2nd 100km Ride Coming Up

alistaird

All,

Some help needed, with the bad weather at the beginning of the summer, I didn't start any training for my 100km ride (in mid September) until beginning of July. I then tore a calf muscle and only just got back on the bike so I have a few questions for you more experienced guys:

1. On the same ride last year I got cramp up one of the last hills in both hamstrings, so could do with some advice on drink mixtures etc. I normally just use water so would electrolite help?
2. I am using Fulcrum 3s with GP 4 Seasons so would lighter tyres and/or wheels help? (I need all the help I can get for the hills.
3. I know I need to train as much as possible (and lose some weight!) but any other thoughts would be welcome!

A

daysofspeed

Electrolites are allegedly only really beneficial to supreme athletes according to recent research. That said I prefer the taste of them to plain water - recently tried some Gatorade stuff that Sky apparently use. Was very drinkable and is easy to stow a sachet in a pocket for when you top up the bottles.

I doubt tyres etc will do much for the hills. Just get em done. I struggle on them and can only say they feel awful still but I think I'm doing better at them lately.

I suggest riding a decent distance each weekend and increase accordingly. Eat the odd mouthful of banana/cereal bar and drink often even if you don't feel hungry/thirsty. Nothing worse than running out of fuel IME.

'm saying all this as someone who did their first 100km yesterday!

alistaird

Thanks for the advice. I think less pies and less cake would help more than lighter wheels!!

Eating/drinking little and often is probably also good advice...

A

slowbike

Just train as normal - I rode nearly the 100km a couple of weekends ago with no prep whatsoever (it was a last minute thing) - just been doing normal 10 mile commutes a few times a week ..
Ok - the ride wasn't hilly which helps ... the snake bite didn't ... nor did the lack of cash for the tea stop! Oops! (the ride wasn't meant to be 100km - it was supposed to be 50m - but we got lost ... !)

You'll need to exercise your calf muscle of course ... and ensure you eat/drink enough during the ride.

alistaird

Snakebite... Not thought of that in the water bottle... Was that with or without Blackcurrent?

:-)

A