My first fifty

blueangel

I did my first fifty on Saturday. Lovely day for it.

It really hurt and I was really slow. Presumably half a bottle of whisky on Friday night and a 3 am bedtime didn't help matters much.

Job done. Got to be easier next time, right?

Blueangel

spasypaddy

congrats, i did my first one on sunday. its a wonderful feeling getting back in and knowing that you could easily have gone further!

CHRISNOIR

Congrats to both of you! I'm currently trying to increase my mileage towards a fifty! So how do your legs feel the morning after? Suspect I'd struggle to walk...

spasypaddy

i commuted to work this morning... the only difference i had was that i didnt quite have the pace and power off the line. My legs felt fine but then i genuinely believe i could of cycled further yesterday

McBain_v1

Just relish the fact that you did a 50 miler (I presume it was miles and not kilometres).
Due to knee injury at the moment I am limited to about 65 tops - very frustrating, but I am not going to bust a tendon just to prove a point!

Lagavulin

Congrats.

I managed my first 50 back in August. Took me 3hrs 10mins for the 52.4 miles and I remember feeling pretty bad after it.

My next 50+ was 54.6 miles and while I averaged pretty much the same (16.5mph - abysmal, I know :oops:) I felt significantly fresher after it.

I've made two attempts since to bag my first 75 miler and have hit the wall on both ocassions around 60 miles, and that on a good brekkie and a pocket full of fig rolls. :roll:

nom de plum

Lagavulin wrote:

Congrats.

I managed my first 50 back in August. Took me 3hrs 10mins for the 52.4 miles and I remember feeling pretty bad after it.

My next 50+ was 54.6 miles and while I averaged pretty much the same (16.5mph - abysmal, I know :oops:) I felt significantly fresher after it.

3 10 is very respectable for for that distance; especially if its solo. Lots of experienced cyclist would be happy with a work out like that.

beckenham

I did my first 50 during the 2007 L2B. It took bloody ages due to the number of people out. I remember being really nervous the day before thinking that I might not be able to manage it. I've done it again since in around 3 hours and felt fine the next day. I'm trying to get the 100 out of the way but seem to struggle to find enough time. My youngest's sons back at football now so that's Saturday and Sunday mornings taken care of for the next few months :?

I try and do at least 30 miles on either a Saturday or Sunday and manage it easily. I always feel I could do more but have other commitements I guess that the thing to do is to see how much faster I can get the average time up to over the same route.

blueangel

I've done 30 and 40 miles a few times, and felt there was plenty left to come, so I wasn't apprehensive. However, possibly because the first half involved a long steady climb, I was pretty tired by 35 miles.

I found I hadn't quite made the distance at the end of the loop. I had to push on past my house to complete another five miles, and by then my speed was painfully slow, and I just couldn't lift my cadence for more than a minute no matter how hard I tried. My legs were burning and leaden. I was literally swearing.

I had enough fuel and water with me, although I was probably a bit depleted from Friday night already. Serves me right.

On the one hand I was proud that I'd gritted my teeth at the end and finished the task. On the other, I was disapointed that my fitness was so poor that something pretty routine for thousands of cyclists should have been so challenging. Anyway, I've done it, and it's broken that barrier.

Same again next Saturday?

beckenham

blueangel wrote:

I've done 30 and 40 miles a few times, and felt there was plenty left to come, so I wasn't apprehensive. However, possibly because the first half involved a long steady climb, I was pretty tired by 35 miles.

I found I hadn't quite made the distance at the end of the loop. I had to push on past my house to complete another five miles, and by then my speed was painfully slow, and I just couldn't lift my cadence for more than a minute no matter how hard I tried. My legs were burning and leaden. I was literally swearing.

I had enough fuel and water with me, although I was probably a bit depleted from Friday night already. Serves me right.

On the one hand I was proud that I'd gritted my teeth at the end and finished the task. On the other, I was disapointed that my fitness was so poor that something pretty routine for thousands of cyclists should have been so challenging. Anyway, I've done it, and it's broken that barrier.

Same again next Saturday?

Did you over do it a bit early on? I take some food and a couple of bottles of Poweraid, the blue liquid looks great through a clear bottle 8) and that seems to keep me going just fine. Also did you stop at all? Sometimes just a couple of minutes break makes all the difference.

MJDRAGON

Ye it's brilliant when you do your first 50 and i still love it even after my first one! For instance yesterday did 60 miles in 3hours 15mins though i did stop to buy a kit kat and i was attacking some steep and nasty hills with about 5 in total(did one twice). I was really pleased with my ride! KEEP IT UP

beckenham

MJDRAGON wrote:

yesterday did 60 miles in 3hours 15mins though i did stop to buy a kit kat and i was attacking some steep and nasty hills with about 5 in total(did one twice).

That was a good speed, average around 18 mph :shock: How big were the hills?

MJDRAGON

Hills well one was lympe hill which is about 1/3 of a mile long but very steep in parts(averaged about 6 or 7mph up there). The other was about 3/4 but was steep only in 1 or 2 areas( i averaged about 9mph up there and did that twice but not in a row). I did another hill which was no the steepest but still a grind in parts. The last was a long one(about 1mile) which i averaged about 11 or 12 mph for that one.

I felt on quite good form yesterday and it was a good run out for my new bike Which was fabolous!

By my standard the hills were quite big although not the steepest compared to other hills.

beckenham

MJDRAGON wrote:

Hills well one was lympe hill which is about 1/3 of a mile long but very steep in parts(averaged about 6 or 7mph up there). The other was about 3/4 but was steep only in 1 or 2 areas( i averaged about 9mph up there and did that twice but not in a row). I did another hill which was no the steepest but still a grind in parts. The last was a long one(about 1mile) which i averaged about 11 or 12 mph for that one.

I felt on quite good form yesterday and it was a good run out for my new bike Which was fabolous!

By my standard the hills were quite big although not the steepest compared to other hills.

I've got a few near me. I used to try and avoid them but as I've got fitter I now enjoy the challenge. There's one which is about a mile long. The run up to it is all up hill as well. This one gets steeper and steeper as it gets nearer the top. It's out of the saddle in lowest gear and puffing like mad but it's a great feeling once you get to the top

MJDRAGON

Ye i dont think i have any around as bad or GOOD 8) as that!!! good on ya, i love hills too!

benvickery

I was on target for a 3 hour, 50 mile ride on Saturday until my chain snapped at 25 miles!!! In the few months I've been riding my average speed has gone up and I feel so much stronger. I'm looking forward to replacing my old mountain bike with a road bike. Maybe with a new bike and more practice, I'll be able to have an average like Mjdragon.

My goal for next summer is to ride 100 miles.

CHRISNOIR

benvickery - a new bike is always a good idea! I changed to a road-bike earlier this year and it's has really fired my enthusiasm for getting in longer rides - no more dragging myself out of bed, eating, dragging the bike round the same old route. Now I can't wait to get out! Reading this thread has been quite inspiring too.

Still can't bring myself to throw my old MTB out though!

mark 1

Hi,
I wish I could avoid the hills, unfortunately I go out of my back gate and the first 3 miles is up, the road rises from 280m at the back gate to 476m in 3 miles thats around 640 foot, still when you get there the views are pretty good and the road is down hill for a while after that. I,m working on doing a loop which I think is something like thirty miles. I believe its in the route section of the forum, Sennybridge to Trecastle over the mountainand then back round to Sennybridge, I was up on the mountain road tonight but the cloud came down a bit quick, and could only see about 10 foot infront of me :roll:
mark