First 100 mile-er

mudcow007

afternoon all

well i signed my self up to the help the heros century ride - its a good cause an all that....

but im kinda worried i have never ridden that far

ive done a few 50's & 60's but never 100

when i have done 60's i'm generally knackered/ sleepy, my legs are normally ok

i think my main problem is food, i don't like to eat on rides an gels are rank (i cant get the mental image of its like a mans "baby gravy" in a sachet)

anyone any tips etc?

im told i should start to up my weekly mileage 10 miles or so gradually building up

ride is beginning of June so not long :shock:

rubertoe

I want to do my first 100 this year, so all tips will be appreciated. Am thinking of doing the revolution but doubt i could do B2B 100 odd milers.

pete_s

I did the 100 mile Cotswold Sportive route in October last year. The thing that affected me the most was boredom. I love riding bikes but frick, after 70 miles I just wanted to go and do something else. I entered it on my own so had nobody I knew to start off with but near the end when my mind was starting to drift I tagged on to a little group and it made all the difference. It's not that 100 miles is a far or exhausting distance, but it's a long time to spend on a bike.

Energy wise I was fine filling up on the High5 and food the organisers had put on. I had to force myself to eat because I wasn't particulary hungry. Mostly it was fig rolls and jelly babies - I was more in need of a drink so make sure you have two bottle holders.

With regards to mileage build up I just went and did it with no particular intense training except for commuting and cycling with the local club at the weekend. Which reminds me, make sure you start off at a steady pace! I was encouraged by other riders at the beginning of the ride doing the short routes to go a bit faster than normal when I should've just slowed down. If I were to do it again (which I wouldn't because it was a bit boring) I'd go at about 15mph from the get go instead of about 22mph for the first 40-50 miles which made me conked out by the end. I reckon I would've done it in a shorter time if I'd have paced myself (tbh at 15mph it gives quite a respectable time for 100miles and isn't too difficult to maintain).

Good luck!

mudcow007

cheers pete

there are two of us from my work doing it, start in Wiltshire an end up in Laaarndon

the plan is to try an hover around 15mph to not burn out quickly, it might be hard to not latch onto a group going faster though

im thinking pockets full of jelly babies an jelly beans will see me reet

the_fuggler

mudcow007 wrote:

the plan is to try an hover around 15mph to not burn out quickly, it might be hard to not latch onto a group going faster though

im thinking pockets full of jelly babies an jelly beans will see me reet

That's basically what I did for the Lands End 100 last year. Loads of bananas and flapjacks at each feed stop and plenty of liquid.

Pacing is definitely the key. There were three of us riding and we stuck to a base pace. We were pretty knackered by the end, but it kept us together.

dhope

Did my first/only 100 when doing the Ride Around London sportive last autumn with Wrath Rob and CyclingProp. Ended up as 120 miles, previously I think I'd done about 70 miles. Main thing was food, we stopped a few times, and I had a couple of sarnies each time and kept some flapjack on me as we went. I'm sure I overate but prefer that to bonking.
If you can comfortably do 60 without falling in a heap and legs being sore for days then you'll be fine on 100.

I have my next 100 in a few weeks - Hell of the Ashdown. 110k, but then there's 15 miles to the start and 15 miles back. I've done nowhere near enough. Gulp. But as I've just told you it'll be fine then I guess I should take my own advice and MTFU.

CiB

You'll want something more substantial and less sugary than JBs or sweets or you're looking at 7 hours on sugar rations. Rather than carry stuff to eat (as opposed to nibble on, JB etc ), you'll get more benefit from stopping off at a garage or whatever for a coffee & a sandwich. I believe Wiltshire and Berkshire has shops & garages.

Keep drinking too. Squash for on the move and then water with something like Nuun tabs or some energy powder does the job once you get into the second half of the ride.

cyclingprop

rubertoe wrote:

I want to do my first 100 this year, so all tips will be appreciated. Am thinking of doing the revolution but doubt i could do B2B 100 odd milers.

What DHope says. I'm doing HOTA too and I wasn't planning on riding both ways but based on what you've said I may do now... At least it'll make for a warm up.

vorsprung

I do these sort of long rides all the time, there is no special trick to it. It's just like "the fuggler" said above, pace yourself.

Mind you last time I tried a 100 ( just before new year ) it didn't work out too well but that was just one of those things!

