ADSR

On Sunday I'll be doing a 60-mile bike ride that is going to be almost completely flat. I've never ridden even close to that far, and I'd like to know what I should bring, wear, etc. There will be food stops, so I'm not too worried about that. Should I put on my drop bars? Right now I have moustache bars. Should I get some bike shorts? What else can you recommend?

LoRoK

I like my bike shorts, and I wear them for longer rides. I'm usually ok on rides up to around 30 or so without them, but having them just feels nicer. Don't wear underwear under them, or wear jeans over them. I also really, really appreciate jersey pockets, and not having to have a bag or hip pack to bring stuff is great. Bring water, start drinking a lot of water now, have a power bar or two, bring tools/pump. If you don't have hoods on your drops I wouldn't bother putting them on. Wear sunscreen.

i r yo

Bike shorts make a world of difference. Careful though, you'll never want to ride without them.

Take plenty of tools and a couple extra tubes.

bbattle

Ride at a comfortable pace; do not try to hang with the fast crowd. You might be fine for the first ten, twenty miles but it'll cost you later.

Cannot recommend cycling shorts and jerseys enough. And sunscreen.

What kind of pedals/shoes do you have? Stiff soled cycling shoes are the best.

Drop bars recommended if there's going to be a lot of wind. Also recommended because you have more hand positions.

Don't skimp on drinking and eating. Nothing worse than running out of gas with ten, twenty miles to go. Been there; a real bad time.

ADSR

I'm planning on riding in clips/straps with Adidas Sambas. No other option, really, as I don't think I can swing buying some shoes/clipless pedals before Sunday.

I'm assuming padded shorts?

tall&lanky

I did 60 in just basketball shorts with bullhorns and clips+straps and was completely comfortable. Go buy a cheap saddlebag to keep all of your stuff in so you won't have to have anything on you.

tyflip2

ive done 45 miles on a bike path in jeans and a t shirt with 2-3 water breaks along the way. bullhorns and clips and straps as well. it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. as long as you eat a decent meal before, stay hydrated, and keep a steady pace youll be fine!

noriel

I've done 80 milers with my regular setup and mess bag. I ride a fuji track with nitto bulhorns (shellaced) and brooks swift on all my charity rides. The only thing that I've added are a bag up front (like a bento box) for gels and to hold my ride map, a couple of bottle holders, One bottle with water, another bottle with powerade or whatever they're offering at the rest stops. My wrists do tighten up a bit, and my hands do get a little sore, so I may get some thicker gloves and an aerobar for when I start doing brevets. You should be fine with a moustache, especially if you have brake levers.

That's another thing, (if you're riding a charity ride) other riders (who are usually on gearies) will usually not notice that you're riding fixed, so don't bust out any unwarranted or unannounced skids on them. Call out road hazards and cars, let people know you're on their left and try only passing on the left, drink before you're thirsty, eat before you're hungry.

Don't make any new changes without seeing how they affect your setup/comfort. I made the mistake of putting on my new clipless pedals without doing a good ride to test out the cleat placement, and I did a 80 miler the following day. My knees had felt like someone was scraping the back of my patella with a rusty steak knife. Brooks + good chamois shorts + monkey butt cream/powder = no pain. I just research what the ultramarathoners and RAAM riders use - can't go wrong there.

Have fun, and keep it up. I'm a crap runner, so riding a fixed gear on centuries is the closest I can come to a marathon.

LoRoK

You should be fine with clips/straps. I would find that I would have to play around with the tightness of my straps on longer rides, sometimes flipping the pedal over for a while and riding the bottom of the pedal.

Yes to padded shorts. A word about that, though. The chamois (padding) isn't so much made to keep you cushioned. It's function is more to keep you from experiencing chafing and hot spots. So you don't need to get something super thick (I've actually found the thicker ones to be less comfortable at times if the chamois pinches or bunches up). What you want is something smooth with no seams that fits. You'll love it. You can even go crazy and get some chamois butter.

franknstein

Padded shorts and a jersey with pockets.

