Doing my first major ride Saturday, any tips?
05-25-12, 06:58 AM
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I ride 30 miles a week for work. One weekend my friend asked me if I wanted to do a 50+ mile ride, so I went ahead and did it. If you're just cruising along and not pushing yourself, and you make sure you have something to eat and drink once in awhile, you can basically ride all day.
05-25-12, 07:04 AM
#52
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People are acting like the OP just said he was going to run a marathon, when he hasn't done any running before. This is actually a lot closer to just going on a 15 mile walk. He'll be tired at the end of it but really all you have to do is keep pedaling.
05-25-12, 08:05 AM
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Worse can happen than taking public or cab home. If the muscles are not prepared/toned for something like that muscle pulls/strains/tears can occur. If your respiratory system is not ready for something like that, you can black out(This happened to me a little over 10 years ago). So for a work week it's 5 miles a day average, jumping that up by 82 miles is not safe. If it was something around 350 miles a week avg, it wouldn't be a huge strain.
He's not racing. He's planning to ride 87 miles in 12 hours.
If he follows the basic tenets of distance riding (eat, drink, pace appropriately, and rest) he'll be perfectly fine. And I don't think people who are reasonably healthy pass out from respiratory issues during an event that has, at most, a perceived exertion level of a 3 or 4.
05-25-12, 01:17 PM
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all packed, and stoked for tomorrow. Time constraints and a couple other hitches are leaving me short the bag balm, but I do have the chamois butt'r. I have the padded shorts and I ended up getting a brooks professional and installed it (I know I know). I will likely end up paying for it, but my thin little stock seat which brutalizes my taint on uneven city roads doesn't seem much better.
I'm hoping (and 80% confident) that I will come back confirming the support and countering some of the (albeit well-intended for the most part) nay-sayers. I won't be pushing myself to the point of injury, and I can see the sense in tackling 50k > 65k etc and taking small progressions.
starting bright and early in the morning, gonna have a solid breakfast, and snag some bananas, fresh fruit, power bars and an extra bottle of water (or so) each. Checked off my list of things to bring I mentioned earlier, and added a jersey to the mix. I feel pretty prepared for comfort, sun, water, food, and pacing myself.
I really appreciate all the feedback, both the doubt and the encouragement, it gave me a good idea of what I'm getting into. Hopefully it won't be a smog day because that or an injury is the only thing I foresee cutting my trip short
I'm hoping (and 80% confident) that I will come back confirming the support and countering some of the (albeit well-intended for the most part) nay-sayers. I won't be pushing myself to the point of injury, and I can see the sense in tackling 50k > 65k etc and taking small progressions.
starting bright and early in the morning, gonna have a solid breakfast, and snag some bananas, fresh fruit, power bars and an extra bottle of water (or so) each. Checked off my list of things to bring I mentioned earlier, and added a jersey to the mix. I feel pretty prepared for comfort, sun, water, food, and pacing myself.
I really appreciate all the feedback, both the doubt and the encouragement, it gave me a good idea of what I'm getting into. Hopefully it won't be a smog day because that or an injury is the only thing I foresee cutting my trip short
05-25-12, 01:23 PM
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actually the 141k/87 miles will be supplemented by getting to the start point, which for being anal retentive's sake will round it up to a true century (presuming a true century is 100 miles not kilometers?) plus the trip back to my friend's place
05-25-12, 01:29 PM
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you know how to use chamois butt'r right?
05-25-12, 01:44 PM
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05-25-12, 01:50 PM
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Will you show me how how you butter your chamois Nagrom?
05-25-12, 03:07 PM
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05-25-12, 08:38 PM
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05-25-12, 08:42 PM
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It has what plants crave.
05-26-12, 11:09 PM
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87 miles is easy, as long as you aren't trying to keep up with jdg.
05-27-12, 09:33 AM
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well, time to man up..
only rode 102k, obviously a personal best but I did hit a wall after a few elements came into play, some of which I was warned against:
- [strike]milk[/strike] brooks saddle was a bad idea
- road conditions were brutal, uneven, gravelly, rock strewn, pot-holed etc, not nearly the nice even, level roads of downtown
- distance is one thing but the many ups and downs of the san francisco-like hills were especially taxing after my knees had become quite painful
- clip in shoes were indeed switched out to my runners, as they had my leg slightly turned in at the toe, eventually affecting my knee
- seat height required adjusting after switching shoes, the increased sitbone tenderness over the ride was worsened by wearing my runners for some reason
- the brooks + padded shorts were fine for the nice paved bike path along the lake and humber river, but once I hit the ****e rodes the jackhammering began
- smog, smog, smog, and more smog -- while not an official smog day, we rode parallel to not one but 2 (3?) highways, plus an airport in the 2nd leg of the trip
- oh, and on of my brake levers kept sliding down with weight put on it/substantial road bump, pulling the brake cable on my rear wheel; need to retape and tighten that
- and finally it was a mental game: I was feeling pretty discouraged after my breathing was affected, my knees felt awful, the saddle went from fine to significant problem caliber, and I hit a mental wall, the thought of doing another 70k when we paused at the 90k point was more than I felt was realistic without injuring my knees etc
only rode 102k, obviously a personal best but I did hit a wall after a few elements came into play, some of which I was warned against:
- [strike]milk[/strike] brooks saddle was a bad idea
- road conditions were brutal, uneven, gravelly, rock strewn, pot-holed etc, not nearly the nice even, level roads of downtown
- distance is one thing but the many ups and downs of the san francisco-like hills were especially taxing after my knees had become quite painful
- clip in shoes were indeed switched out to my runners, as they had my leg slightly turned in at the toe, eventually affecting my knee
- seat height required adjusting after switching shoes, the increased sitbone tenderness over the ride was worsened by wearing my runners for some reason
- the brooks + padded shorts were fine for the nice paved bike path along the lake and humber river, but once I hit the ****e rodes the jackhammering began
- smog, smog, smog, and more smog -- while not an official smog day, we rode parallel to not one but 2 (3?) highways, plus an airport in the 2nd leg of the trip
- oh, and on of my brake levers kept sliding down with weight put on it/substantial road bump, pulling the brake cable on my rear wheel; need to retape and tighten that
- and finally it was a mental game: I was feeling pretty discouraged after my breathing was affected, my knees felt awful, the saddle went from fine to significant problem caliber, and I hit a mental wall, the thought of doing another 70k when we paused at the 90k point was more than I felt was realistic without injuring my knees etc