XChosen

I'm participating in a race tomorrow and I could use some advice. I've only ridden 30 miles once before with many 20 mile rides. Most of the 20 milers I road a mtn bike. I'm now on a new cannondale r1000. I'm considering riding in the 100k tomorrow. The ride is well supported and organized so I feel confident I won't find myself dangling in the wind. I'm paying close attention to what I'm eating and I'm making sure I'm well geared and prepared. I don't care about time just finishing with all my digits. Any advice would be welcome.

R600DuraAce

Don't worry about. Is only a charity ride, not a race. Yes, is not a race. Just ride at your own pace.

DrPete 

+1. It is not a race. Go out there and have fun. There'll be plenty of people to drop for ego boosts along the way.

Pace yourself, take it easy, and just have fun. As soon as you start riding and look at your co-participants, my guess is you'll realize how much it's NOT A RACE.

Did I mention have fun?

XChosen

I think I'm stressing way to much but I can't help it. I've spent this evening checking and rechecking my gear and I'm sure I've eaten the wrong things that will lead me to cramp up and run off into a crowd of unsuspecting children. I've updated my will and told my son I love him....

Why am I doing this again?

DrPete 

Hold that question till the end of the ride.

Pitbull

I did my first metric about a month ago. You'll be fine. And once you've ridden 62 miles, the ONLY next logical step is to find and ride a nice laid-back century. I'll be posting a similar topic to yours on October 6th!!!

I ate sushi before my metric and felt great!

garysol1 

Ill repeat what the others said....This is not a race. Just find your comfort level of speed whether it is 15 or 25mph and enjoy the ride. What's the worst that can happen? Your not going to be left on the side of the road as Vulture food.

XChosen

ok all done I'm alive. I didn't do the 60 do to the approaching storm (and I'm a wuss). The ride was great. I don't think I could of asked for better conditions for my first race. I do have a question though. I road at a much higher sustained HR then normal 183 avg for the 30 miles. I started my timer a little late but I got most of the ride. This was the strongest I have ever felt on the bike. I wasn't very fast overall but I only stopped at the last station, filled my water bottle and took off. I chased down to final riders in the rain. Throughout the ride I kept looking at my HR thinking "you better slow down or your going to blow near the end". I forgot to mention my observed MH is 205. I'm attaching a link to my motionbased results. If some of you could have a look and let me know what they think about the sustained high HR.

https://trail.motionbased.com/trail/e...kValue=1345768

zimbo

Depends really on how old you are and your physiology. Your max heart rate may well be in the 210s or even 220. I would say that the HR spike that shows up in the MB heart rate graph is an anomoly, however.

--Steve

garysol1 

First off..IT WASN'T A RACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The heart rate sure sounds high to me for having an average speed in the 14's. I have to wonder why you were working that hard. Maybe riding a few gears to high or to low.....just a thought.

DrPete 

+1. Out of respect for those who endure the pain of actual racing, please stop calling it a race.

I agree that unless your max HR is 230, an average of 183 seems REALLY high for the speed you were going. I mean, that's a pain-and-misery heart rate that most normal humans can't sustain for very long, and it's usually accompanied by speeds much higher than what you logged.

If you felt at all good after 30 miles at 183, either 1. you're a freak of human physiology, or 2. Something was screwing up your HRM.

zimbo

If he's a 21 year old with a max HR of 210 then an average heart rate of 183 is perhaps on the high side but isn't "freakish" is it?

My max HR is 191 but I've had at least 4 events I've entered (triathlon relay, time trial, crits) where my HR has averaged at or above 180 for 30-40 minutes. Caffeine may have been involved and NO they weren't 30 mile events, but if the OP's max heart rate is 20 points higher than mine it's totally within the realm of possibility.

To the OP... These guys are differentiating between a "RACE" and a "RIDE" because an official bike race is one wherein a winner is declared and prizes/cash are awarded. That's not to take anything away from your individual achievement but in your case you were competing against yourself and not others.

--Steve

XChosen

I stand corrected. It was not a race I wouldn't think of comparing myself to those that actually race. I did however "feel" like I was racing. It was very obvious to me that a hole group of riders could eat me for lunch and ask for desert.

I'm very new to riding and I've only had a road bike for a month, I haven't put more then 120 miles on it yet. The anomoly HR spike was just that for some reason it spiked to 207 for no reason then stopped responding. When it came back it was normal.

I have been reading this forum to help me along and I've learned alot. I'm still pretty confused about todays ride. I "thought" my LT was about 165. I was pretty sure this much effort should have put an end to me early on but it didn't. I felt great through the ride and even now 7+ hours after the ride my legs are tired but nothing to worry about. I've had much worse leg fatigue.

My vital stats as of this morning are 35 years old 5'7" 164lbs with 15% BF. I'm still over weight but I carry alot of upper body muscle.