Longest ride to date 40 miles...

johnnyc71

I have just completed my longest ride yet, on some rolling hills. Feeling tired now though. Average speed of 12mph - pacing myself. I drank 1500ml of squash - and had a jam sandwich - ened up with an aching gut - not comfortable. Should I start using energy drinks etc?

I also want to build my endurance - and work towards a 100 mile journey. At the moment I normally cycle 70-100 miles per week. Any advice greatly appreciated.

redddraggon

johnnyc71 wrote:

Should I start using energy drinks etc?

Not for a slow 40miler. Maybe for longer distances/higher effort.

johnnyc71

It seemed like a lot of effort - dragging my 250lb frame (not the bike!) over numerous hills - 3241 calories used.

redddraggon

johnnyc71 wrote:

It seemed like a lot of effort - dragging my 250lb frame (not the bike!) over numerous hills - 3241 calories used.

It's a fine line..........you need energy to cycle and avoid the bonk, but if you are cycling for weight loss you don't want to consume too much energy.

You might be already taking in enough energy but you're just not used to cycling the distance - so next ride it might be worth taking more food/energy drink. I'm sure it's just that you're not accustomed to the miles yet.

beverick

3241 calories sounds a bit high to me. One of my regular Sunday runs is a 40 mile run over Holme Moss (with 2,500 of climbing) and Mapmyride shows a 2650 calorie count (+/-).

Regarding drink and nutrition I wouldn't have thought you needed any additional food specifically for the ride - perhaps a couple of bananas either prior to starting or when you get back. Drink may be an issue, especially on a hot day, but 1.5ltr sounds a bit excessive for a 40m ride.

I think the aching gut could be either just stomach muscles reacting to the ride, stitch or possibly a reaction to 1.5ltr or orange and a jam sandwich!

Bob

Anonymous

For me 1.5lts is about right for a 40mile ride....yes, I usually go through 2 x 750ml bottles...mostly my 40 mile jaunts are very hilly....I think the golden rule is eat/drink little but very often...I always feel that I'm dehydrating on the Fred Whitton as the 1st feed is not till Buttermere 52miles up the road and with 2 x 750ml bottles I'm always on the limit....so for me a 750ml of liquid every 20miles is acceptable....and food....again it depends on the route...I can do a 40mile flattish route in 2 hours or so and so not require to much food......But it may take me 3+ hrs if very hilly...and thus you need more food.....

And also your body may take time to adjust for larger distances...so you may start doing 40-50milers requiring more energy...but in tim as your body adapts it get more efficient.

Personally I think the key to longer rides is eating and drinking properly...I never had a clue to start with and would stop and drink loads and eat tons...then I would feel heavy and sometimes even bobk which is a horrendous feeling....but now I constantly sip and nibble at Flapjacks...cake etc.....everyones different...you just need to find what works for you...take more food than you think you need then that way you will have a 'get out of jail card free' if you start to bonk.

Take your time getting to 100miles...runs at that distance require respect...especially if hilly...so get to know your body first...then you might enjoy it rather than having to phone the missus to come and collect you

scapaslow

I would agree that you want to get to the point where you can manage 40m without consuming much if anything apart from water unless you are really making a hard effort.

Perhaps you could try omitting the jam sandwich and using an energy drink in a weak solution or take some dried fruit to munch occasionally? Once you start to do longer rides you'll need to know what your stomach can cope with when exercising.

The general rule is to up the miles gradually by about 10%, so try 44m next time and so on.

Make sure you fuel up well before your longer rides with carbs in your meal the night/morning before and this might reduce the need to eat much on the ride.

I've worked my way this summer from a longest ride of 50m previously to 95m, breaking the metric milestones of 100/150K. It takes time for your body to adjust to doing the greater mileages but once you've done a few 60 milers or more 40 will seem like nothing.

You will need energy drinks for your goal of a 100miler so it would be worth experimenting with energy drinks to see what suits. I find that the further i go the less i want to eat so energy drinks become important.

To give you an idea - My 95miler was a hilly (for me) with 6275ft of climbing done at 15mph avg with 2 sachets of High 5 4:1 in 750ml of water, 1litre of pure apple juice, 1 electrolyte tablet in 500ml of water and 3 cereal bars. I really needed to drink more than i did and never managed to finish the 3rd cereal bar. But instead of stopping to buy more water i just wanted to get home and pushed on. I could have gone round the block a few times to make the magic 100 but i was so knackered i just wanted off the bike asap!

johnnyc71

Thanks for the info - very helpful.

About increasing distances by 10% would that be for single journeys or weekly mileage?

E.g. If all my cycle rides in a week equal 100 miles , I would look to increase that to 110 the following week - with maybe one 44 mile ride thrown in?

Alex_Simmons/RST

beverick wrote:

3241 calories sounds a bit high to me.

Agreed. It would indicate an average power ~ 270 watts for 3.3 hrs. Even though rider is 250 lbs, that is too high a power for an average speed of 12 mph. You'd need to average ~ 20mph for that sort of power / rate of energy production.

