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On the Night Before a Big Ride I....

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On the Night Before a Big Ride I....

Old 05-17-19, 01:07 PM
  #51  
kevincgove
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I'll just add a few that have helped me.
Remind myself not to stress out if I don't get a great night sleep (I rarely sleep well the night before a big event... I should have been getting my rest the week of the event). Remind myself of the journey/training/experiences that led me to being able to be ready for event and to use those to help me when I have tough moments during the event. Remind myself to just do my best on that day and not stress about the wind/cold,rain, or other challenges that I may keep me from reaching event goals. Remind myself to save some in the tank ...ie don't sprint out of the gate and then blow up at mile XXX. I don't try anything new the night before or during the ride that I haven't already tested/vetted during my training.

Have fun and best of luck on your day.
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Old 05-17-19, 04:25 PM
  #52  
Jim from Boston
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Originally Posted by kevincgove
I'll just add a few that have helped me....

Remind myself to save some in the tank ...ie don't sprint out of the gate and then blow up at mile XXX. I don't try anything new the night before or during the ride that I haven't already tested/vetted during my training.

Have fun and best of luck on your day.
My number one rule on a long ride, especially an organized one, is ride your own ride.
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
A basic advice is I keep in mind during the century is Ride my own pace,” in particular not too fast at the beginning, and ride the entire route at a pace comfortable for me.

Even when I pick up with another rider, I make it clear that’s my rule if our paces are not compatible. Another strategy on charity rides done by myself, is to start early and perhaps be picked up by a group riding at a suitable pace and ask to draft with them.

That adds a kick to my pace, but quite often I fall slightly behind at turning a corner, and its amazing how a slight drop behind can be impossible to catch-up, attesting to the value of drafting.

Also, you might catch-up to a slightly slower rider and draft him/her, and they could reciprocate, synergizing both of you. But always,Ride your own pace.”
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Old 05-27-19, 02:32 AM
  #53  
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Log on to bike forums at 4:24 am because that sleeping thing ain't working?

Grr, and I thought I was prepared. Great short ride Saturday, rest day Sunday, watched the unexpected rain from the exit vestibule of home depot rather than hiding under a bridge. Decided lights were sufficiently charged, rigged my new mirror, froze bottles, made sanwiches...

Cancelled 6:30 alarm but still not getting much before 7. Tried to do a century on no sleep last summer and fell apart early afternoon, memorial day was only supposed to be a metric as a stepping stone from last week's 50...
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Old 05-27-19, 04:33 AM
  #54  
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the people that are gonna do big rides are gonna do big rides, regardless of whether they got a solid 8+ hours of sleep, are perfectly hydrated/fueled or whatnot.
doittoit. there are a million excuses as why not to do the big ride. you figure out pretty quickly that the vast majority of the excuses no do matter and once out on the
big ride, you're happy that you pushed through a lack of sleep, nutrition, life situation, whatever to do said ride. <3 hours of sleep + motivation beats 9 hours of sleep and
conditional motivation every time.
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Old 05-27-19, 05:01 AM
  #55  
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Originally Posted by ooga-booga
the people that are gonna do big rides are gonna do big rides, regardless of whether they got a solid 8+ hours of sleep, are perfectly hydrated/fueled or whatnot.
doittoit. there are a million excuses as why not to do the big ride. you figure out pretty quickly that the vast majority of the excuses no do matter and once out on the
big ride, you're happy that you pushed through a lack of sleep, nutrition, life situation, whatever to do said ride. <3 hours of sleep + motivation beats 9 hours of sleep and
conditional motivation every time.
I've ridden sleep-deprived and driven sleep-deprived. I try to avoid driving like that because I get scary drowsy. Doesn't happen when I'm riding, and I am talking about very long rides. In the summer I like to start especially early to do the hard riding before it gets too hot. That's not really compatible with a long night's sleep.
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Old 05-27-19, 05:06 AM
  #56  
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^dittoed to multiple t's.
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Old 05-27-19, 05:22 AM
  #57  
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Was in bed for around six hours, but never actually slept. Going to ride anyway, but unclear if as much of the day as planned. Friend who was possibly coming along decided he wasn't up to riding today.
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Old 05-27-19, 05:42 AM
  #58  
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A lot of us do the same things, apparently. I prefer to charge all my lights, camera, etc. right after a big ride. I wash my bottles shortly after a ride too. That way the night before is just attaching the gear to the bike, topping off the tires, filling bottles and getting my snacks ready to go in the bag. I check the weather channel the night before, and again in the morning. Checking the weather channel, as soon as this is posted. bye
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Old 05-27-19, 07:20 AM
  #59  
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The night before a big ride, I set out my breakfast and cycling clothing to eliminate all game day decisions.
I leave early, so I'm half asleep.
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Old 05-28-19, 12:32 PM
  #60  
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FWIW got my training metric done Monday. Lack of brain sleep was less an issue than expected, at least the hours of body rest seemed to have helped. Started out with absolutely no power in my legs (maybe as I'd done a moderate ride Saturday) but those eventually warmed up, by the end I was taking breaks more from saddle than legs.

It might be just in my head, but I feel like the fact that the hotter day had me mixing in gatorade powder along with electrolyte tablets almost from the start helped, and also that I packed sandwiches and ate them in halves (rather than cliff bars) through the first half of the ride rather than holding out until a specific food purchase stop helped keep fuel in the tank. I did mess up not taking a second water refill stop when I should have and ended up doing so at a 7-11 before the urban coda even though that was mostly walking up and down a small "how is this even a road?" mountain.

Realized I need to improvise a sun cover for my one frame mounted bottle. I tend to use that one last as its weight counts less than the water on my back, but starting with it frozen didn't help with it getting icky after the refill.

The build up gap between metric and imperial looks huge today... kind of hard to reconcile how I managed it last August, with a desire to try for it in late June when the days are longer.
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Old 06-01-19, 05:21 AM
  #61  
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Success!

Slept promptly. Woke up before alarm and as the weather report towards evening looks marginal decided to try for the train an hour earlier than I thought I could manage. The item I almost forgot was the frame water bottle, but remembered it while waiting for an elevator that took forever. Elevator took another forever and almost made me miss the train but made it, my wheel now nestled between two bikes on the rack and I even have an outlet to not burn battery playing with phone.

Unfortunately this string of success pretty much dictates it has to rain...

(Turns out that outlet is a good thing, I forgot to bring the power bank)

Edit: had a great ride and didn't even get rained on. Suppose there's still a chance between the train station and home but going to be walking in the door and into the shower anyway, so can live with that.

Last edited by UniChris; 06-01-19 at 04:33 PM.
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