zerotopanmass

I'm a total newcomer to road biking, I have about 500 miles on my bike that I picked up late this summer. This weekend I tackled my longest ride so far - about 45 miles (3hrs 5mins), before this my longest was 35 miles.

At the end of the ride I was a quivering, sloppy mess. Felt like if it had been 1 more mile I would have been calling for a pick-up, tops of my thighs were burning in a really odd way - it was chilly also, high 30s. I didn't feel like that at all after 35 miles, but this ride seemed much hillier.

I was hoping that my friends at BF could take a look at the attached elevation log and let me know if this was something that was maybe a tad ambitious for a beginner, or if I just need to HTFU...

I guess the main thing is I made it, and can still walk the day after.

MrCrassic 

Congrats for extending your distance! I don't know much about grade distributions, so I can't comment. At least you climbed!

If you did a lot of work and had a good workout, then your legs will be either stiff or hurting when you're done. That's a good thing Sometimes, it gets stiffer in the morning, though that doesn't happen to me very often.

Keep at it!

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tekhna

That's a decent ride.

dmb2786

yeah. good ride.love that pain

Sixty Fiver

Must... resist...



If you can still walk the day after then it's all good and it's good to push yourself to see what you are capable of.

Some day you'll be hitting mile 90 and find that you still feel great, sprint all the way home, and not feel to horrid the next day.

For some reason it's the day after the day after I feel the most fragged.

Jakedatc

"For some reason it's the day after the day after I feel the most fragged."

DOMS... Delayed onset muscle soreness.. par for the course for me..

https://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/injuries/a/doms.htm

BeeDee

3K of elevation over 45 miles is a good challenge for a beginner. Congrats. If you climb a 100' per mile or more that is what I consider "Hill Climbing".

Basil Moss

Good one! You're on your way, for sure. If you've done a ride that tired you out, then you've definitely done a good ride, and no doubt next time it'll take an even longer ride to get you as tired. Then you'll start riding with friends who'll race you up hills, to signs and so on, and get tired on a shorter ride, it's all good fun!

umd

The short answer is, given the route and your experience and fitness, yes.

Daytrip

Proper hydration and nutrition make a big difference, especially for longer rides. Make sure you get plenty of water before, during and after your rides, and eat something like raisins, dates, bananas, potatos (before, during and after) to keep your electrolyte levels up. People might say, "what's 45 miles?" but for you, it qualifies as a long ride. The payoff is less pain and more energy.

Congrats, BTW. If you can do 45, you can do 60.

EventServices

Best part of cycling: you HAVE to eat/drink more than a normal person.

Best feeling: having to sit down in the shower.

Best thing about this episode: some day you'll look at 35 miles as a warm-up ride.

MrCrassic 

Look, if you can still walk the next day, you didn't go hard enough.

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MrCrassic 

It's a gift and a curse, unless you don't care about what you eat and take in anything that pleases your fancy.

I have to carry more food than usual because I will get hungry every two to three hours. Though I just had a nice serving of oatmeal for breakfast, a banana for morning snack, then an oat bran muffin as a pre-lunch snack, and I'm feeling fine so far.

I definitely agree at the last one. It's funny to tell people that 40 miles is just your warm up.

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Daytrip

The first time I did more than 80 miles, I concluded at about mile 70 that I better not get off the bike, because if I did, I probably wouldn't be getting back on again. Gotta love the pain.

Paul Barnard

I agree that the importance of hydration and nutrition on a ride of this distance. I had a very similar experience. I had tackled a couple of mid 30 mile rides with no real problems. On a hot summer day I did my first 40+ mile ride. I bonked just like you did. Simply stated, I spent all my fuel. Congrats on a great ride and pushing yourself to the limit!

kudude

you did 45 miles and didn't bother to make it a loop?

triplebutted

Great job! Bet you want to eat a of potato chips huh?

BTW, is that some type of web page that can do that elevation stuff?

Thirstyman

3500 ft in 45 miles is a decent amount of climbing for the distance.

zerotopanmass

Thanks for all the advice/motivating comments, very much appreciated! We were heading to the in-laws for the weekend so I had the wife drop me off in the car about 2/3rds of the way there - much better than sitting in a car for another hour with a whiny 2 year old. I'm guessing hydration was an issue, I had 1 24oz bottle of Gatorade for the ride, I took an electrolyte tablet around the 20 mile mark (while fixing a flat), then ate 1/2 a Powerbar around the 30 mile mark - note to self: Powerbars go rock solid at those temperatures and are almost impossible to eat.

*triplebutted - you can get that elevation data by plugging your route information in Bike Route Toaster:

https://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx

Thanks again for all the info/comments/advice.

umd

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but those sites always far overcalculate elevation gain dur to noise in the underlying data.

triplebutted

That's okay with me. I'm not big on the tech stuff. Even if it is just rough, I'd like to know. Thanks for the link guys!

Booger

Yeah. That ride is nothing to sneeze at, especially given your background.

roy5000x2

Nice ride man! I remember doing 45 mile long rides and being absolutely dead after. Keep on pedaling!

wb416

I have one particular hill that rises 120ft to a plateau. From the 4-Way stop at the bottom to the top measures just over 1/4 of a mile, yet it seriously kicks our butts. We've tried riding other hills in the area to build up, but everything is too rolling with less elevation change.

I figure this isn't much to the hardcore roadies, but this flat-lander has grown annoyed with the hill and would appreciate any tips. Best I've done so far is about 3/4 the way up before gassing.

tombiowami

In general if riding hard and you want to end up relatively recovered the next day, eat a few hundred calories a couple hours before the ride, take in 200-300 calories per hour while riding, and then some protein/carbs right after the ride. A couple hours later get a good meal into you. This will do wonders to help not feel so fragged the next day. It is not such a big deal if you are only riding a couple times a week, but when you get to riding or being active daily then you need to pay more attention.

Electrolytes depend more on how much you are sweating, if I am not really sweating then I just use sports drinks to get them, if it is really hot then I take an additional 1-2 per hour.

I am not an expert so take it for what it's worth but this works for me.

T