ModeratedUser150120149

Yes, it seems you do come by your pseudonym honestly

Reads like you have been busy divesting yourself of firearms. Same here.

downtube42

I bailed at 44 miles. This was probably too close on the heels of a 24-hour ride last weekend. Having the opportunity to quit present itself every 2.5 miles is tempting. I stuck around and took some photos afterwards.

Tour de Cure at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

https://www.flickr.com/photos/downtu...7645291873405/

metalheart44

A metric has been my limit. Can I do 100 miles? Probably, but when given the opportunity, my response has been, "4 hours in the saddle is about all the time I want to spend on the bike." Maybe I don't have the century mindset. Maybe I should just try it and get past it: between 6/28 and 7/28 I'll do it.

OldsCOOL

Climb the ladder. Each week it just grows on you, desire accumulates.

I am speed oriented but have wanted to get more saddle time and basemiles. It was a bit surprising how the mindset is acquired so quickly.

257 roberts

tried to send you a PM but the site wouldn't let because of not having enough posts, most are " for sale" but not" on sale" lol

StephenH

Fondo- a big expensive organized semi-race. I've never done one, so people that have, can fill you in more. Think thousands of people in a big city.
Rando- short for randonneuring as an adjective or randonneur, the person riding.
Randonneuring- an organized ride usually with a designated route and certain time limits. Usually more like a dozen people.
Brevet- (pronounced bruh-vay) a randonneuring ride that is planned well in advance and open to the whole club
Permanent- a randonneuring ride that is planned usually on short notice, and organized by individuals rather than by the club; the ride itself may be the same as a brevet.

OldsCOOL

Thank you.

NVanHiker

I tour a lot, pretty slow but have the occasional 100+ day, mostly because of bad planning!

doctor j

I rode my second one for 2014 yesterday, the True Grit Ride in Ft. Smith, AR. We had cloud cover for the first 50 miles and fairly flat roads. It was nice. For the last 50 miles, we had heat, humidity, and some hills. It was not as nice. I was nowhere near first to cross the finish line but about 45 minutes ahead of the last folks to cross it, most of whom did not appear to be advanced enough in age to be eligible for Medicare as is yours truly. No mechanicals for the bike or its engine, a good ride!

metalheart44

So, today I planned a route that I thought was 50 miles and I was distracted by a coffee shop that served a wonderful chocolate/chocolate covered biscotti that went quite well with a bowl of oatmeal. The distraction cost me 20 miles, so I did 70 miles and 4300 feet of climbing. In a couple weeks or so I will do the 100, especially if I can work in the same coffee shop for the route.

jjames1452 

i live in the South part of Dayton Ohio.
My plan/dream, maybe on the 4th of July weekend, is to ride and fish a Century.

I can ride from my home 1/2 mile and be on the bike path to the University of Dayton, and then out to Downtown Dayton.
There is the Little Miami, Stillwater and Mad Rivers downtown, with plenty of bike paths and little parks with ponds. Decent fishing everywhere. The plan is to ride to a good stretch of rapids, stop and fish the pool for a few minutes.

From there, I can go East, to Xenia, then North and fish along the bike path to Yellow Springs, or South towards Caesar Creek and Ft. Ancient. (Or both)
There are fishing possibilities all along the way. Same plan, ride until see a good spot, stop, fish for a few minutes and continue.

Collapsible rods, limited selection of spinners and plugs, and catch and release.

It should be a great photo adventure.....

jppe

I rode Blood Sweat & Gears near Boone NC yesterday. 102.5 miles with 8800' of climbing. Includes 20 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway and a steep climb called Snake Mountain. After doing the 30,000' of climbing in Colorado for RtR, this was not so bad. Overcast and heavy fog for several hours, very humid. They do a phenomonal job organizing the event.

nuke_diver

1st (metric) century for me on Friday. I know the "real" cyclist don't consider it a real century but it was for me...63.8miles total (102.7km) with ~3600' of climbing (1100m). I rode it solo and stopped to get water once where the water was turned off and a second time where it wasn't and ate a cliff bar. Total time was 4:27 with 4:09 of moving time. Not super fast but I was happy and not very sore. It was not too hot but windy than I had hoped.

