oakback

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Daytrip

You should be able to do 45 if you're in reasonably good shape. Just be sure to drink plenty of water or other liquids and eat something once or twice during the ride. You'll have more energy (trust me) and hurt less when you're done. Wear the padded shorts. Pace yourself.

I went from no miles logged to 25 to 30 to 42 to 63 to 83 to 100 to 101 in the space of about 6 weeks, beginning in mid August, with progressively longer runs in between the milestones. One trick that works for me is to say, 20 miles into a century--"hey, I'm 20 percent done."

And remember, if you can do 45 without too many issues, you can do 65 next time. And so on.

MadCity Cyclist

You'll be fine in padded shorts.

johnny0

You have padded shorts and a seat thats not too soft right? those were the two most important factors for reducing my seat pain.

it might be hard to go from 10 to 45 mikes in a week. maybe you should add 5 miles at a time.

Im progressing a little slowly now with one ride a week only during the winter. i started biking only a few months ago and could only do 4 miles on a 15 year old mountain bike before i gave up due to ass pain. i think my legs were burning on even the small hills too. i went from there to a light hybrid and could do 20-25 miles before my hands and ass was in pain. Now I'm on a roadbike and i can do 40~50 miles per ride. At that point Im in whole body pain so i know I need to work on general fitness for upper body, core, and lower buddy. Now I'm working on keeping up a faster pace and shorter rest stops.

sstorkel

The trick with long rides is to pace yourself. I'm usually really bad about this! I'll sprint away from the house like I'm only going to do 5mi and then be dead after 20 or 30mi. I have to really focus on riding at a moderate pace during the beginning of a ride if I want to go 50-60mi or more. You should also feel free to pull over and take a 5-, 10-, or 15-minute break if you start to feel fatigued. For me, a small break at the half-way point of a ride (along with a snack) is often all I need to be re-energized for the ride back...

Daytrip

Things high in electrolytes, such as bananas, raisins and dates are good, since they help replenish minerals that you lose when you perspire. Supposedly, sports drinks like Gatorade do the same thing, but if you eat the right food, plain water should be fine. Make a point of stopping every 10 or 15 miles to replenish--whether you feel like you need to or not. I drink a bottle of water and eat something every 20 miles and it helps a lot. Also, getting off the bike and walking around and stretching also helps a lot.

Before long, you won't believe that 45 miles seemed like such a big deal.

SunFlower

For me the seat is very important. I used to get penis numbness on rides over 1 hour but now that I have a new seat its greatly reduced. For food I just take one cliff bar and two bottles of water for rides over 2 hours.

Retro Grouch 

No problem.

Start with 1 mile and double how far you ride each day. Let us know how you're doing by the end of the month.

johnny99

1. Most saddle pain is caused by incorrect saddle position (usually too high). Spend some time trying different saddle positions before you decide that the saddle just doesn't fit you. Also, if you're brand new to cycling, you may experience some discomfort in the first week or two of regular riding since your rear end is not used to sitting down for hours at a time.

2. Don't go overboard on food. If you eat a reasonable breakfast before a ride, you should be able to ride 2 to 3 hours with just a pint of tap water per hour. If you do need to eat during a ride, regular snacks (200-300 calories per hour) are better than a big lunch.

3. You don't need energy drinks, special electrolytes, etc. on rides of under 50 miles. Those things are expensive and rot your teeth. Your regular meals should have plenty of nutrients for rides of this length.

mbhakti

I would do a 25 or 30 mile ride before you go for 45. It's best to set your goals a little closer to keep yourself energized and wanting to keep progressing.

johnny99

Yes, don't jump from 10 miles/day to 45 miles/day. The usual advice is to build up slowly by increasing your weekly mileage by 10% per week. However, you can mix your daily mileage within that week. If you're used to doing 10 miles for 3 days in a row, you can probably do 30 miles pretty easily if you take a day off the day before.

banerjek

You'll be fine. You do not need to work your way up to this, and don't need to follow hardly any of the advice here except that regarding pacing. These guys are way too conservative.

If you ride daily, your butt will feel good enough even if you wear gym shorts. It was only about 5 years ago that I started wearing cycling shorts. I like them, but they're not essential. A little bit of food is a good idea, but you don't need much.

MrCrassic 

You can probably hack it, but you might feel pain in other areas, like your abdomen or your back.

There's only one way to find out...

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kimconyc

You don't need much of anything except maybe a water bottle for a 45 mile ride during this time of year. You aren't racing or anything so just go at your own pace.

Unless you are going over 75 miles, you don't need much food IMO. These guys are nuts

shuffles

+1

Every few miles, stand up for 10-15 seconds, that'll give your ass all the break it needs.

roadiejorge 

I agree with Banerjek, pacing will be the most important thing because you'll want to spend your energy wisely and not burn out quickly. I'd take extra water to be safe and something to snack on.

Daytrip

I tend to agree that food is probably unnecessary on a sub-50-mile ride, but why not stick a candy bar or something in your seatbag or jersey pocket just in case?

The nice thing about pacing is that if you get 3/4 of the way through the ride and still feel good, you can dial it up a notch and not have to worry about running out of gas.

roadiejorge 

That will make for a very unpleasant return trip. I once rode to a friend's house (60 mile r/t) for a BBQ and there was so much food I couldn't help sampling a bit of everything. Let's just say the ride back was a really sloooow one.

RazorWind

Padded shorts are the only thing I'd change. The thought of riding 45 miles without them doesn't seem pleasant, to me.

Food wouldn't concern me on a 45 mile ride, though. Water would, especially if you live somewhere warm, but I can easily ride 45 miles without eating anything.

surchekian

I just sprained my TMI.

Machka 

If you've got your bicycle set up correctly, you should be fine.

Don't forget to eat and drink.

RazorWind

Woot! Good for you, man.

The penis numbness thing is a sign that something is wrong with your fit/saddle/shorts combination. The first thing I'd try is adjusting the saddle so that the nose is just a little higher. Padded shorts won't necessarily do a whole lot for this problem by themselves, but they can make a small difference, and help to make getting the saddle position right easier.

johnny99

Numbness problems are often caused by a too high saddle. If you do have to raise the nose to level the saddle, think about lowering the entire saddle at the same time.

banerjek

Sounds like it went well. Soon you'll think of 50 miles as a short ride.

Regarding #1, don't worry -- eventually the tingling will go away and you won't be able to feel anything at all. Seriously, though, that's a fit/saddle/shorts thing as RW suggests. You might try tilting the nose of the saddle down just slightly, moving it back just a tick, or lowering it just slightly before messing with the other stuff.

On #5, never try to fight a wind or set a time goal against one. You can put yourself in a world of hurt.

For #6, photosensitive or amber lenses are good for all around riding where you may need to deal with lower light levels.

johnny99

Lowering the whole saddle is almost always a better idea than tilting the nose down.