First Time Long Distance Rider - Help !!!!
07-01-07, 07:11 AM
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First Time Long Distance Rider - Help !!!!
Hello Everyone!
This will be my first time long distance ride.
A Bunch of friends are going to do the Greater Niagara Circle Route - 180kms
They plan at going the speed of 20
I was wondering how long would that roughly take to complete?
What types of food and how much do I need? & What is the best kinds ?
How much water or sports drinks do i need? & What is the the best Kinds ?
Do I need any supplements?
How often to take breaks?
Any thing to prepare for the ride?
If there is any tips or tricks you have to make this a good ride I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank For Your Help
This will be my first time long distance ride.
A Bunch of friends are going to do the Greater Niagara Circle Route - 180kms
They plan at going the speed of 20
I was wondering how long would that roughly take to complete?
What types of food and how much do I need? & What is the best kinds ?
How much water or sports drinks do i need? & What is the the best Kinds ?
Do I need any supplements?
How often to take breaks?
Any thing to prepare for the ride?
If there is any tips or tricks you have to make this a good ride I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank For Your Help
Last edited by jnutella; 07-01-07 at 07:18 AM.
07-01-07, 07:46 AM
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can you give us a little more detail on yourself? How much riding do you do now? will you be doing this on road bikes or mountain bikes or hybrids? how soon do you plan on doing the ride? are you used to climbing hills? that will affect the kind of advice that we can give you.
how long will it take? well, you're planning on doing a 180km ride at an average speed of 20km/h, so simple math says that it will take 9 hours
If it's your first long ride, I'd factor in an extra hour to hour and a half for breaks. So, figure on it taking 10 to 11 hours.
What types of food and what are the best kinds? This is where you get to learn and love the nutritional information section of a food package. Your target is to eat 250 calories / hour or, in this case, 2250 calories over the course of the day. Better kinds of food are ones that are low in fat and high in carbohydrates, along with some protein. Clif bars and Powerbars can be good to have (and also conveniently contain 250 calories per bar) but people don't like eating them for 9 hours straight. Fig Newtons and peanut butter sandwiches are also good options, as well. If you stop for lunch, aim for sandwiches that just simply meat and cheese (or peanut butter, if you're vegetarian), do not aim for pizza or anything with a lot of cheese. Cheese contains a layer of fat, which will be slow to convert into energy, and you will likely bonk and get exhausted before your stomach can start burning all of calories in a slice of cheese pizza.
Water and sports drink consumption depend on the rider and heat level, but the mantra is drink before you're thirsty. Take two bottles and try to finish one bottle every 30 or 40 kms. You need to replace electrolytes as well as consume water, and drinks like Gatorade can do this, but the Gatorade that's sold at the store also has a lot of sugar,so beware sugar crashes. V8 can be a good substitute if you don't mind the tomato taste.
You do not need to take supplements for your first time out.
When to take breaks? As often as what makes you comfortable, but not so often that you waste a lot of energy with cooling down and getting warmed up again. A lot of organized centuries aimed at new riders provide rest stops at every 25 km. Psychologically, it helps break the ride down into shorter distances. Instead of thinking, "OMG, I'm going to do 180k today" you can think "well, I just have to ride 25k to this point and then when I'm done with that, I'll do 25 to the next one."
other tips -- since you're doing it with friends, you might want to practice pacelining -- where you all ride one behind the other and fairly close together so that you can take advantage of the lead person shielding you from the wind. It makes it easier to ride in windy conditions, and if you are good about switching who gets to pull (or be the lead rider) then you all wind up being less tired from the ride.
how long will it take? well, you're planning on doing a 180km ride at an average speed of 20km/h, so simple math says that it will take 9 hours
If it's your first long ride, I'd factor in an extra hour to hour and a half for breaks. So, figure on it taking 10 to 11 hours. What types of food and what are the best kinds? This is where you get to learn and love the nutritional information section of a food package. Your target is to eat 250 calories / hour or, in this case, 2250 calories over the course of the day. Better kinds of food are ones that are low in fat and high in carbohydrates, along with some protein. Clif bars and Powerbars can be good to have (and also conveniently contain 250 calories per bar) but people don't like eating them for 9 hours straight. Fig Newtons and peanut butter sandwiches are also good options, as well. If you stop for lunch, aim for sandwiches that just simply meat and cheese (or peanut butter, if you're vegetarian), do not aim for pizza or anything with a lot of cheese. Cheese contains a layer of fat, which will be slow to convert into energy, and you will likely bonk and get exhausted before your stomach can start burning all of calories in a slice of cheese pizza.
Water and sports drink consumption depend on the rider and heat level, but the mantra is drink before you're thirsty. Take two bottles and try to finish one bottle every 30 or 40 kms. You need to replace electrolytes as well as consume water, and drinks like Gatorade can do this, but the Gatorade that's sold at the store also has a lot of sugar,so beware sugar crashes. V8 can be a good substitute if you don't mind the tomato taste.
You do not need to take supplements for your first time out.
When to take breaks? As often as what makes you comfortable, but not so often that you waste a lot of energy with cooling down and getting warmed up again. A lot of organized centuries aimed at new riders provide rest stops at every 25 km. Psychologically, it helps break the ride down into shorter distances. Instead of thinking, "OMG, I'm going to do 180k today" you can think "well, I just have to ride 25k to this point and then when I'm done with that, I'll do 25 to the next one."
other tips -- since you're doing it with friends, you might want to practice pacelining -- where you all ride one behind the other and fairly close together so that you can take advantage of the lead person shielding you from the wind. It makes it easier to ride in windy conditions, and if you are good about switching who gets to pull (or be the lead rider) then you all wind up being less tired from the ride.
