Newbie
Join Date: Aug 2023
Location: Utah
Posts: 50
Bikes: 1986 Cilo Sport 105, 2012 Scott CR1 Pro, 2011 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp 29er, 2022 Tern GSD, 2022 Tern HSD, Takara Competition, Diamondback Arrival, Benotto Cortina 21...I have a problem
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Lessons Learned from my First Century
Hey All,
I've been cycling for a pretty short period of time (~2 months) and yesterday completed my first 100 mile ride. As I'm a pretty hefty guy (300 lbs), the ride wasn't quick, but the point is I managed to do it. However, learned lots of lessons that I figured I'd share here to get your advice and input on as well as additional stuff to watch out for on my next century.
1) Hydration & Calories: This is my biggest lesson learned, that I need to be more deliberate about how/when I eat and drink. My strategy yesterday was to stop every few hours at a gas station, chug a Gatorade, eat some powdered doughnuts, and be on my way. This presented two problems. First, immediately after chugging a Gatorade I was left feeling bloated and second, the calories were too few/poor quality to actually make much of a difference. On my next ride I need to plan to eat/drink every hour in smaller amounts to keep myself energized and hydrated through the entire ride.
2) Bike Pump: I had a small hand pump that I used to pump up my rear tire (2.1 lesson learned is to check tires before a long ride) and it was an incredible pain to get it to 100 PSI with the little pump. Next time I'm going to bring CO2 cartridges and be done with it. I spent 15 minutes struggling to get the last few PSI in the tire.
3) Clothing: Being new to cycling I've been attempting to do things on the cheap. I cycled with Amazon sourced $40 bibs and $20 jerseys. The jersey was just fine. The bib? Eh, left me wondering if there's something better out there. Going to buy a nice Pearl Izumi and see if it makes a difference. What do you think?
4) Sunscreen: Put it on before you need it. Got fried.
5) Sleeves: My arms were cold in the morning (left at 4 AM) but then it got to the 80's during the daylight hours, so it would have been too hot for a long sleeve jersey. Sleeves would have solved this problem.
6) Saddle: My LBS mocked my broken in Brookes saddle that I had on my road bike and recommended I switch to a different one. Since I'm new I did and it was pure misery. I cursed the LBS employee with the fury of a thousand suns for his recommendation. Should have gone with a known factor vs trying out something new on my long ride.
These were my lessons learned. What else have you learned that can help a noob like me avoid some mistakes in the future? Any thoughts on these?