I don't know how I ever got along without jersey pockets.

You should be fine with the clips and straps. I've done numerous 60 mile rides with clips and straps, and as long as the climbing was kept to a minimum, I was fine.

Follow the advice about not trying to hang with the fast crowd and watch the wind.

kringle

I'd say bib shorts.

boostaddctn

I did a 60 mile ride about 2 weeks ago and wearing bike shorts was way worth it! and I am not usually a fan of wearing a bag on my bike for long rides, so I bought a little bag that strapped to the underside of my seat and I brought my 15mm and 10mm wrench in it, all the hex tools I needed for the bike, 2 spare tubes, and about 4 power gels and I only brought 1 bottle of water (just refill the water @ fastfood joints less weight that way). As for the handle bars, I just used my riser bars, since they are what I am use to riding anyways... good luck on the ride!

dookie

+1.

the gearies won't be equipped for a nutted wheel.

queerpunk

Drink water regularly - a sip every five minutes. If you don't drink for a half hour and then take some huge swigs, it will go right through you. You're also going to need some food and some electrolytes (sugars and salts). For sixty miles, something like a PBJ sandwich, or a couple of cliff bars, will do you well.

I recently did a 65 mile road race with lots of climbing and went through four gel packets, three 22 oz bottles of accelerade and one 22oz bottle of water, but if i were doing the same ride not in a race i'd just use two bottles, maybe refill one or both somewhere along the way.

yeah, use bike shorts. they are your friend. pack light, but bring the tools you'll need. One new tube, a patch kit, a multi tool, a tire lever, and either CO2 or a pocket pump is all you'll really need.

If you're comfortable with moustache bars, use the moustache bars. as a general rule, don't switch gear and equipment right before trying a new type or distance of riding.

pace yourself, ride comfortably. if you are comfortable on your bike, you can ride all day. trust me. especially if it's flat and steady. the hardest part, when you're tired, is accelerating, so if you don't have to deal with that, i think you'll do okay even if you're unsure of your fitness.

have fun!

icyclist 

>One new tube, a patch kit, a multi tool, a tire lever, and either CO2 or a pocket pump is all you'll really need. <

I carry a CO2 cart. and a mini-pump. If the spare tube fails, too, it can sometimes be impossible to find the source of the leak, making the patch kit useless.

blankgen

I'd bring a few gels or energy bars even if you have food stops, it's good to have something just in case. Try to eat and drink according to some kind of schedule because if you wait until you are really hungry to eat you might end up bonking anyway. 250 cal/hour seems to be a number that a lot of people shoot for. Personally I go for 150 cal/hour in the form of power bar drink mix then supplement that with gel to take in enough fuel. Try em before the ride though, you don't want to find out that Gu/power bars/clif bars etc. makes you sick or something.

ianjk

Eat some food and drink some water, keep pedalling. Get out of the saddle for a couple seconds from time to time, you'll be fine.

ADSR

Thanks so much for all the advice, everyone! So far my rigout includes a saddle bag with a tube, patch kit, tire iron, wrench and hex keys. I've also got a watter bottle cage, and i'm going to see about shorts and a pump tomorrow. I think that's about all I'll be able to afford. Update on how it goes on Sunday evening or Monday.

ZiP0082

I did 65 miles with flop & chop bullhorns before, but it was somewhat hilly and my 48x17 gearing at the time was kinda rough (more hills towards the end).

In two weeks I think I'm doing about 50ish, more flat, and I'm gonna try it with risers and 46x17 and see how it goes. For me, while I know multiple hand positions are important, risers feel the most comfortable to me, in terms of shortening the reach a little. The more upright riding position may be me compensating for being on a bike with a pretty tight wheelbase.

I agree with everyone's recommendations on bike shorts and clif bars.

I've heard some people say they don't travel anywhere without a chainbreaker, but I'm not so sure about that one as a complete necessity.

Longfemur

I don't think you need to actively change anything. In fact, doing so at this point might not be a good idea. Go with what you know.

