PedalHard2014

So for the first time in my life, I rode 100 miles on my bike. It was tough. I almost quit after 60 miles because I was riding into the wind. But I stopped, rested and loaded up on food and found my second wind.

Lessons I learned:

-I need a more detailed nutrition plan. I had plenty of food in my road support car, but I felt unfocused as far as how much I was going to eat at each stop.

-Same with the rest. How ofter should I stop and rest? I need to figure that out.

-I need to drive my route and case it out before riding it. I ran into some road construction that I had not anticipated and Google Maps didn't show.

I am sure there is a lot of experience in this forum. Any tips for this Century newbie? Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving all.

mtalinm

Hearty congratulations to you!
That's certainly one way to work up an appetite.
Very nice that you had a support car. One other approach is to take a crisscross route that goes by your house every 20 or 30 miles or so. That way you can stop to eat, pee, even change a jersey if sweaty (though not needed in Nov!)
Wind is the worst! My other advice would be to start 100 miles downwind of where you live so as to avoid the opposition...

wallrat

I've only ridden road for a couple of years but I've done about 10 organized and unorganized centuries. I typically ride 70 miles on weekend group rides so stretching it out isn't a big deal.

I am in the don't over think it camp. Enjoy the freedom. Have 2 to 3k calories worth of food and 2 water bottles. More if you know for certain there are no known water spots. Then just ride. It's only 6 to 7 hours more or less. What's the worst that can happen.

berner

Well done. I've yet to to 100 miles but like you I've found I do best when I pay attention to nutrition. I'm paying much more attention to recovery before and after the ride and still need to step up those efforts.

Johnny Rad

Nice job! It's a big time accomplishment. You earned your turkey dinner.

The details will fall into place for your next big ride ... even so, $it happens to all of us out on the road.

Athens80

Short thoughts on food for long rides:

• about 300 calories per hour
• easy to digest
• real food is okay - gels and other sports foods can become less appetizing over hours
• test those foods during long training rides

Lots of good advice here and in the Endurance forum.

Congratulations!

Bakerb24

congrats on the ride! Like others have said, nutrition is huge. You will need some time to figure out exactly what works for you. I'm a bigger guy so I eat and drink alot while I'm on the bike. My typical plan is to drink one drink every 10 minutes or so which will equate to about 1 bottle per hour. I also rotate clif bars and gu gels at the rate of 1 per hour. That would be one clif bar at 1 hour, 1 GU at 2 hours, 1 clif bar at 3 hours...

Congrats on the big ride. Happy Thanksgiving.

Lanceoldstrong

+ 1 on all this and my own hearty congratulations to a New Centurion.
Also, I suggest Perpetuem from Hammer Nutrition mixed in your bottles to help acheive the 300 calories per hour.

grampa.sjb

Congratulations! Your first century is always memorable! Organized centuries are fun, and you have folks figuring out food and rest stops for you - but a do-it-yourself century is really cool!

As always on any ride, try to keep the first half going into the wind, then cruise home with the wind at your back.

colnago62

For those of you who are tired of Clif Bars and Gu, Alan Lim has a couple of books out with recipes for portable food that are very good. Many of the recipes are based on bacon and rice. It can make the difference for me eating or trying to make it back on empty. During the summer, when I am riding a lot, I find consuming large amounts of the standard portable nutrition gets very bland after a while.

TallTravel

It takes a lot of energy to digest foods while riding. The industry has used the experience from the world's best riders to develop products to provide easily digestible hydration, electrolytes, and carbs, generally combined with water, consumed while riding, and then recovery products after the finish.

Visit a couple of good bike shops and ask them about nutritional products.

itchyjoe

Congrats on your first century---it is a nice feeling of accomplishment and makes ya want to do it again. In addition to the excellent nutrition/hydration advice above, pay attention to electrolyte replacement on hot, sweaty days. I prefer Skratch Labs mix and Nuun tablets but there are lots of other choices out there. Gatorade is too sweet IMO so I don't use it. Some aren't salty sweaters, but if you are, gotta think electrolytes to prevent cramps. Also, train to do some nonstop 50 mile rides: helps get your sit bones tough and build mental endurance plus you learn to stock up with food and eat while riding.

gregf83 

It's not that complicated. Eat carbs that you like. Ride more so nutrition is not so critical. If you're fit nutrition for a century is not a big deal.

StanSeven

If someone reads only one post in this thread, this is the clear winner. There's entirely too much emphasis by posters on eating to do well; it's really all about fitness. Ask the people that finish under five hours what they eat.

