TXsailor

I bought my Giant Escape II and went back to riding as much as possible on my birthday July 23. I have been adding miles to my rides gradually getting up to 15-20. Today I decided to try to ride to Nocona (Texas) and back which is a 40 mile trip. I made it over there ok refilled my water bottles and bought a Payday.

I started feeling queasy a few miles into the return ride. A couple of breaks and I was making it but was wearing out. 7 miles from home my back tire picked up a piece of wire. I had a patch kit and pump but decided to make the call of shame and get my wife to pick me up.

To add insult to injury or maybe the other way around I sat down in the shade to wait and sat on a bunch of grass burs. Got them out and moved to a place that I carefully inspected and sat on some more. Needless to say I was standing up when she got there.

After 400 miles I am very happy with my Escape.

IAMAMRA

Tough getting a flat so close to home..I would probably make the call of shame too.

Mr Sinister

I was starting to feel queasy too today, on my ride. I think my stupid @$$ needs to learn to drink more while riding. I had a slight dizzy spell and almost kissed the pavement, when I got off the bike to rest. At that point I drank my second bottle of water and took a 20 minute break. This was 50 miles in. Like I said I need to drink more on my long rides as I do not do metric centuries too often. I ended up taking 2 more breaks on the 17 mile ride home. I would have done the call of shame but nobody was home. :'(

Mr Sinister

Oh and coming up short just gives you something to shoot for the next time out... ( Should I say something to shoot for to someone from Texas?)

10 Wheels

3:30 PM in your area ,it was 100.4 *F Temp...Not a good time to be riding.

KBentley57

Get a heart rate monitor. They are pretty cheap for a basic strap and watch model on Nashbar. You probably just redzoned, unknowingly, and couldn't recover. I use mine to tell me when I'm pushing it to hard on climbs; I've figured out I can keep my HR at 170 comfortably on long sustained climbs and not be dead at the top. The speed at which I go varies with the grade, but for the moment my heart rate is constant, ect.. You heart rate would be different of course, but the concept is the same. It's made me much more effective with training.

TXsailor

I have one and am still learning how to use the info. Mine is usually 150-160 on long hills and sometimes gets to 165-169. I think that right now that's my max. I know I can't do it very long but can sustain 150-155 a long time. It was also 100+ degrees towards the end of my ride. I was drinking quite a bit but I don't think it was enough. When I got home I had lost 4 lbs.

2 wheeler

^^This^^

I'm spoiled, I go riding when it's 68*F and I'm off the road by the time it hits 80*F. But, to be fair, it's going to be winter here soon, so when you guys are riding in comfort I'll be watching it snow or rain and ride my rollers. I lived in Texas for 40 years (Houston) so I know about the seasons.

Be careful, heat related illnesses (heat stroke) is a real possibility.

TXsailor

Maybe I'm lucky I had a flat. I had no intention of quitting until I got home. When my wife picked me up her Yukon said 103. I drank the last of my water waiting for her. I was 3 miles or so from a store where I could have got more water. I really didn't feel right most of the next day. I feel fine now though

When I was younger I worked all day in what ever heat Texas threw at us. Sometimes I forget I am not young anymore and work inside.

nkfrench 

The call of shame is better than going too far over the edge -- or not having the option. Survive and ride another day.

Long rides teach you all sorts of things that you can get away without knowing (or doing something about) on shorter rides.

If you are riding at a high level of intensity you are probably burning a lot of carbs and sweating out a lot of water and electrolytes. Your exposure to sun and weather is longer. Your muscles are more fatigued.

My personal experience is that I can ride about 2 hours 45 minutes at a high heartrate, then everything goes very bad and I end up sitting down roadside crying.

You can bonk on longer rides if you do not eat. All the fat stores in the world won't help if you run out of carbohydrate stores.
It takes a while after you ingest food for the calories to become available. Your digestive tract only wants to process about 250 calories/hour while riding.
A payday is not going to be enough for a hard ride over 3 hours. It has about 100 calories of carbohydrates, the rest from fat (120 calories) and protein.

About those grass burrs - if they are goatsheads they can flat your tires. Avoid riding on unpaved areas and inspect your tires if you do go off-pavement.

MRT2

40 miles is a lot longer than 15 to 20 miles. Build yourself up to comfortably riding 30 miles, and drink more water. I hit the wall last week at mile 35 of what turned out to be a 45 mile ride. I thought that since I had done 60 miles once this season, 40 plus miles would be a piece of cake. It wasn't. I made it, but those last 10, and especially last 5 miles weren't fun.

TXsailor

One thing I am positive about is that I would never have made the progress I have without the advice and encouragement I have received from reading and participating in this forum. I can't believe I am going as far as I am and can see that I still have a lot of progress I can make and feel good about. Thanks Clydes & Athenas!

Null66

33 miles!

FANTASTIC!

Sorry about the flat.
I gotta go with the others noting that heat is dangerous. 103 is dangerous.
It makes riding MUCH harder (so even more of an accomplishment). But also it was a big risk.

Glad you had water, hope you were drinking a lot. I use a Camelback for rides when it is warm and still can't seem to force myself to drink enough.
Please look up how much your "supposed" to drink when riding. I'm sure it will surprise you.

Still 33 is quite a ways, in the heat even more so.

So glad your ok, and even better a lesson learned.

And again CONGRATS!