50 Miler!

nickempop
nickempop Posts: 73
edited July 2010 in Road beginners
FINALLY...............

Went for a what I thought would be a quick 40 miles on Sunday but ended up doing my first 50 miles, a distance I thought I would never be able to complete when I first started.
I completed it in 3 hours which I don't think is to shabby :D
I didn't really have any problems for the first fourty but from then on my a*** was very sore, not chaffed but a numb achey feeling, is this the norm on longer rides and will it ease of the more I get used to it?

I've gone from 15stone 12lbs to 13stone and 12lbs and my average speed on rolling roads here in Devon has gone from 12mph to 17-20mph!
So chuffed and so grateful for the previous words of encouragement alot of you gave me on my first post :D

Thanks again all :)

Comments

  • mattward1979
    mattward1979 Posts: 692
    impressive!!!

    50m in 3 hours is commendable as is your weight loss!!

    I wish my success was as profound =(
    exercise.png
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    Good stuff. Next up - your first century. If you were [rightly] chuffed at yourself for doing 50, wait till you knock out 100 in one go. You've still got a bit of July, all of August & September & some of October with decent weather more likely than not to give it a go.
  • skyd0g
    skyd0g Posts: 2,540
    Well done fella! :D

    re: a$$ - poss try some chamois cream, or possibly an upgrade of bibshorts reqd? (although it may just be that your a$$ isn't used to this long in the saddle - also try riding short sections out of the saddle from time to time, to give your a$$ a brief respite).
    Cycling weakly
  • Mettan
    Mettan Posts: 2,103
    Sounds good :D - a charity 100 could be next, or some Sportives - plenty of options - good for motivation.
  • PeeDee
    PeeDee Posts: 88
    Nice one, well done!

    Ironically, harder saddles tend to feel more comfy over long distances than soft squishy ones (for men anyway, the ladies have different problems...). If you have a 'comfort fit' gel filled saddle then trying something less padded might help.
  • nickempop
    nickempop Posts: 73
    I'm now back to the way I was thinking about the 50 with regards to the 100.....think that might be a long way off.....or am I wrong?? :?

    Think it might be my a*** just needs to get used to longer rides as I recently upgraded my bib's to some Assos FI Uno S5 (most expensive purchase for a pair of shorts i've ever made!), and the saddle I am using is a Fizik Aliante which I thought was a pretty good saddle or am I wrong??
  • PeeDee
    PeeDee Posts: 88
    Looks like a good saddle to me. Probably just a case of getting the time in on the saddle to toughen up your but! Another couple of rides and the numb feeling will go away.
  • Suffolkwheels
    Suffolkwheels Posts: 167
    That's an awesome result fella - I'm starting out in a similar boat -hope to lose a load of weight and and doing me first 60 miler in 2 weeks.

    Congrats to ya!
    Giant Rapid 3
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    nickempop wrote:
    I'm now back to the way I was thinking about the 50 with regards to the 100.....think that might be a long way off.....or am I wrong?? :?

    Not necessarily a long way off. The mental battle is half of it. What you could do is work out a nice little circuit of about 22 miles - something easyish but not boring (for me, boring is too flat). You now know you can do it about twice no bother so you should be fine to start a third lap (can alternate direction to make it more interesting). Then, once you've got the third lap, you've done pretty much 70 miles which is a long way nearer to 100 than 50. Because the loop will be smallish, you'll know you can always bail out if you need to (but you won't because you'll have to admit it here!). If later you add another lap, you'll be on 90 miles plus and looking for the remainder to pick up the full 100.

    I just built up and deliberately held of a 100 for a while - so I had no doubts I could do it when I did it. But I do still find setting out on solo 100s sometimes a bit intimidating. Ultimately though, it is just about how long you can stay in the saddle and that isn't as had as you might think.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • anto164
    anto164 Posts: 3,500
    Congrats mate.

    I also did my first 50 a week and ahalf ago, and did another 50mile ride last friday.

    My second time round, i stopped at a cafe to pick up a flapjack and fill up my waterbottle about 30 miles in, and the bit of food did wonders to my energy levels at the very end of the ride, especially as i did a few hard climbs at the beginning, and left some long but reasonably shallow climbs till the end.

    If the weather holds out tomorrow, i may go out for another 50 mile ride :)
  • StanwaySteve62
    StanwaySteve62 Posts: 702
    nice work, I've gone from 19 to 17 stone and did my longesr ride on saturday.
    54miles in 3 hours with a couple of 3 min stops to ease the the RH side inner thigh soreness.
    Did 50 last week with no stops in 3 hours 10 so onwards and upwards for both of us.
  • Cleat Eastwood
    Cleat Eastwood Posts: 7,508
    WEell done.As some one mentioned above once over 50 its all psychological. What people seem to want to do is a huge loop of 50 or more miles. Its far easier to braek it down. If you went from home 15 miles out, 15 back that 30miles and allyou need to dothen is 10 out and back. If someone asked if you could ride 15 miles you'd laugh at them

    SImilarly with a 100 miler, do loops of 20-25, then back to base, something to eat and drink, etc...it soon becomes less of a chore.