For those of you that ride these longer distances. How would a solo 100km compare to an organized 100miles with stops for food/water. Do the stops make a huge difference? My legs were ok at the end but I could feel I was getting tired so I am not sure how much longer I could have gone at that pace

I was able to do a 39mile ride on Sunday...didn't seem that long after Friday's ride

Cyclcist11023131

If you can do 33.3 miles you can do a Century. It is all about pace and the social side of riding and not wanting to look bad in front of thousands of riders. My first was the Palm Springs windfest last year. Single speed mountain bike geared up to 48 x 20 on my 29er. Did 8 miles the first hour into 20 to 50 mile an hour winds. Train of thirty riders like a snake behind me. Beautiful ! Next was an hour of climbing. Up on the cranks most of the way. Then thirty miles of downwind/mostly downhill. Nice ! Finished in 6-22 with a bunch of very well off bikers with super expensive bikes that seems to glide effortlessly compared to my long stroke diesel approach. Rode right past the after parties and drove straight home. Was exhausted and happy I did it. Now I know I can do anything....

jimmuller 

Congrats on your first metric! Don't let any one tell you it isn't real. The fact that you yourself may be able to do longer rides in the future doesn't diminish the significance of this one for you. Others' opinions don't count anyway.

About centuries, all my long rides have been solo, just hop on the bike and ride a route I'd casually planned out so I wouldn't waste too much time at each intersection while staring at a map or GPS. I sometimes go places where I might find frequent food and water, but sometimes not. So I carry some of both and stop when convenient. I'd think a single Cliff Bar isn't enough to eat! If you eat a little bit every half hour to an hour or so you can go (almost) indefinitely. Don't ever let yourself get hungry or dehydrated or de-salinated. So the stops on an organized ride would seem a real blessing. Don't stop for too long though; get back on the bike and go.

Those epic 10,000 ft climbs however don't sound like fun, but it depends on how steep the worst grades are. I've done routes with 3600ft elevation gain and 10-12% grades. Too many of those will cook me on a hot day. So take my advice with a grain of salt. Literally.

tigat

Rode the Colorado 2 day version of the MS 150 this weekend, and was surprised to find that day 1 has added a metric double option. On the theory that more is better (and accounting for two times lost and one backtrack to a fallen comrade), Saturday was 126.7 miles, with 4,800 ft of climbing and a brisk headwind most of the way up north.

Went out with some hard guys, and spent most of the first 60 miles in a fast and effective pace line--Heaven. A painful crash for one of the guys cost us an hour or so, and then the climbing rolled around. Low and behold, me and another 50 plus rider are the last ones standing. It was his call, at the 97 mile mark, to tack on another 27 miles, saying he had not felt that good at 100 miles for years and I'd thank him for the push later. Maybe much later.

Sunday was was 76 back, with 3,100 ft of climbing and a brisk headwing from the south now. How does that happen?

It was an unbelievably well organized ride, with extraordinary support and even better commaraderie, a great expression of community by a great collection of 3000 riders. Most remarkable to me was the number of weekend warriers who turned out and what they were able to accomplish. For every clipped in hardbody in spandex on carbon fiber, there was a rider in tennis shoes on flat pedals. Everbody has to pedal, and that is cool.

nuke_diver

Thanks Jim

The eating part of longer rides is something I haven't figured out. I never have anything on my normal rides which are generally in the 30-40mile range so figuring out what to eat on a longer ride is something I just don't have experience with. I did eat a bunch of pasta the night before and had a 2 bowls of cereal before walking the dog then going on the ride and with the bar I seemed ok (wasn't starving when I got back). But I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not. I actually run into more hydration problems on shorter (hotter) rides when I kind of forget to drink enough (I did that on Sunday)

10,000' centuries seem to be the norm around here. With some steep grades generally. But the biggest negative to me is the start times...I'm not much of a morning person and the idea of getting up at 5-5:30am to get to a bike ride doesn't appeal to me all that much...maybe when I'm retired it will seem less like work than it would now

chasm54

As far as eating is concerned, there really isn't much to figure out. High carb foods - flapjacks, dried fruit, sandwiches, whatever - eaten in small quantities but regularly, are all it takes. Most people get too worried about eating enough and end up eating too much. You can only absorb about 60g (around 250kcal) of carbs per hour, so there's no point in eating more than that while you're on the bike.