The thing about food is that you just have to try it and see what works for you. I suggest doing a few 50 mile-ish rides and trying different stuff. I recommend frij milkshake

bigmat

Lots of us doing HotA by the sound of it - think its 84 miles for me if I cycle there and back, might look for a diversion to make it a century!

vermin

The internets generally seem to agree that an average 70kg chap, riding at a fair clip, will burn in the region of 1000 calories per hour, so a century might require something in the order of 5000-6000 calories. Each Jelly Baby contains about 20 calories. You're going to need about 250-300 Jelly Babies.

mudcow007

Thanks for all the advice boys an gals....

i reckon i just need to get out on the bike an force my self to eat

do you guys eat on the road or stop, how long do you stop for when eating...im worried about seizing up if you stop for too long

vermin wrote:

The internets generally seem to agree that an average 70kg chap, riding at a fair clip, will burn in the region of 1000 calories per hour, so a century might require something in the order of 5000-6000 calories. Each Jelly Baby contains about 20 calories. You're going to need about 250-300 Jelly Babies.

im heavier than 70kg

im in the regions of 108 :shock:

Corporate Camper

mudcow007 wrote:

gels are rank (i cant get the mental image of its like a mans "baby gravy" in a sachet)

:shock: What flavour do you buy?

the_fuggler

mudcow007 wrote:

Thanks for all the advice boys an gals....

i reckon i just need to get out on the bike an force my self to eat

do you guys eat on the road or stop, how long do you stop for when eating...im worried about seizing up if you stop for too long

vermin wrote:

The internets generally seem to agree that an average 70kg chap, riding at a fair clip, will burn in the region of 1000 calories per hour, so a century might require something in the order of 5000-6000 calories. Each Jelly Baby contains about 20 calories. You're going to need about 250-300 Jelly Babies.

im heavier than 70kg

im in the regions of 108 :shock:

We stopped three times for between 10 and 20 minutes at a time. We kept moving a bit by wandering around and doing a few stretches, but nothing major. This was late October in Cornwall, so it wasn't particularly warm! We didn't have any issues.

I did find that knee warmers were helpful as I could take them off when I didn't need them. Tended to roll them back down when I stopped.

mudcow007

cheers fuggler

The Fuggler wrote:

This was late October in Cornwall, so it wasn't particularly warm! We didn't have any issues.

the ride im doing starts at 2am fingers crossed it will have warmed up a bit by June though

i think i need to set rides up for 40, 50, 60, 70 an 80 every two weeks i reckon

then see how i get on, im guessing its just a case of getting use to sitting on a bike for hours too....

its going to be hard to come up with routes

cheers for the help guys

Kieran_Burns

Corporate Camper wrote:

mudcow007 wrote:

gels are rank (i cant get the mental image of its like a mans "baby gravy" in a sachet)

:shock: What flavour do you buy?

I think that might be my fault.....

viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12863010&hilit=notts

Specifically this post:

Did it!

My first organised ride and my first imperial century. Completely exhausted and massively proud what a great way to spend a Sunday. HUGE thanks to Rob (one of my cycling mates) for stepping up and cycling the 100 mile route with me.

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/71781927

There were some really cool bits in there - the crowds at the end cheering and clapping as we came over the line (got a medal) was great, as was steaming past all the 48 milers as we joined their circuit at the end but the best bit was blasting through several junctions where the traffic had been stopped by Marshalls. One of the downhill ones meant a group of us went through a junction at speed while sweeping round a bend. It was all very Le Tour!

Right at start, there was even a guy controlling the traffic lights to stop all the traffic and let us through without stopping - and the end run: the wrong way down a road and looping 'round a stadium felt like the end of the Olympic marathon!

There were some VERY good riders out on the sportive - one old guy (turned out he was 68) was putting people half his age (and younger!) to shame. I shamelessly took a tow for some miles off him but simply couldn't match the pace he set. While I was there, we passed group after group and he just kept going and going - truly astonishing performance.

A couple of nasty nasty climbs (the one at Cotgrave as we headed to the A46 had a few people walking up it) but some amazing descents - one where I locked the back wheel on a bend at over 30 - bit of a squeaky bum moment that was.

My poor mate Rob has 3 disasters within 3 miles of each other: Crash (took his eye off the road and clipped the kerb), cramp (MAJOR cramp - both legs completely locked up and he was lucky not to topple off) and a spoke snapped.

I suffered with cramping in both thighes and calves towards the end and drank like a fish for 5 miles and had as many energy gels as I could stomach (more on that) and limped home. I need to adjust my saddle, my ars* felt violated and not in a good way by the end.

