First sportive/century done. My thoughts

boogi11

Hi all

After all my worrying, it wasn't that bad. Here are my thoughts about the day.(Rutland sportive 109miles. But I did 120, il come to that in a bit

Initially very concerned when I got to the car park, everybody looked very professional ,some people had enough gear to open a small shop, it transpires that the old saying "all the gear and no idea " may be appropriate, as I finished in front of a large number of them, and I'm far from a pro bike rider. So don't get hung up on everybody else

It's been said a hundred times on here, and although I now agree with it 100% I totally ignored it. Go at your own pace and don't chase down packs in front, if you catch them great, if you don't you dont. At the start I though I was wiggo and nearly shot my load within the first ten mins, luckily we calmed down and 50% of the people that went past me were behind me at the end, which is surprising as i did an extra 11 miles

Follow the signs, it clearly said, sign for the junction, another sign after the junction to confirm direction, I new after 1 mile we were going in the wrong direction, took me another 5 to turn around, what a knob, in fairness we did stop and another group,of riders went past us so we presumed we were ok! If you not sure stop, biking an extra 11 miles is demoralising .

Take a good friend with you, I'm packing an extra couple of stone, and really struggled on the hills, my mate stuck by me all the way, he could have left me at any point but didn't, and for that I am thankfull, regardless how many people are doing the event, if you don't take a friend you will be on your own for a long time.

Food stops. Mmmmmmm I need some advice here, I'm not sure what you are meant to eat as I'm not sure how much energy I should be replacing. First stop, half bananna , sausage roll, bit of cake, two energy bars . Same at stops 2 and 3. Also drank 5 pints of water, now I think that is to much drink, but my piss is nearly black , which leaves me to believe its not enough , so advice is welcome.

Take nurofen with you

So, all said and done, 120 miles in 7.5 hrs, this is with food stops deducted, 16mph, I think that's ok for a fat knacker on his first century

♠ChumBucket♠

Well done buddy, sounds like you did a great job there.

I like your comment "all the gear, no idea" I've seen a few out today, should I feel guilty if they are demoralised by me on a £400 mountain bike? :twisted:

hipshot

boogi11 wrote:

. At the start I though I was wiggo and nearly shot my load within the first ten mins

What kind of sportive was this? :shock:

In terms of necessary calorie intake and preventing bonk I would have thought that was quite a lot to eat, even over 7+ hours. 6 energy bars, 3 peices of cake and 3 sausage rolls? Everyone is different of course, but personally I would halve the amount next time, especially if you find you struggle on hills.

Sounds like you had a great ride though.

Peddle Up!

boogi11 wrote:

So, all said and done, 120 miles in 7.5 hrs, this is with food stops deducted, 16mph, I think that's ok for a fat knacker on his first century

That's good going in anyone's book. Well done!

Gizmodo

Peddle Up! wrote:

boogi11 wrote:

So, all said and done, 120 miles in 7.5 hrs, this is with food stops deducted, 16mph, I think that's ok for a fat knacker on his first century

That's good going in anyone's book. Well done!

+1

boogi11

3 more things, be carefully on clip on shoes, walked into the village hall food stop, giving it the big I am, went arse over tit on the wooden floor, thing I've sprained my wrist. If anybody asks a car pulled out in front of me and I went over the handlebars

Arm warmers are the best . I know they get a bad wrap on here , but found them invaluable

And if anybody from wheels on wheels reads this, while the vent was very well organised, the 2 miles of loose gravel across a farm track was stupid, my mate caught a stone and it hit my frame. Not happy, I would have struggled to do it on my mtb