First Century ride on sun any advice ?

Sportiveman

Hi everyone,
I am doing my first century ride next Sunday 17th Sep , wiggle new forest 100 anybody done this route ? What are the hills like ? I have been doing training all year I have done the 75 mile chiltern classic and the red kite 80 ride but on the 80 mile ride I nearly bonked the last big hill about 73 miles in nearly killed me . What do you guys eat for breakfast and during the day ?

bobmcstuff

If you felt like you were bonking at the end of the 80 miler just dial it back a bit and take it a bit easier, you should get round fine.

Personally I struggle to eat very early in the morning when these things tend to start, I think it's more important to eat well the day before (lots of carbs) and not try to force down a massive breakfast right before you start. I usually just have some porridge and a banana.

During the day I go for a mix of things, I like Soreen and bananas, then a few energy bars and things to mix it up. I try not to have loads of gels, I might have one or two caffeine gels for key points. Try to eat small amounts frequently. Apparently you can only process around 60g of carbs per hour so you could look at what food you want to take and divide it up based on that (remember to take into account carb drinks if you're using them - personally I don't).

Don't make the mistake of having caffeine everything, it makes you feel terrible after a while (or it does me).

Thigh_burn

I think you'll be fine.

I agree you need to think about the day before - particularly re hydration. Keep drinking throughout.

Re breakfast I usually have bircher muesli and a coffee before a big ride. If I then have a few hours until the start, I might have an egg and veggie sandwich an hour before the start.

On the ride, try to eat and drink every 20mins / 30mins. I usually cut up a Clif bars and put them in a bag with a packet of Clif Bloks. Makes it easier to access and eat. Mix it up with some real food, e.g peanut butter sandwiches. Gels are for the last push - but make sure you have water to wash them down.

Sportiveman

Great thanks, what are the carb drinks ? I normally have zero 5 energy drinks I use then fill up with energy drinks at the feed stations , I will try a porridge breakfast to see if that works, also I have noticed after the big rides my stomach is defo not right but can't figure out if it's the energy drinks or the gels that cause this . I am also gonna try soreen as well as my normal fig rolls .this sound ok ?

Sportiveman

Sandwiches to cut into quarters that sounds good , cliff bars are they cereal bars ?

davep1

Sportiveman wrote:

Great thanks, what are the carb drinks ? I normally have zero 5 energy drinks I use then fill up with energy drinks at the feed stations , I will try a porridge breakfast to see if that works, also I have noticed after the big rides my stomach is defo not right but can't figure out if it's the energy drinks or the gels that cause this . I am also gonna try soreen as well as my normal fig rolls .this sound ok ?

I would think it is a bit of both. Try to move away from the sciency stuff and eat more natural food. I find a bit of savoury food tastes fantastic if you have been scoffing sugary stuff for hours. Perhaps have one bottle of plain water for every bottle of energy drink.

Fig rolls are good, as are plain jam sandwiches.

There's an article on Roadcc today about eating on a long ride, but a lot of what has been posted here covers it.

daniel_b

I would just say take it easy, and make sure you have some oomph left for the last 30 miles - for me, I would tend to eat a big bowl of porridge and fruit to give plenty of energy, then take water and an energy drink around that I knew I liked, or get used to the freebie ones that will be dished out at the feeding stations. Bananas and cake are also good for me. I always struggle to eat a lot when out on the rides to be honest.

I've completed the Rattler before, which is likely similar roads, and that was pretty darned flat, so I reckon you'll have a whale of a time - weather permitting.

bobmcstuff

DaveP1 wrote:

Sportiveman wrote:

Great thanks, what are the carb drinks ? I normally have zero 5 energy drinks I use then fill up with energy drinks at the feed stations , I will try a porridge breakfast to see if that works, also I have noticed after the big rides my stomach is defo not right but can't figure out if it's the energy drinks or the gels that cause this . I am also gonna try soreen as well as my normal fig rolls .this sound ok ?

I would think it is a bit of both. Try to move away from the sciency stuff and eat more natural food. I find a bit of savoury food tastes fantastic if you have been scoffing sugary stuff for hours. Perhaps have one bottle of plain water for every bottle of energy drink.

Fig rolls are good, as are plain jam sandwiches.

There's an article on Roadcc today about eating on a long ride, but a lot of what has been posted here covers it.

I think to some extent you might have to accept your insides might be a bit off, whatever you go for it needs to be fairly simple carbohydrates so they are easy to digest and over a long ride it will end up being a fairly large quantity of the stuff too so it's bound to have some impact. So long as you're not doing a Dumoulin.

I usually just use high5 electrolyte tabs (I think this is what OP is referring to) or water rather than sugary drinks. If you look at how much sugar is in the carb drinks and you're stacking gels, bars etc. on top of that and add up how much that comes out to you might find it's rather a lot of carbs. Since you can only process around 60g/hour, if you're taking on a lot more than that* you might find that impacts your bowels.



*surprisingly easy to do if you have, say, a bottle of carb energy drink per hour plus a gel every 20 minutes, which is what the manufacturers seem to recommend.

burnthesheep

For me to do my 1st 100 with 5000ft back in May, this is what I did........

-stepped plan in the months before: a week doing a 40, a 50, a 60, a 75
-during those training rides experimented with nutrition and took good notes, and once something worked I stuck with it
-dial back the pace
-take notes on comfort during training rides: gloves, helmet, glasses, kit. What was annoying, what hurt the most afterwards. Then fix it before-hand.
-day before event I started hydrating well and getting some glycogen built up. No alcohol a couple days before the 100. Need to be pissing clear the day before all day long.
-don't stop TOO long at a stop, grab some refills and an appropriate snack, I didn't stop for more than 4 minutes twice

Worked, for me. It'll be different for you, but also remember to have fun. Chat it up with people.

roubaixmb

Don't experiment with food you've never eaten before. Given you have no time to experiment now I would suggest taking on more of the same than you did when you nearly bonked doing 80 - you may have to suffer a bit with the stomach but it shouldn't be any more severe than you've already experienced. If you get the chance to eat something savoury though do it - I found pork pies to be amazing when I did a century earlier this year. Chances are during a 100 there will be a point where you struggle with something - if so stop, take a short break. A larger number of short breaks is better than one long one, but you've got that figured anyway I think.