    One thing to watch out for on the 100's though is muscle tiredness, it pays as someone mentioned to stop and stretch, and on longer rides you need to be eating an ddrinking regularly during each hour (even if you dont feel like it).

    Well done though chaps splendid achievement.
    The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
    momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.
  • StillGoing
    StillGoing Posts: 5,211
    3 hrs for a 50 is pretty good going. I did my first in around 3hrs 20. I went out last weekend for a long ride after a two week stint of doing very little and suffered for it. My legs are like lead that made me cut the following day short at 18 miles I was so fatigued. So the moral for me if I want to be doing regular 50s, is keep at it otherwise the fitness tails off quickly.
    I ride a bike. Doesn't make me green or a tree hugger. I drive a car too.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Another thing that helped me - most of my road riding, until I got my new road bike (lovely thing it is!!), was on my old tourer. So, when I started doing long rides, I put a small rack bag on the back with a bonkers amount of unneccessary kit - ie too much food, various additional layers of clothing etc. Never used them but I always found it a bit wrong (as a hill walker) to assume the weather would stay constant for the whole day - and I'd rarely walk in the hills without spare layers.

    At the time, the thought that I could go for a hundred mile jaunt in shorts and a short sleeved shirt carrying nothing but a couple of flapjacks, gels and an energy bar in my back pocket, a windproof and armwarmers plus a couple of bottles on the bike seemed a bit unlikely but the rack bag meant I could prove it to myself without the commitment. By the time I got the proper road bike, I new I didn't need the rack bag.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • Rich Hcp
    Rich Hcp Posts: 1,355
    Good result!

    Sounds like a saddle thing, what is good for one man, may not suit another.
    Richard

    Giving it Large
  • Blacktemplar
    Blacktemplar Posts: 713
    Well done - you will be well chuffed on both the time and the weight loss! Makes you feel like a new man, all this exercise.

    Keep it going as the others have said - build it up at your own pace and you'll be doing 100's in no time at all.

    On the saddle front, it's worth checking the level of your perch. I did my first 50 a couple of weeks ago (also in 3hrs dead btw :D ) but was numb as hell by 30 and the last 10 were murder. Turns out my saddle was angled slightly up at the front. The other thing worth considering is a change of saddle. The Fizik Pave that came with my bike is universally loathed on here, so I splashed out on a Selle Italia SLR Gel Flow - rode 60 miles at the weekend and was absolutely fine - no pain, no numbness.
    "Get a bicycle. You won't regret it if you live"
    Mark Twain
  • Wulz
    Wulz Posts: 100
    Did my first 50 on sunday. Ive been doing 30`s and 40`s no probs but learned a valuable lesson on sunday.

    I started sunday by fitting my new Look Keo 2 Max pedals. Next i fitted the cleats to my new sidi laser carbon shoes. ( can you tell its my birthday? :D )

    then headed off with a lad who is severly faster than me to do my first 50. All good up to about 30 then the outside of my left knee kicked off. We had just done the 30 at an average of 22mph so ive got quite a few factors to blame. Had to do the next 20 with the bad knee.

    So lesson learned.....

    Dont do the largest run you have done on new shoes, new cleats, new pedals.
    Dont do the fastest average you have done with new shoes, new cleats, new pedals.
    Dont try to keep up with much, much better riders with new shoes, new cleats, new pedals.

    Silly boy with sore knee has adjusted the cleats so we shall see how it goes next time.
  • rally200
    rally200 Posts: 646
    Rich Hcp wrote:
    Good result!

    Sounds like a saddle thing, what is good for one man, may not suit another.

    +1

    shouldn't be numb after 3 hours

    http://www.specialized.com/specs/spec.jsp?speccode=bodygeometrysaddles
  • Lycra Man
    Lycra Man Posts: 141
    Well done on your first 50. Now you are at that level, you CAN manage your first 100. Just break it down into easy parts - 4 x 25 is what I do. Ride for two hours at 12-13 mph and you have done 25. Stop for a break, only 10 minutes, then do another 2-3 hours and you have done 50. Stop for lunch and repeat in the afternoon. You may be able to do 50 in 3 hours +, but I believe you need to pace yourself a bit to manage 100 miles. Ar least for the first time round.

    That's what I have done.

    A circular route is a good idea in some respects, because you can bail out if need be. I did a straight route - Aylesbuiry to Bristol, so I had little option but to get tjere!

    Just my opinion, of course.

    Lycra Man
    FCN7 - 1 for SPDs = FCN6
  • rc856
    rc856 Posts: 1,144
    Nice one.
    Motivation for me. Making a return to the bike and I'm maxing out at 30mls in 2hrs or under (with a 2 or 3 mile hill in the middle).
    Coming home feeling fine so know I've the energy to push out to 40.
    Might try the shorter loop. It can be hard for me out on my own.
    Out last week with a mate and we had a killer hill. I know I'd have stopped if I'd been on my own!!

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