As far as the pasta the night before is concerned, it's pretty much irrelevant. To do the "carb loading" thing you have to deplete your glycogen reserves in the days before the big pasta meal, otherwise it makes no difference. Just eat normally, it's fine.

As for the early rising, my suggestion would be to do your first century on your own, rather than as part of an organised ride. You can choose your own route, take your own time, spend the day doing it if you want to. It's a lot of fun and there's no pressure other than that you put on yourself.

jimmuller 

Go back and re-read what chasm45 wrote. All the fuss over what and how much and when to eat is just so much fuss. The important thing is that you eat often on the road. You deplete glycogen and other muscle fuel as you go. Your digestive system can restore it only so fast, but your cash-on-hand reserves won't last more than an hour or so even less at full power. So you need to be continually replenishing it. If you wait until you are hungry it is too late.

One thing this means is convenience is important. Cliff Bars and such are nice because you can carry a few, and grab one and eat it with little fuss. I like Larabars and Kind Bars, and a banana maybe.

The point about doing your first century solo is also a good one. You won't be tempted to over-push, and you won't waste time socializing. Plus you can start whenever you like. (The start time for most organized centuries is a non-starter for me too.) Just go for a ride, eat occasionally, and enjoy yourself!

ModeratedUser150120149

[QUOTE=jimmuller;16896250]Go back and re-read what chasm45 wrote. All the fuss over what and how much and when to eat is just so much fuss. The important thing is that you eat often on the road. You deplete glycogen and other muscle fuel as you go. Your digestive system can restore it only so fast, but your cash-on-hand reserves won't last more than an hour or so even less at full power. So you need to be continually replenishing it. If you wait until you are hungry it is too late.
...

QUOTE]

I wonder if a person can train themselves to absorb nutrients faster than whatever is usual for them?

People who race other animals over long distances train them to eat more and to eat on a schedule. For example; a 40 pound dog may eat 6000-7000 calories in a relatively short period of time without any adverse effect.

jimmuller 

Good question. Don't know. But all the literature I've seen on the subject (which I do not pursue intently) says more or less the same thing in different words.

jon c. 

I'd sort of like to do one one of these days. I've done solo metrics, but I've never done an organized ride. I'm also in the 'start time too early' camp. There's a local ride with an 8:00 am start that's only about 10 miles away, but last year they moved it from early October to November. Still usually nice during the day here at that time of year, but pretty cold in the morning. I hate cold weather.

(I guess in reading that it may sound like I'm just too anti-social for group rides.)

chasm54

There is some evidence, I believe, that some easily-digestible formulations of carb-rich drinks deliver a slightly faster rate of absorption, but the difference isn't that significant in the context of the energy one is burning on the bike.

The point is not that eating more gives rise to adverse effects, though personally I dislike riding with too full a stomach. The issue is simply that if you eat more than 250kcal of carbs per hour while riding, you'll be digesting the surplus after you've finished the ride, so it won't help you.

Jseis 

I've been riding the STP (two day) and this will be my 3rd (weekend after the big 4th 3-day). It inspired me to map out a local double metric, pretty cool scenery, bridges, old highway routes, MUP's, paved local farm roads, ocean scenery, river views, a nice bay, even a gravel section and a short but steep 15% heartbreaker hill. The whole route might have 3000 feet of up, not particularly vertical but a lot of fun. We call it the ORB for Ocean.River.Bay

We are going to make it a local gig so we have something to look forward to in the fall (our best weather). I ride 2400-2600 miles a year and that seems about right for me in terms of training though winter riding is key, particularly late fall, early early spring, (Dec and January just suck sometimes) really keeps me in shape. I suffer from GERD so diet plays into my food strategy which is balanced and I've got to watch the sugars. My favorite food is ham & peanut butter sandwiches. At 59 Y.O. I'd like to be cycling for decades ahead and Easy Does It works for me.

ModeratedUser150120149

I suppose that would depend on how long the ride is and how much time is involved. Do you have any specific references I could search that are pertinent?