Things I learned:
You need to slather on the chamois cream - mine had dried up by the end and I felt it
Eat and drink more - yet again I suffered at the end because I didn't keep nibbling and sipping.
Cut your fingernails before fishing around inside tight lycra shorts when going for a pee :shock:
Energy Gels: I now know how it feels to have someone ejaculate inside my mouth.

What a great day

vermin

mudcow007 wrote:

its going to be hard to come up with routes

Meet me at Eureka on Saturday morning. I need to get some big rides in and will be heading out to North Wales most Saturday mornings over the next few months.

Corporate Camper

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Corporate Camper wrote:

mudcow007 wrote:

gels are rank (i cant get the mental image of its like a mans "baby gravy" in a sachet)

:shock: What flavour do you buy?

I think that might be my fault.....

Specifically this post:

Things I learned:
Energy Gels: I now know how it feels to have someone ejaculate inside my mouth.

Oh I see... I saw that at the time and I assumed (like everyone else, I'm sure) that you had obtained all your gels for free by offering "favours" at your LBS.

Ouija

I tend to do 40/50 miles a day, which can go up to the 80's or 100's on the weekends (more so in summer than at the moment, due to the terrible weather) on a heavy hybrid. I'd agree with all of the above, the key is NOT to go fast (it's not a race). Not even if you ride in a group (i don't) or see a cyclist ahead of you and do that thing of wanting to keep pace with them or overtake. Got to get all that nonsense outta your head and just listen to your body. Especially on the hills. No point charging up them, take them a little slower than usual.

It helps with the boredom if you can distract yourself with something. It might be singing a song to yourself in your head or worrying over a problem. Makes no difference what it is as long as you can lose yourself in it. It also helps you 'tune out' and ignore any discomfort or weariness, allowing you to cycle on 'auto pilot'. The benefit of cycling on 'auto pilot' is that by and large you forget about pushing and maintaining this pace or that pace or trying to achieve this checkpoint in 'so and so' time and simply let your body take control, which is often more efficient and allows you to cycle all day long without much effort. You wont win any races this way, but you'll keep on going like the Energizer bunny. If you arrive at your destination with no recollection of the journey then your doing something right.

+1 on whoever said about stopping for coffee and cake (some carbohydrates are helpful too). There's no real need to carry lots of food around with you unless your in the middle of nowhere (which in the UK is pretty hard to find). The only thing you really need to lug around with you is water, and not even that much if it isn't that hot. I usually just carry one bottle of still orange in the summer months and that lasts me the entire ride, safe in the knowledge i can stop and buy more if i really need it. It's Britain, not the Sahara. There's plenty of shops and villages about for refuelling.

I'd also say that, unless it's the middle of summer and boiling hot everywhere, you need to be prepared for different ride conditions. You can go out all dressed for fine weather because it looks nice out your bedroom window and then suddenly find yourself chilled to the bone as altitude and distance from your starting point increases. 100 miles at this time of year will take you through landscape that's as dry as bone, covered in slush/mud/snow, warm and sunny with blue skies, grey and overcast, open and windy to closed and sheltered amongst forests and trees etc. So be prepared.....

jonny_trousers

I've only ever done one ride over 100 miles, and prior to that, I'd only done regular 35 milers and a couple of 50s. The 115 miles was a challenge, but a positive one. Contrary to other advice, I actually found pushing myself to be beneficial: it gave me a focus. High 5 energy gels (taste more like concentrated squash than jizz - or what I assume jizz to taste like) and bananas were my saviour. I ended up riding it alone, and felt strangely lonely at times, but that was no big deal.

Do make sure you are comfy on your bike and in what you wear.

I'm definitely going to sign up for a good few centuries this year.

pitchshifter

I signed up for Wiggle Ups and Downs Epic in Dorking - 95 miles I think. I considered riding there and back but I think 135 miles is pushing it.. It is isn't it?