Cyclcist11023131

I went seven miles in my first hour in the Tour de Palm Springs. 30 to 50 mile an hour headwinds and up hill. Still finished in 6:22. Thank God, on a circular route headwinds sometimes turn into tailwinds. Just like uphill eventually leads to down hill. Just put your head down and ride.

79pmooney

There's some poor advice for newbies here. StanSeven's "Ask the people that finish under five hours what they eat." for one. The guys in good form and accustomed to those kinds of miles can do much of the ride on energy stored in their muscles. Newbies don't have that privilege. It takes a lot of miles to get there. A newbie going on the food allowance of a seasoned rider is asking for a really bad day. At my peak, I rode 105 miles on two WBs, 1 sandwich and a banana in under 4 hours. (This was years before anyone put "energy" and "bar" into the same sentence.) Someone who has never done more than 50 miles in those 4 hours would never make it following what I ate.

The newcomer has to eat lots and early so that the fuel their body will need is digested and available in plenty of time. Real food (as long as you stick to foods you know work for you) can often work better for newbies than just energy foods. But they have to be consumed early enough to work.

Ben

dandypony

Congrats on your first century!
If I'm riding anything over 75 miles, I have to follow a nutrition and recovery plan. I learned the hard way, (with dehydration, cramping, and miserable rides), that for me, what I eat is critical to how well my ride goes. Maybe super fit people don't have to think like this, but I do. Kudos to those who have the discipline to always be at the top of their game, but between health issues and the CO winter, I shorten my rides to 15-30 miles in the off-season. So Spring training always means managing nutrition and building endurance. I use Skatch, Clif, Honey Stinger, and Gu's for my longer rides and Osmo for my recovery. Complete game changer combo that allows me to successfully ride centuries or challenging fundraisers, (and actually enjoy myself). My LBS helped me get this sorted out.

kflagg 

Congrats on your century! Try riding an organized ride, check out bikeride.com for rides in your area. The company and motivation from other riders is a big plus.

KF

Fastfwd01

Congrats! I squeezed in my first full century before the weather turned here during my first year of getting serious about cycling. There is a fairly lengthy bike path here that I can do laps on to get my longer rides in. I just rode a few more laps than usual (I try to get in a metric as often as possible). It takes a lot of the worry of going cross-country out of the equation I’m sure.

I didn’t think too much about my nutrition honestly. I ate a couple packs of instant oatmeal and a few bananas before my ride and I brought plenty of Cliff bars and Jelly Belly Sport Beans along. I don’t recall exactly how many I consumed. Sure, those Cliff bars aren’t the best thing I’ve eaten, but they do the job. Plus I’m not tempted to eat them around the house. Yuck!

From what I gather you don’t want to rest too long. Just take a break long enough to eat your Cliff bar or whatever and drink some water. Hit the bathroom when needed while staying hydrated, etc.

It might be enjoyable to ride one of the organized centuries next year possibly and let them provide improved nutrition options along the way.

Nachoman

I pedaled zero miles on Thanksgiving Day and I bet I still ate more thanksgiving dinner than you did.

StanSeven

KBen, Ben, Ben, my man. You aren't listening. I didn't say newbies shouldn't eat. I added to Gregs comments about nutrition isn't that complicated if you are fit. Greg said ride more so nutrition is not so critical. I seriously doubt someone who finishes under five hours isn't fit.

The objective is keep working on getting stronger, fitter, and faster and nutrition is learned.

coasting 

StephenH

I eat when I get hungry and drink when I get thirsty. On rando rides, the stops are usually around 30 miles apart, and any resting is done while eating, etc.
Usually, you don't have headwind for more than half the ride. Check the hour-by-hour forecast prior to the ride to see what to expect.
The secret to riding into headwinds is patience. You're just going to have to crank along at 10 or 12 mph for however long it takes. Oh, and big muscles. You should have big muscles.
Sometimes, the wind shifts when you hit the turnaround and you get headwinds both ways. Less common are tailwinds both ways.

79pmooney

Maybe I missed something, but it looked to me that the original poster is probably nowhere near a 5 hour century. "Any tips for this Century newbie?" If he is around eight or more hours, what a 5 hour guy eats just doesn't 1) apply to him and 2) if he limits his intake to those numbers he is asking for trouble.

Next fall, after riding seriously and doing shorter organized rides, yes, you advice is good. But if he prints it out and follows it for a spring century and he gets limited mileage this winter, you have done him no favors. I stand buy my initial post.

Ben

Charlie Foxtrot

I recently noticed that too, why can't tailwinds be more common in all directions?