_at the start of the ride, photo by lovely wife
This past sunday, i did my first 100 mile ride and it all started with some chilly rain! I was fairly nervous to begin with never having done more than 50 odd miles in one sitting and the rain added more to the adrenaline. Luckily, the rain ended within 2-3 hours after the start and the sun did come out for the rest of the day. Everything was pretty decent until the 70th mile or so. I had my first major energy crash and i was riding by myself at this point. My riding partner ended being in better shape than me and he was trying to maintain a 16 mile per hour average. Even though i had been eating at most of the rest stops, apparently i didn’t ate enough because when the energy crash came, i was almost delirious and i ate a clif bar as fast as i could. i knew it was too late to ate but i didn’t know what else to do but slow down considerably and munch away at the driest clif bar i ever had. By the time i got to the final rest stop, i was overwhelmingly exhausted. Even though there was only 10 miles left, it was going to be the longest 10 miles ever! Luckily, the food i ate 20-30 miles ago finally kicked in in the last 5 miles and i had a fairly strong finish. I was amazed by how much difference the carbs made in my energy level. At the end of the day, i learned that i need a better saddle and i need to drink and eat more often.
Two days later, I finally get back on the saddle and i did 12 miles around Bay Farm. I felt really good and I am looking forward to an extended ride tomorrow. My goal is to hit 500 miles or so in May! I started geeking out by logging my ride on BikeJournal.com!