what my coach had me doing is the following. YMMV
- Go easy on carbs 2-3 days before the event and the night before have a big feed of pasta and potatoes, ie Carbo Load
- The morning of the event (if you ride early) wake up and have a Powerbar (or similar) at least an hour before you leave, you can also have oats or similar complex carbs.
- During the ride take both water and recovery (gatorade, cytomax etc) drinks and start the water 15 mins in and the recovery drink before half way and finish it at around 3/4 done. Drink the water constantly.
- I also use to use 1 powerbar and 1 gel (or 2 gels if no powerbars) through the ride and sometimes a banana or 2. Eating at 25, 50 and 75km.
Sounds like a lot of food but from my coaches first hand knowledge (Cat 1 racer and Elite Triathlete + accredited Coach) and experience I never bonked once!! Actually I lie, once I did but this was done on purpose by my coach (we didn't eat after the 50km point) as he wanted me to be aware of the warning signs so I knew what to avoid. Let me tell you it hurt, I bonked at 80km and the last 20km was the hardest thing I have ever experienced on a ride. Especially as my coach use to train with me and he was yelling at me and singing to make me concentrate...man he was a hard b@st@rd but it made me hard.
Anyway, I hope this helps and I wish you best of luck with everything.
Leon
