I booked myself a little stay-cation here in Central Florida for today. Naturally this meant I was going to cycle somewhere. I decided on the hills of Clarmont, FL to log some climbing miles as I don't normally get the chance to make the 30 mile drive over that way. I started off the ride with the intention of doing a 50 mile loop hitting all the big hills we have down here. Towards the end of this loop I was feeling pretty good: the sun was shining, there wasn't a whole lot of traffic on the roads and I really wanted to do 100 miles before the real hot and humid weather kicks in down here. It was noon and I had all day with nothing else going on, so I decided it was time to stretch the ride out into a 100-miler.

Long story short I finished at 100.3 miles. Here's the stats below. For reference I'm 26 years old, began cycling in December, and I'm 6'0 180 lbs.

- 3,200 feet of climbing
- Avg heart rate of 166, max 198
- Avg cadence of 75
- Avg speed of 16.3
- Avg watts 131

Prior to today my longest ride was something like 73 miles, and 40 of those miles was in a A-level group ride, so that doesn't really count. Today was just me myself and I. I felt I rode pretty strong for 3/4 of the ride, sticking to an average of 20-21 in the flats and really trying to pick my battles and push myself on the challenging climbs. However I started to lose steam somewhere around mile 76-78. The climbs I did earlier in the ride, the strong headwind I was fighting as I moved south, and just the general miles finally took their toll. The legs were at max output and I couldn't get the bike above 20mph on the flats anymore. Miles 85-100 I was crawling along...I never saw the speedometer crack 18mph. I worked on maintaining a cadence of 75-80 for these miles.

So a few things. First, I've gotta figure out how to fuel myself better. Most mornings I'm so excited to get on the bike that I skip a real breakfast in favor of an energy bar. During this ride I had a Nature Valley bar at the start, a energy gel at mile 42, and a cliff bar at mile 60. I had green tea and a half a half to start the ride, and refilled both bidons with water 3 times. Second, I've got to spend more time in the hills. Most of my local 50 mile rides see total climbs of 450 feet, so this was a shock to my system. Third, this was my first ride in about two weeks. After today's experience, it's probably not the best idea to jump back on the bike and just ride 100 miles without more recent rides. Finally, I still enjoyed every bit of suffering I endured, however my legs are completely useless at the moment. My goal for next time is to devise a plan to finish that last 1/4 of the ride stronger than I did today.