rivers

On the 22nd of June, I have my first double century ride. It's 205 miles across the UK, starting on the Isle of Sheppey at sunrise and finishing in Burnham-on-Sea, hopefully by sunset. The ride is called Chase the Sun, as it happens on the longest day of the year, with something like 16 hours and 35 minutes of daylight. And it's unsupported, however, as it's a yearly ride, there are several bike shops, cafes, and pubs along the way who offer unofficial support, as well as friends and family who carry spares and supplies for the riders. I'm not too worried about it being unsupported, as a majority of my rides are, with the exception of the occasional sportive here and there. My longest ride to date is 150 miles, which we completed easily, and i felt like I had still had gas left in the legs by the end of it. At the moment, I'm following the prep I did last year, which basically involved ramping up miles as time went on. As I've been averaging 100+miles a week through the winter this year (and am up to 130ish/week now), I am in a slightly better position than last year. I have 100+ mile rides planned for this month and next month, 150+ planned for May, as well as my normal commuting and weekend rides.
Pacing wise I'm aiming for 14mph average, as that will allow for 2 hours or so of total stops and still finishing at sunset.
So, any hints, tips and tricks for anyone who has done a double century? Anything I'm missing or not thinking about?

srode1

Since you did 150 with gas left in the tank, I would just do the same thing- you got it in the bag!

For me the longer the ride is the more contact points become important as well as bike fit. That's the main reason I put aero bars on my bike for a double, it gives me more relief for position and an additional hand position. If you haven't tried them, that might be an tip worth trying. Personally I keep them spaced a bit wider than most to improve ease of control.

atwl77

Sounds like you already know what you are doing, though just in case you haven't done already, but do compare the elevation profile of your 150-mile ride with this one. Sometimes it's easy to overlook elevation differences and make assumptions on timing and effort based on one ride and improperly project the same performance on another ride. Also might be a good idea to allocate some extra time in your planning (maybe around 45-60 mins) to account for unexpected obstacles like punctures and weather.

rivers

The 150 had more climbing, and bigger climbs overall (8000 ft as opposed to about 7000 ft). It ends in my neck of the woods, and I'm going down Cheddar Gorge instead of up it, with the last 20 miles either downhill or relatively flat. The terrain across the south of England is rolling.

rivers

My aero bars stay on most of the summer to be honest, but handlebar real estate becomes an issue when I need to have my lights as my bars are only 36cm wide. I might pop them in the pocket and swap them out at one of the stops. Thanks for the tip.

Machka 

Keep eating and keep pedalling.

Aim for at least 100 cal/hour. Since most of your ride is in the dark, you might consider a bento bag or a handlebar bag that you can get into easily to access your calories.

srode1

Calorie intake really depends on the pace and the rider. For a double I normally consume about 350 calories / hour.

Machka 

Yes ... hence the word "at least".

From my experience, a person might be able to start well and consume 250 cal/hour, but often toward the end of the ride, the calories drop because we're just not that hungry anymore. But if you can keep a bit coming in, even just 100 cal/hour, it's good.

wipekitty

This is very helpful. In your experience, does it matter what the nutrition content of the calories is - for example, will straight sugar do the trick, or is something more nutritional or a source of protein better?

alias5000

I hacked (bodged?) something for that... Cut a short piece of 1'' PVC pipe (length = internal spacing between aero bars) and attach it in front of the handlebar between both bars. Makes a good mounting point for lights. For attaching it, I just used an old inner tube of approx. double the length. PVC pipe goes inside the tube (centered), tube ends wrap around bars and the light mounting clamp holds together folded-over tube ends on the pvc pipe section. To reduce turning motions, I reinforced with two zip ties.

Machka 

In the beginning, I try for a variety of things. Nice big granola bars with nuts, oatmeal raisin cookies, fruit bars, a banana ... and I'll stop for potato chips, salted almonds, sometimes beef jerky. Somewhere in the middle of the ride I'll try to go for a meal of some sort if I can.

Toward the end of the ride it's jelly beans and gummy whatevers (bears, snakes, etc.). Virtually straight sugar, although some of those gummy candies do have a bit of protein in them - the gelatin, I presume. If it is hot, an iced something is nice.

Around here, we can get these ... they're about 100 calories each, so I might try for 1 or 2 of those at a stop late in a hot ride. They go down very well.

https://www.weis.com.au/products/mango-ice-cream-bar/

Carbonfiberboy 

I use almost entirely maltodextrin and chocolate flavored whey protein as liquid food on doubles, 750 calories/bottle ~15% protein. I carry extra powder in Ziplocs. On rides longer than doubles, I'll add some fat and solid food. One doesn't really need the protein on a double, but it tastes good and makes one feel better. I definitely eat zero fat or foods containing fat on a double or on rides of a similar duration in the mountains. I plan for 250 calories/hour and weigh ~150, though I sometimes have some food powder left over.

I use a 2 liter Camelbak and stop ~every 50 miles to water and refresh my food bottle. I use Hammer Endurolytes to keep my electrolytes in balance, taking enough of them so that I'm just thirsty enough to need to pee about every 50 miles. I also use clip-on aero bars. I grease and carry a little bottle of butt grease for reapplication as necessary. I carry a spare pair of gloves.

150 miles/week works. More's better if possible and doesn't tire one too much. I do more climbing/mile on my training rides than on the event and ride them much harder. I don't normally do a training ride of over 5 hours, 4 is more usual.

rivers

Thanks for this. I'm hoping to be up to 160-170 miles a week by the end of the month, but it will partially be dependent on weather as at the minute we seem to be getting storms with high winds every weekend (I draw the line at anything over 25mph gusts if it's gusty, 35 mph if it's the occasional gust). Towards the last week in March, it will start being light enough for a short extended ride home (25-30 miles), and by mid-April, I'll be upping the extended ride home to around 60 miles. Longer rides on the weekends.
I'm just hoping this summer is more typical of a UK summer temperature wise than last summer. I really don't want to be dealing with 30+ degree temperatures on another long ride