alohaboy

Hi,
I'm going to be riding the 40 mile Space Race on April 6. This will be the longest I've ridden, so I was wondering if anyone could give any advice leading up to or for the actual ride itself. My next furthest will be a 25 mile organized ride this coming Saturday. One thing I noticed during my 20 mile Tour of Houston, is that it didn't seem like I passed myself that well. I finished the 20 mile route in about an hour and fifteen minutes, which I thought was pretty good. It wasn't like I was exhausted or anything, it just felt like was pushing hard the entire time.
Thanks in advance for any info.

Jeff

StephenH

On the organized rides that I've been on, I pushed myself reasonably hard, but I think no matter what I did, there would still be people in front of me and people behind me. Don't sweat it, ride and enjoy. If you enjoy pushing yourself, go for it, but if you back off a bit, you might enjoy it more and still won't be the slowest one out there.

Watch the wind- don't wear yourself out flying with the wind and then have to turn around and ride back into it.

txags92

here are some tips that have helped me out on my MS rides.

First, ride your own pace. As I told my wife before her first MS ride with me, there will always be somebody older, fatter, flabbier, riding a junkier bike than you who will pass you like you are standing still. Don't let your pride get in the way of riding at a pace you can maintain for the entire ride. If you let adrenaline get to you early on and try to keep up with riders going too fast for you, you will blow up and the last 10-15 miles will be really difficult after you bonk.

Second, try to catch on with a group riding at your pace and share their paceline with them (assuming you know something about paceline etiquette). If you don't know how to paceline, look online for one of the many primers on how to ride in pacelines. Even if it is just one or two other people, riding in a group will give you the chance to get out of the wind and coast in somebody's shadow for a while.

Third, don't be a wheel sucker. As a 250lb guy, I am sure I cut a really nice hole in the wind, and i am never short on riders who want to ride behind me. I don't mind if you come up behind me and take a break for a few minutes before passing on by...but don't ride my wheel for 10 miles without offering to let me ride yours for a while.

Fourth, have fun. You will do plenty of thinking about logistics and preparation, but don't forget to look around at the scenery, talk to the riders around you, and just enjoy the ride. Doing so will make the ride seem much shorter than if you spend your time riding alone in silence thinking about how sore your legs are getting.

cycledorchy

howdy! I'm riding the 62 mile route on 4/6, and this will be my second organized ride. I did the tour de tollway a couple weeks back, the 40 mile route (which my comp's odometer said was more like 50) and I found that it was not a big deal at all to ride at my own pace; there were tons of people ahead of me and tons behind...just ride and enjoy and don't push so hard early on that you're hurting at the end. :-)

alohaboy

Well, the ride went great. I hurt my wrist in a stupid fall last weekend, and was worried I wouldn't be able to ride, but it mostly healed just in time. I feel surprisingly well for doing 40 today and not riding much last week as the bike was in the shop. Of course I could feel it tomorrow. :-)

Bikedued

Congrats!! Just seeing the Greyhound park building in the distance was a great feeling of accomplishment, huh?? I was the guy riding the Grey Scott Speedster S4 with white graphics and a black Brooks B.17. I probably saw you at some point.

You know, I should feel much worse than I do. The longest I had ever ridden in a day was 12 miles, several months ago. I did the 62 mile today, and the only major problems I had were the backs of my arms, and rear inner thighs. The pickle juice worked wonders, as I had the inner thigh thing and cramping calves just starting at the first big stop at the Wee half way point. After that first stop I had no more calf problems at all. The only real prep I had been doing was commuting to work since the time change. That was too short
to really tell how I was going to do. I completely surprised myself,,,,BD

And the wind was pretty crazy during the whole ride. You'd be riding into the wind, turn 90*, and was still there at the completion of the turn. The few stretches with a tailwind or no wind really helped.

OneArmedScissor

I did the 80 today...but probably should have stopped at the 60. Mech problems, soreness and my fiance and I's bad knees were giving us some problems. I think poor pre-ride hydration may have helped the cramping along. That pickle juice stuff actually work?!? It tasted...awful (to me, but I'm not big on pickles usually) but if it works to alleviate cramping I just might try it.

alohaboy

That last stretch was a *&%$@. It seemed to keep going, and going, and going. But yeah, seeing the track in the distance helped at the end. But before I saw it, I kept thinking, "Surely it's got to be coming up soon."
I thought the route was really nice, except for the long stretches on 6. I was kind of surprised that there were some large intersections without police directing.
I surprised myself too. I finished 40 miles in just under 3 hours, which sounds pretty good to me.
By the way, I was on a blue Allez Elite with a Spaceman PEZ jersey on. I thought that was appropriate for the race.

cycledorchy

Yeah it was an awesome ride. I was scheduled to do the 60 mile route but I felt good so Pushed it out...and I did my first 100! My first official century ride! I did it in 5.5 hours total ride time, about an additional hour spent among the various rest stops. the weather was gorgeous, the route easy to follow, the rest stops mostlyw ell placed and well stocked...the pickle juice was weird but it helped! I'm very sunburned today and very sore, but I am so glad I pushed through and finished the 100 mile course. Now that I know I can do it, I want to do more!

cycledorchy

LOL then I saw you more than once early in the ride. I was on a Trek 1.2 (black) with a black and red helmet and a blue jersey...with my bright yellow bandana on underneath. It was a great ride, and yes I found that early on many intersections were being controlled, but later on, especially in the second 50 miles of the 100, they were not. However by then, the number of riders had gotten pretty sparse so, yeah.

This was my longest distance to date and it was awesome. The weather was perfect, and despite being very sore and sunburned, I am really glad I did the 100.

fishywarren

I did my first organized ride too. I did the eighty in five hours on my single speed mountain bike. It was fun. I will do another one but I will probably get a road bike to do it with.

alohaboy

Yeah, I was the guy speeding up and then slowing down later, and not holding his line that well.

Bikedued

It was my first time riding in a large group of people, it took some getting used to. The pickle juice stuff really worked, I was looking for it at the other stops but it was only at the one. I skipped the first stop, as it seemed too early. Probably a mistake, but I lived. I only got slightly sunburned, and oddly enough, no sore muscles. Most of the pain went away by the next day, and nothing more?

I had a flashback on the way home from work this evening, lol. I turned off a side street to head home, and wham, 15 mph headwind the rest of the way.,,,,BD