I am riding a 120 mile fundraiser in two weeks on the Silver Comet Trail. I am a 56 year old woman & I normally average about 70-90 miles a week. I am trying to up that as time permits. I have done 50 miles twice before w/o any problems. I need any advice that would help make this work.I want to complete this ride w/o injuring myself. I am also concerned about weather. Here in Atlanta we can go from the 30's to the 70's in a day. I don't want to spend alot on extra clothes. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not familiar with that trail. Is it flat?

It sounds like fitness won't be an issue for you. Keep to a steady, comfortable pace, eat and hydrate sensibly, and you should be fine, except possibly being a bit saddle sore.

The "70-90 miles a week" is a really good base to be working from. But with only two weeks to go, there isn't much time to do the usual, recommended procedure of gradually building up to longer miles. Part of the purpose of the gradual buildup is to build stamina. But an important part of the gradual buildup is to learn what works for you on longer rides, in terms of bike fit issues, clothing issues for different weather variations, food / drink issues as the mileage gets longer, pacing issues, cramping issues, etc.

It makes it really hard to know how to advise you, if the fundraiser is literally 14 days from now. What I've written below assumes that you can do a hard ride this Saturday, and easier one next Saturday, and then the "big event" is a few days after that.

Since you can't do it gradually, and since the most you've done is 50 miles, I would suggest that you plan to try something like 90 miles (3/4 of the total distance on the "big event") this Saturday. That'll still give you time to recover afterwards. You'll have the chance to find out what seems like it works for you as the mileage gets longer, and can come back to this forum if you need to do some problem-solving.

Then, the weekend after, I'd suggest riding as long a distance that you can that you will be fully recovered from within about three days before the "big event". You don't want to get to the big event without being fully recovered, because you'll need everything you've got.

It's pretty hard to give much more specific advice, because what works for one person often doesn't work for another. The only way to find out is to try it.

You need to make sure not to throw your electrolyte balance out of whack, particularly if you're riding in the heat. So if you're sweating a lot, you need to ingest some source of electrolytes. None of the hydration drinks are concentrated enough to provide enough electrolytes per unit volume -- many endurance cyclists take Endurolytes. Particularly, watch out if you're drinking plain water. Electrolyte losses that are easily sustainable on a 50 mile ride can become a ride-ending cramp on a century. My wife weighs about 120 pounds and she eats 1 to 2 Endurolytes per hour, depending on how hard the terrain is and how hard we're riding. Even in the winter, you can sweat quite a bit without noticing it.

Take it slow and steady. Ride at your own pace, not someone else's. If you're lucky, someone else will ride at your pace so you have someone to chat with. As long as you are not causing yourself an injury that will take more than two weeks to recover from, just stay on your bike and keep pedalling. Make sure to eat a steady 200 to 300 calories per hour, depending on what you can comfortably sustain. Chances are, you will have to ride through some pain, particularly saddle pain. But if you keep going, eventually you will be done. The elation that comes from finishing the ride will wipe out the memory of any pain that you've suffered during the ride. Conversely, if you give up, you will remember how disappointed you are for a long time to come (been there, done that!)

Compared to what I am used to it is very flat. Long but gradual steady inclines and declines. I heard that there are more hills closer to Alabama.

Thanks for the feedback. I can see I will need to work on the eating and electrolyte part. Hopefully this will be the first of many long rides.

I am assuming the ride is all in one day? I would recommend the following:

- A cycling jacket with zippers on the sleeves so it can turn into a vest. This makes it more versatile when the weather changes.

- A seat bag or handlebar bag(s) big enough to store food and other supplies.

- Eye protection for riding when it's too dark to wear sunglasses. My sunglasses have interchangeable lenses. I use clear lenses for riding in the dark.

- Supplies to fix several flats. I bring two tubes and a patch kit. I have a frame pump so I don't need CO2 cartridges.

- A good headlight and/or helmet light.

- Cash for emergency supplies. On my last century ride I got very tired of the pb&j sandwiches at the aid stations and made a stop at a McDonald's. Eating "real" food (a hamburger) gave me a boost of energy that really helped at the end of the ride.

- A baggie with some antibacterial wipes and band-aids. I crashed on my first century ride and skinned my knee. I was 8 miles from the next aid station and had to ride with blood trickling down my leg.

Your body absorbs about 250 calories per hour. You can't eat more to catch up if you fall behind in energy... eat EARLY. Start right away, even if you don't need it... you will soon! And try not to over eat... you'll end up regretting it.... the only way to recover if you end up in the hole is to slow down... take a break, etc. Most organized rides will have rest areas stocked with food, drinks, etc. Make use of them! Personally, I find that I work best on endurance rides when I stop and have some real food once in a while. Other people I know can't touch solid food on long rides... they exist on Perpetuem, hammer, gels, etc. during long rides. You're definitely at a disadvantage in that you don't have a lot of time/distance rides to figure out what works best for you.

Other advice: Pick a pace at the start of the ride that you feel you can ride all day... then slow down another mph or two and find someone that's riding about that pace.

Change hand positions often, stretch, move around. If you're already riding 90 miles or so a week you should be able to handle it physically... just make sure you hydrate enough and eat at an appropriate rate, and take breaks when you need them!

As far as the weather goes: Layers are your friend. Cycling shorts, leg warmers, Jersey, arm warmers, a sweatshirt or hoodie, windbreaker, medium-weight water-resistant gloves, wind pants should be plenty for anything you're likely to face other than an hours long downpour and can be packed into a large trunk bag. Take off layers or add them as needed. (to be honest, this might be overkill... I could ride comfortably for hours down into the 20's with the listed gear)

Thanks again for all the support and advice. I have taken it all to heart. Today is the day. Good weather for today, cloudy, high 68 degrees. Tomorrow is another thing though, high 58degrees with heavy rain and wind-we will see what happens!

Good luck. Hope to hear a report of success.

The ride was awsome. I was in better shape then I thought I was. The good news is that we completed the first 75 miles with no problem. The bad news was that the remains of hurricane Ida blew through and we couldn't finish the last 50 miles. I ended up doing the last 50 on my own this past Sunday. Thanks again for all the wisdom and advice. I am sure that had a part in making this successful. Now I am looking forward to doing more long rides. I LOVED it!

I knew you would be fine. Well done.

Good job!

If you keep wanting to do longer and longer rides, i.e. you start wanting to do rides that are longer than a century, then maybe you might want to give randonneuring a try. Randonneuring is noncompetitive, minimally-supported, long distance cycling. it looks like your local randonneuring club is Audax Atlanta, https://www.audaxatlanta.com/ and the national organization is Randonneurs USA, www.rusa.org

Nick


Nick