Not sure what was being used to estimate energy demand but whatever it is it doesn't work.

johnnyc71

I used my cycle computer and an online calorie checker.

http://www.weightlossresource.com/tools ... tor1_2.cfm

Mettan

johnnyc71 wrote:

I have just completed my longest ride yet, on some rolling hills. Feeling tired now though. Average speed of 12mph - pacing myself. I drank 1500ml of squash - and had a jam sandwich - ened up with an aching gut - not comfortable. Should I start using energy drinks etc?

I also want to build my endurance - and work towards a 100 mile journey. At the moment I normally cycle 70-100 miles per week. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Congrats - that sounds like a good effort - weight-loss in conjunction with increased fitness will help you on longer Hilly rides - 70-100 miles a week will certainly help your fitness improve - whilst not knowing your height etc, at a guess, 250 lbs sounds a hefty amount to be lugging around, particularly on rolling or hilly routes - might be worth looking into some weight loss scenarios? - I lost 2 stone over 9 - 12 months, and with increased fitness through regular riding, the two tend to come together to produce a more able rider.

johnnyc71

Mettan wrote:

johnnyc71 wrote:

I have just completed my longest ride yet, on some rolling hills. Feeling tired now though. Average speed of 12mph - pacing myself. I drank 1500ml of squash - and had a jam sandwich - ened up with an aching gut - not comfortable. Should I start using energy drinks etc?

I also want to build my endurance - and work towards a 100 mile journey. At the moment I normally cycle 70-100 miles per week. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Congrats - that sounds like a good effort - weight-loss in conjunction with increased fitness will help you on longer Hilly rides - 70-100 miles a week will certainly help your fitness improve - whilst not knowing your height etc, at a guess, 250 lbs sounds a hefty amount to be lugging around, particularly on rolling or hilly routes - might be worth looking into some weight loss scenarios? - I lost 2 stone over 9 - 12 months, and with increased fitness through regular riding, the two tend to come together to produce a more able rider.

I'm 6'4" already lost 3 1/2 stone - over 20 months of cycling, but seem to have plateaued at 18 stone. Ideally would like to get to 15 1/2 stone.

AndyManc

I've given up relying on just cycling to get my weight down ,the increased number of miles I cycle has just increased my appetite and I can't stop eating .

I'm not putting on weight but I'm certainly not loosing it either .

My local gym has got a special offer on , £20/month so I'm going for a months intensive training to get things moving in the right direction.

In particular I'll be concentrating on upper body toning , light weight high reps and I'll also be using the cross trainers.

This regime does work , I've done it before but gyms are so boring , it's essential though, once/twice per week in the gym will keep your upper body in shape and keep your metabolic rate at a decent level in turn burning those calories faster.

johnnyc71

Good luck on the gym work Andy - I loath gyms - used to have a £30 monthly direct debit going for Pulsepoint gyms - waste of time, but that was before I cycled on a regular basis.

Infamous

In particular I'll be concentrating on upper body toning , light weight high reps

Don't do it!!! High rep work is rubbish, do the very heavy weights, something that you can't life more than 5-10 times per set.


JohnnyC, have you tried much running? I find that running is a far better fat burning activity than cycling, even only half an hour of it.

AndyManc

Infamous wrote:

In particular I'll be concentrating on upper body toning , light weight high reps

Don't do it!!! High rep work is rubbish, do the very heavy weights, something that you can't life more than 5-10 times per set.


.

Can't do heavy weights ..... I've got a dodgy lower back, light weights/high reps work for toning , I've done it a number of time :roll:

toshmund

Try doing a bit of circuit training/break up your exercise pattern - think your body gets used to the same regime, so this keeps your metabolic rate up. The link might not be the ideal one for you, but does touch on the general philosophy. Which may give you a bit of a pointer.

Homepage includes some "top totty" as well! lol




http://www.menshealth.co.uk/Fitness-&-m ... /216059/v3

Infamous

AndyManc wrote:

Can't do heavy weights ..... I've got a dodgy lower back, light weights/high reps work for toning , I've done it a number of time :roll:

With a bad back you can still do heavy bench press, heavy lat pulldowns (or chin ups) and plenty of heavy isolated leg work. And if you use machines properly you can hit shoulders heavily too.

you might have "done it a number of time" and you probably will be getting stronger, but if you had been doing heavy weights, you would have built twice as much strength/muscle in the same time frame.

AceOnTheLine

Yep, with regards to weight training if it's light enough to do more than 6 reps it's too light!!!

For best weight loss you want to produce as much testosterone as possible, which means working as many compound lifts as possible - squats, deadlifts, lunges, bench press etc. Bearing in mind your bad back you can still do the lifts, just use proper technique, smith machine for squats etc.

Obviously doing any work in the gym is better than not at all! But you can be even more efficient if you work smart as well as hard!!!

Good luck with it all.

Ash