| Re: Planning a very long ride - 8 hrs
Tanya wrote:
>Badger_South <Badger@South.net> wrote in message news:<o1ojc05qfqndt3piisbmfg36rrlok6jeg0@4ax.com>. ..
>
>>I'm toying with the idea of doing a long ride this fall, after a summer of
>>400 mile/months, and I'm interested in some ideas as to pacing. Here's
>>something I've been thinking about:
>>
>
>With 400 mile months you should probably be in good shape for a long
>ride.
>
>
>>Ride for three hours, then 30 min rest (and take a shower?), eat, then ride
>>for 2 hours, repeat rest, then ride for an hour, repeat rest, then ride
>>final 2 hours. Does that seem like a good scheme? 3-2-1-2?
>>
>
>I would nix the shower, far too disruptive to the whole idea. I would
>also take shorter rest breaks but perhaps more often. Your body will
>let you know when it wants to rest. Just make sure to eat enough food
>that you aren't hungry.
>
>
>>People who do touring and stuff ride about 8 hours a day for like 2 weeks.
>>'Course they're sightseeing so it's more fun. It would probably require a
>>"support crew" to bring food and change of clothes and stuff. If you were
>>gonna do it how would you break it up?
>>
>
>I did a ride last summer - one 8 hour day (hoping now to try some
>multi-day touring this summer!) I had a start point and a destination
>point I wanted to get to that was about 80 miles away. (I obviously
>didn't spend the whole 8 hours on the bike!) To me, the whole fun was
>doing it solo. I wouldn't worry about bringing changes of clothes etc
>- just wear something with wicking fabric so if you sweat a lot you
>won't be drenched. You can carry your food with you or buy it on the
>road.
>
>My background previous to the ride was mostly short rides (5 mile one
>way commutes) and the odd 1 to 3 hour long fun ride, but really I
>hadn't had much mileage before that ride. I rode on my clunky mountain
>bike with slicks commuter, and had a pannier with a bit of stuff in it
>on the rack (clothes since I was staying overnight at my destination,
>and a bit of fruit and power bars. I stopped to buy food along the way
>although made a mistake at bypassing the last major place to buy
>something and was pretty hungry for the last 20 miles of the ride.
>
>If you don't have a rack/panniers you could get a camelback-style
>water pack that also has a bit of room to stuff a spare shirt (if you
>think you might want one) and a power bar or two. You could also have
>sandwiches etc. in a handlebar bag.
>
>>I plan to start the ride early in the AM, like 5-ish, or first light.
>> o 5:30-8:30
>> o 9:00-11:00
>> o 12:-1
>> o 2-4pm
>>
>
>I started at around 8 a.m. (I'm not a morning person so starting at
>first light would have been torturous). I tried not to stop until
>having gone a decent distance - otherwise too many stops its hard to
>maintain momentum. Though I stopped often enough looking for bathrooms
>with the amount of water I consumed. Anywhere particularly scenic I
>stopped to enjoy the scenery briefly and have a snack. I stopped a bit
>longer where I planned to have lunch but found out when I got there it
>was only a snack bar so had to make do with muffins and fruit, and I
>stopped for maybe half an hour close to the end of my ride just to
>rest my sit bones. (you really don't want to get up again once you've
>done this so don't do it too often) I arrived at the end around 4 pm.
>With less rest stops and a more efficient bike you could do 100 miles
>in about the same time.
>
>My only real gripe with the ride was a lack of hand positions - I just
>had one with flat bars and no bar ends, so I was a bit stiff in the
>shoulders, hands by the end. And I would have a more substantial
>lunch.
>
Hey Tanya
Nice ride report. I am a commuter too, do about 25 kms round trip
daily. Now and then I feel the desire to tune up the body a bit and
take a nice ride. Last Saturday I did a 87 km ride with lots of hills.
It worked out fine. I've been a slug lately, too many life pressures
getting me down maybe. So I took a handful of granola bars, couple
water bottles, rain jacket and poly long johns and hit the blacktop.
The ride was a scenic trip. I must agree with stopping long enough tp
enjoy the scenery! The rain became a bit of a bore, but not bad once I
found a Johnny on the Spot where I could put my longies on. A fruit
stand in the Fraser Valley sold me the most vivid snack of fresh picked
raspberries! Just fabulous..
If you've been riding regularly, it's not hard to now and then
dramatically extend your range harmlessly.
Next week, who knows?
Best , Bernie
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