Never done more than 70 solo before so should be a bit of a challenge.

cyclingprop

mudcow007 wrote:

Thanks for all the advice boys an gals....

i reckon i just need to get out on the bike an force my self to eat

do you guys eat on the road or stop, how long do you stop for when eating...im worried about seizing up if you stop for too long

vermin wrote:

The internets generally seem to agree that an average 70kg chap, riding at a fair clip, will burn in the region of 1000 calories per hour, so a century might require something in the order of 5000-6000 calories. Each Jelly Baby contains about 20 calories. You're going to need about 250-300 Jelly Babies.

im heavier than 70kg

im in the regions of 108 :shock:

Oh to be in the region of 108. :evil:

Corporate Camper

cyclingprop wrote:

mudcow007 wrote:

Thanks for all the advice boys an gals....

i reckon i just need to get out on the bike an force my self to eat

do you guys eat on the road or stop, how long do you stop for when eating...im worried about seizing up if you stop for too long

vermin wrote:

The internets generally seem to agree that an average 70kg chap, riding at a fair clip, will burn in the region of 1000 calories per hour, so a century might require something in the order of 5000-6000 calories. Each Jelly Baby contains about 20 calories. You're going to need about 250-300 Jelly Babies.

im heavier than 70kg

im in the regions of 108 :shock:

Oh to be in the region of 108. :evil:

Even the region 108 lives in is so far over the horizon that I can't see it from here...

clarkey cat

Ride as quickly as possible. The quicker you ride, the quicker you finish, the less chance you have of running out of energy obviously.

notsoblue

If you commute regularly and have done 60 milers without needing to be carried off in an ambulance you'll be fine. I've done a few now and they aren't really a problem, and I'm a relatively big/unfit cyclist.

The first time I did a 100miler I brought all manner of energy bars and flapjacks and gels. There were well stocked feed stops for the ride and I didn't end up eating anything I'd brought myself. In general, if its a well organised sportive you'll be fine for food. I think water is a greater concern. Make sure you keep hydrated, and refill your bottles at every stop.

I did a Bath to London ride last year and while on my own for a bit I teamed up with some guys who were blistering along at 25-26mph. We had a mini chaingang going, but they seemed inexperienced and kept knackering themselves out on the front. I stopped at a feed stop for quite a while waiting for my friends to catch up and passed these guys a bit later on crawling the last 30 miles. So with regards to pace, stick to a pace that you feel is sustainable. You don't want to burn yourself out on hills in the first 40 miles, if you have another 60 to go.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Electrolytes, food and water. Those are the Holy Trinity.

Without electrolytes, your metabolic process will stop. That's A Bad Place to be. Find the SIS drink that agrees with your stomach.

Food: slow release carbs (oats, hence why flapjacks are popular), not fast release sugars (jelly babies). Clif Bars work for me; again, find something that agrees with your stomach.

Water. Pretty obvious.

Set your watch to alert you every (say) 20 or 25 minutes. Each and drink when you are alerted to - mouthful of food plus swig of electrolyte plus swig of water. Don't wait until you feel hungry/thirsty, because the simple fact is that if you wait that long, you're already toast.

Do that, and the rest is as simple as turning the pedals.

il_principe

Lost of people doing the HOTA it seems. I'm hoping to do a recce this weekend.

100 miles isn't actually that bad. I ride centuries fairly regularly. Managed about 7 last year I think, all solo efforts as oppose to organised rides. Trick is to pace yourself, so don't go off to hard and aim for an av speed on the flat that you are comfy with. Keep hydrated and use something more than plain old water. I use Nectar which has carbs and electrolytes. Food wise - I prefer bars, Clif and Mule are both good and easy to chew. I take a gel but only for emergencies, haven't had to use one for ages.

Do stop a few times, but not for too long.

Not sure about the boredom bit, I never get bored on the bike - but will often have music for long rides which helps.

Check the forecast before you go, don't forget that you can be confronted by wildly differing weather over that distance so it helps to know what you can expect (edit - I see someone else has mentioned this). I'd also recommend taking 3 spare inner tubes for a ride of that distance.

Finally make sure you fuel properly beforehand. So that means getting lots of good carbs down your neck in the day or 2 preceding the ride. A good dinner and a good breakfast at least 1 hour before you set off.

rubertoe

HOTA?

Corporate Camper

rubertoe wrote:

HOTA?

Hell Of The Ashdown

Also: The Hell Of Ashdown

Same thing? Dunno.

bunter

If you are like me and fairly dependent on caffeine to get through the day (I drink loads of tea), you may find that you get caffeine withdrawal headaches on a long ride drinking only water/sprts drinks. I drop an electrolyte tablet with caffeine each time I refill my water bottle, which keeps me topped up nicely.

mudcow007

cheers guys

all noted im going to speak to the other guy doing the ride with me today to come up with a plan....

Gracias