I prefer drop bars myself, but you don't absolutely need them if you can stretch out a bit on the moustache bars when you need to. Stretching out forward is just as effective as dropping down on the drops for the most part (if you're not racing). The one thing that can trip you up is if there's wind, and if you're riding with your handlebars higher than your saddle. That can really catch the wind and make the ride much harder than it needs to be.

Cycling shorts are good. I've ridden lots of miles in jeans, and just about any kind of non-cycling shorts you can think of, but given a choice, bike shorts are definitely more comfortable to ride in.

The main thing will be to pace yourself. Since you don't have any experience at that distance to judge by, you will have to be extra sure not to blow yourself out too early. You may have to endure some mountain bikers "dropping you" along the way if you pace yourself correctly :-)

Weather can change over 60 miles, so you might want to be prepared like for an audax or brevet ride. You can easily find some tips on that by googling for it.

You don't need to get clipless pedals if you're already using toe clips and shoes that you have been comfortable in so far. The last thing you want to do is to experiment with new shoes and clipless pedals on a ride that long. That would be like running a marathon in new shoes.

clink83

This makes absolutely no sense to me. You can set a pair of drop bars up with the exact same reach and height as you can with risers, and have way more hand positions. Why bother with risers in the first place?

carleton

BF Long Distance Cycling sub forum

I'm sure these guys can give you a lot better advice than "I did it no problem...up hill...both ways."

Maybe you can ask the guy that started this thread over there: 101 miles, 1 gear, no coasting

CliftonGK1

While I may not have done a 400k on my fixie, I've done a few metric centuries and I'm heading out on another one tomorrow. I bring my usual seatpack (Topeak Lg Aerowedge) with the following:

2 tubes
2 steel levers
Park GP2 patch kit
spoke wrench
saddle cover (don't want rain on the Brooks)
wallet
phone
keys (which have my Jethro Tule on the ring)
a few gels and a couple Clif Bars

Then I throw my pump and couple pre-measured baggies of Accelerade in my jersey pockets along with a banana or a half a salami and cheese sandwich. I also have 2 bottle cages on all my bikes. Since you're on an organized ride with food and water stops, you don't need to worry about bringing too much in the way of food. Depending on your ride speed, you can be out for upwards of 4 - 5 hours including stops. The general recommendation for long distance riding is 200 - 300 cal/hr, and 1/2 to 1 bottle of water per hour. If you're going to be out for more than 3 hours and really putting forth some heavy effort, you might consider an electrolyte replacement that's better than just Gatorade. Endurolytes have saved me from cramp ups on many a ride. The other good one is NUUN; they're fizzie tablets you dump into your water bottle. I use a combo of the two on my really long (200k and up) rides.

The most important thing aside from hydration/food is to pace yourself. Don't get excited at the start and take off too fast too soon. You'll burn out midway through the ride and be hurting for the last miles. Can't tell you how many times I've seen some carbon fiber and skinsuit guy snicker at my heavy-assed brevet bike at the start of a century ride, and I pass him at the 90 mile mark because he burned himself out too quick. It took me some time to learn to pace myself, to be fair about it. I used to rabbit out fast and then fade away at 85 - 90 miles into a 200k, then barely drag my butt across the line. Slow and steady will get you to the finish in decent shape. The goal is to finish strong; not to finish, fall over and not want to ride your bike for the next 5 days.

ZiP0082

I hear you -- the slight sweep in my risers also brings them in a little tighter. I do agree that drop bars are like flat bars with additional hand positions.

I rode 50 miles today and I was completely exhausted near the end. I went with 3 people on road bikes, and it was very, very hilly. I'll be making some adjustments in the form of a freewheel and a rear brake before I go that route again.

grymg

couple things I would recommend that weren't already mentioned are:

cycling cap underneath helmet, so you can flip the visor down in case the sun is in your eye, it also absorbs sweat
clipless pedals/shoes, smoother power transfer and it doesn't look like you're going to be off the bike much.