Century - not a long time

SteppenHerring

I've just done my first sportive (the 65 mile option on the Burgess Hill Rumble). I would like to get a century in this year - if nothing else to justify to my wife the huge amounts of money I've spent on things made of carbon fibre.

I was looking at the Bike Blenheim 100 miler. The total climb is allegedly 2128m (compare 1378 for Sunday's effort). So it's a fair bit tougher but there is the bailout option of the 60 mile ride.

How important do people think it is to ride at least that distance beforehand? (Yes, I was praying for death on the last 10 miles of the BHR.)

Also energy drinks: I haven't used these before- I go for diluted apple juice with a little salt - or when I reach Burgess Hill and remember my bottles are in the fridge, a couple of 1L bottles of volvic jammed in the bottle cages (glad I haven't upgraded to the bling carbon ones yet). Are they worth it? Is it worth trying them on a long ride before the event to make sure I can handle it?

And finally: why does there have to be a complicated road junction when you've just started a banana?

Any tips/advice welcome. Apart from "lose weight you fat git and drink less beer". I know about those.

andy162

Give the 100 miler a go. Worst case scenario is that you throw the towel in at 60. Take it steady and keep well fuelled. I would go for the energy drink option. They have carbs which you will need plenty of to complete the full route. There are plenty about to try & it comes down to what suits you. I use zipvit & for £3.95 they'll send you a good selection of stuff to try, energy drink, bars, recovery drink. Also included are some caffeine/ energy gels...a good idea if you start to flag a bit as the miles rack up.

What you are talking about doing is a big ask but if you don't try you'll never know. Climbing double the elevation will take it out of you but recover inbetween the climbs and take onboard the fuel you might surprise yourself.

If it all goes tits up, get plenty of long steady rides in over the w***er( can't say the W word just yet) & get stuck in next year.

Good luck.

teagar

Since it's a bit of a venture in the unkown, just make sure you keep the effort you do in the first 100 or so km to a real minimum. It's easy to waste energy when you're feeling good but you pay for those cheques later in the day.

mask of sanity

Don't forget that the 100 mile route has a lot more miles to fit the extra amount of climbing in. So i reckon the two rides are probably similar in terms of the average amount of meters climbed per mile.

+1 for the Zipfit as well. Got myself six packs now! Although I can't say I noticed any difference between using 'proper' isotonic drinks and my home made one. But I would never go for a ride without at least one bottle of isotonic drink. This could have been why you struggled in the last ten miles of the Burgess Hill Rumble as you need to replace salts etc. (as you know doubt know!!).

The most I've done in one day was a pretty flat 80 miles but I felt fine after it so if you can get into a good pace I reckon you'd be able to manage the 100 miles without to much difficulty. Eat and drink little and often to stop yourself bonking.

SteppenHerring

Thanks all. I didn't run out of food on the BHR - I ate all the fig rolls but still had a banana left. Didn't actually bonk until about 2 miles to go (timing). Hard to resist standing up and powering up the early small climbs when you feel good.

Big mistake was trying to go for the gold (4 hours). It looked on after the first big climb but I wore myself out trying to chase it. Finally finished in 4:14 (silver). The Blenheim one I'd like to get under 7 hours. That would make me happy.

Other mistake was dropping the group I joined near the start. Riding with the group was so much easier.