Originally Posted by
rm -rf
On the few event ride 100 mile days that I've done, I stopped at every rest stop, about 15 miles apart. Food at every stop too.
I've noticed that even stopping for 30 seconds at an overlook on a long climb kind of resets my attitude. it's like a boost in energy and mood.
Don't try to keep up with your group riders if the pace is too high. I like riding along with riders I don't know on these event rides. I try to evaluate how erratic the riders are, though, and keep a distance from those people.
It seems that every time I do 100 miles, I ride for a "long time" and then check the distance on my GPS. 22 miles done! 79 to go! What! How discouraging. But once I get to about 50 miles or so, things settle down and the finish seems doable.
My view...
Stopping - a very personal thing, depends on each 'section'... stop when you NEED to stop, keep them reasonably short, take care of 'nature needs'. In the earliest stops, I receommend keeping any solids intake to fresh fruit- stuff you like, Strawberries and such, banana (put one in the back pocket), NO burritos, or other heavy stuff - digestion puts a heavy load on the general body/system. At a mid-ride stop or when you decide to eat a bit more, keep it to easier digestion stuff like Hard-boiled egg, keep the fats on the v-light side.
I really recommend NOT 'chimping' the bike computer for distance for as long as you can. 'Mileage' noted along the way is always a negative, especially in the 1st 2/3 of a 100 (or long ride)..
attention to your surroundings, other riders, a little interaction with others (not constant chatting) lets the miles flow by faster.
Originally Posted by
koala logs
Another thing not mentioned so far. If you're getting a good draft from the rider(s) in front of you, spend some time riding as upright as possible, hands on the tops and don't even try leaning forward. Just be upright and as relaxed as possible. It will save your neck and shoulders getting sore later on, especially if you're thinking of completing the century with the least amount of stopping as possible. When doing century myself, I only stop once or twice to pee or to buy cheap fruits and vegetables from road-side makeshift stalls.
Pros during a long race would also sit upright often by taking their hands off their handlebars. Because their handlebars are very low, taking your hands off is the only way they can sit upright.
It's good to 'move around' on the bike at times, but 'longterm 'upright'... not what i would do or recommend... Unless I'm riding with others I know and trust, I would NEVER ride so close that real 'drafting' is happening...
if you wanna relax, don;t 'A-Frame' - don;t straightarm the bars, don;t let the shoulders hunch up around the neck/ears. DON'T let the center/Ulnar nerve channel of the palm/wrist be centered on the bars, grip so that the meaty sides of palm and thumb do any support work.
UNless you're 29 years old and do 20,000+ miles a year, many at race pace - what the PROS do is always best weighed relative to what the purpose and affect might be. They rarely ride no-hands in an event, except when they need both hands to do something important. DO PROS make mistakes? you bet - there's evidence in every race, and the consequences are often severe.
A Century is a joy ride, not a race. If you don;t 'enjoy' the 1st one, you'll likely never try again.
Ride On
Yuri
Really, for most, the hardest single part of 100 is the 'butt' time... When you do stop, don;t 'sit' for any length of time, move around lightly, give the butt some recovery time... lightly moving around helps the entire musculature get circulation and 'recovery'.