What did I do wrong
 

And any suggestions to fix it?

Did the Tour to Tanglewood this weekend and didn't do very well. I trained for about 6 weeks slowly build mileage and working on my nutrition. Saturday was a train wreck as I got lost and only did 34 miles. Sunday was better and completed 66 miles but my average speed was not so good and my climbing left a lot to be desired. I felt my nutrition was good and I had set a 10 minute alarm on my Garmin to remind me to drink (acelerade) and eat every 30 minutes (small 200 calorie bars cut in two)

I know I have to work harder and getting back into cycling after 3.5 years off and being 46 isn't helping...oh by the way, I'm 5ft 8in and 200 lbs.

As people here are very knowledgeable, I am looking at signing up for another 65 mile on October the 20th so would appreciate some advice.

Below are my stats for Sat/Sun

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/223528905

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/223528886

This may not help you sort it out, but help give a better understanding. There are times that we just feel great and times when we don't, with little understanding of each.

Just enjoy the next ride, and surely you will improve at the same time.

Did you start riding again 6 weeks ago, or did you start training for this ride 6 weeks ago? 6 weeks is a very short time to do either. Ask some of the other riders how long they have been riding. Most likely the answer will be years. If you started riding again 6 weeks ago you expect too much to soon. It will come with time. Your weight is a big deal on the hills too. It's about power to weight ratio. Enjoy riding more and your weight may go down. If you started riding again 6 weeks ago, you did fantastic!!

Just looking at your height, weight, speed, and routes, it looks to me like what you did wrong was "get lost" and things worked out pretty well otherwise. Perhaps not up to your expectations, but not bad for being sort of out-of-shape. Keep on riding.

When you say your "average speed was not so good" do you mean below what you've comfortably achieved on your training rides or less than what you expected on a hard effort? What was the temperature range - can have a big effect. Were the "climbs", albeit short, steeper than you've experienced?

I am afraid your results might look about the same for the next event in just a month. Do train, pace yourself and do it just for the fun. My advice is to look forward to the spring by starting a plan now. You need to train, focus on your nutrition and lose about 50 lb. For the latter, look to see if something like the "Clean Program" might work for you. If so, do it after the holidays/coldest part of the winter. Afterwards, increase slowly your training and combine it with yoga or pilates 3 times per week to develop a strong core. By early summer, I think you'll be a lean and mean machine!

Thanks everyone. I did enjoy the ride but it was harder than I thought it was going to be. Everyone is right, my main goal now is to lose the weight and put some consistent miles in. I will look into "the clean Program"

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Pretty much agree with most everything written above. It could have just been your "lucky day", or you may have been expecting too much, too soon, on a relatively lumpy course. However,

• it doesn't get that cold in NC in the winter, so unless you are only targeting the MS-150 once a year, or in combination with a couple other summer charity rides, ride through the winter (you may have to carefully pick your days, and ride in the early afternoons, but riding through the winter will help a lot),
• don't wait until after Christmas to start reducing your weight, Start now. All you need do is eat a little less. Smaller helpings, few helpings. I got above 200 just before doing a Blue Ridge Parkway ride, entire length, north to south, 2 years ago. I weigh approx 50 pounds less now as compared to then.

There are several excellent charity rides coming up soon, including a "Gran Fondo" Oct-13 in Yanceyville (you know that is likely to be a bit lumpy), and (probably) Oct-27, the Durham Halloween Habitat ride will use roads north of Durham and Hillsborough. You may not be FAST on those, but they ought to be scenic and fun.

It is not obvious where you live, but since you did the Tanglewood Tour, I'm going to assume that you live somewhere near Winston-Salem / Greensboro, and since this is the LD, Racing and Rando sub-forum, I'll mention that there are several randonneurs that live over that way, and there are a couple 200-k rando routes available for RUSA members. Beware: some of the randos over Triad way are FAST.

PM me if you are interested in some sorta' local rando info.

Thanks. They maybe a little long for me right now but I will look into it.