First Tour this Sunday - what should I expect?

[channlluv]

Hi, all,

My 10-year-old daughter and I are riding in our first 18-mile "fun ride" - part of the Tour of Poway in the north San Diego region of Southern California. It's going to be an easy ride for me, I think. I'm doing three 20-mile rides each week, and have been for a couple of weeks now.

Newbie, I know.

She's ridden 14 miles once, then on our next long training ride, she wrecked at mile 8. That was a little over a week ago. She got scraped up, but wasn't injured badly.

What I'm concerned about is riding with hundreds of other people in close proximity.

The weather should be cool and clear, mid-70s. There will be one aid station at Mile 9, from what I've heard.

Her dad is riding the century with some of his friends, so it's a family event, in a way. (We're sort of separated - it's complicated.)

I'm new to riding. I took it up because it's fun and walking hurts my feet a lot. (I have an appointment with a podiatrist later this month.) I'm pretty big - 245 lbs. I'd hoped that regular riding would make the fat melt off, but it's not happening yet. The only things fitting looser are my bras and my watch.

This time next year, though, look out. I do feel stronger - I can feel actual deltoids, and my legs feel strong.

In the meantime, I want to safely get us through this big group ride. What should I bring with me, if anything? I'm thinking a cooler with ice packs would be a good idea, and bandages, just in case. I don't know what kind of medical personnel will be on site. I've only been riding a few weeks and I've had two big crashes and two or three, well, let's call them less than graceful dismounts. Heh.

Anyway, back to the ride - what will I need to look out for, pack, and so on?

Thank you!

Roxy

[BarbaraAlys]

Wow, I'm impressed with your 10yr old doing this many miles, so many kids these days seem to think that if it is effort it's not worth doing.

I love organized rides. Every one I've done so far had everything I needed supplied for me. Because of that I dont usualy bring anything with me as far as food and drink goes. Now, that does not mean that your ride will be so well supported...I strongly suggest you look at the web site to see how frequent the rest stops are and what is supplied there. There should at the least be cold drinks and some snacks.

Starting in a pack can be daunting. I usually struggle to get started with out anyone inches away from me, so when I'm in a crowd it really is a concern. But, I have yet to hit anyone and yet to fall at the start. Just be very aware of what everyone around you is doing.

As for the weight 'melting away', well.....exersise is a key factor in fitness, but to loose weight you have to consume fewer calories than you burn. I find it really easy to eat more when I'm cycling a lot, partly my mind justifies it and partly all that work makes me hungry.

You are doing your body a great benefit by doing this kind of exersise. When we are overweight for long periods of time (as i have been, so I"m talking about me as much as anyone else here) fat builds up in areas that you don't even see; around your organs, in side your muscles (think of a well marbled steak), places like that. Studies suggest that when we start to do exercise those are the first areas to loose the fat, so you can burn fat with out really seeing the benefit. But, since fat around your organs is one of the key health risks, you are practically saving your own life.

Enjoy the big ride, and let us know how it goes!

Barbara

[Misandal]

Roxy,

Good for you and your daughter! That sounds like it will be lots of fun.

(As for the weight loss, why are the boobs always the first to go???)

Anyway, as far as what you should bring: I always plan for poor support, meaning two full water bottles and, for a relatively short ride, one bar or banana in case I get hungry. Some people do carry some sort of first aid kit in their seat pack - I don't only because I've never encountered a situation where I've needed one. If you have, you might consider doing that.

Hopefully your ride will be well-supported and you'll only need to refill a bottle and grab some grub at the rest stop/aid station. (Just my two cents: make sure you both eat something at the rest stop, even if you don't feel hungry. You don't want to bonk down the road.)

Have fun!

[wildhawk]

Awesome! You are about where I am in my weight loss journey too - you should do fine, but I would make sure that you have water and snacks (Clif bar, energy bar, fruit, etc.) on board. The first aid kit I did have to use on one of my rides - goofy me - I fell off my bike while sitting still - redface - LOL. I carry an teeny little camera case with a few bandaids and a small tube of Neosporin. If there are rest stops, they will probably provide energy drinks and snacks. I would take something just in case. I am so proud of you and your daughter and wish you the best - it does sound like a fun ride - wish I could ride along with you! Make sure you let us know how it goes. You will be doing a century in no time! As far as weight loss, I am losing more inches since I started cycling. I still have to lose about 70 lbs. but I am definately feeling stronger with each ride - I just ignore my scale these days and ride for the sheer joy of it. I also give myself little challenges - like faster sprints - riding against my own time to complete a certain distance, etc. I believe the faster sprints (intervals) is what broke my last diet plateau. Hang in there - it will happen! Hugs!

[Tuckervill]

I did a ride last weekend that had a lot of kids in it, doing the shorter version.

These are some of my concerns, prompted by some of the kids I see on these rides:

1. I'm concerned about whether they're going to hold up for the whole ride, with their seats too far down. Make sure your daughter gets a full leg extension on her downstroke. If her seat is not high enough for this, her quads will be burning within minutes.

2. I'm concerned about whether they might be the source of an accident because they are slower and don't know to stay to the right, especially going uphill. Or, they do not know to hold their line when there are others around, or going around turns.

3. I wonder whether some of them will even enjoy the ride, because they are pedaling so darn fast and not getting anywhere, because they don't know how to shift, or their bikes don't work well, or worse, they're riding a bike with no gears at all.

If none of these things apply, nor lessen her enjoyment of the ride, and she finds it relatively easy to ride 12 miles on the bike she has, then feel free to ignore. But don't ignore number 2. Teach her about staying to the right so others may pass, and holding her line, and general group safety.

I'm sure you will have a great time!

Karen

[HillSlugger]

If you are concerned about the crowd at the start then hold back, let the majority go, and then start out when things have cleared out a bit.

[channlluv]

Wow, I'm impressed with your 10yr old doing this many miles, so many kids these days seem to think that if it is effort it's not worth doing.

Barbara, thank you for saying this. She's an only child, and idolizes her dad, and he's into cycling, so she is, too. She's also a red belt in karate and will be testing for her black belt next year. She gets long term goals. I'm really very proud of her.

Roxy

[TrekTheKaty]

If the ride is labelled a "fun ride" by the event coordinators, then it should be family friendly--especially the shorter distances. I was nervous at my first group ride and considered it a "skills" test. I agree with the advice to hang back. Just like running, people sprint at the beginning trying to get to the front. If you start in the back and take it easy for the first few miles, everyone will calm down. The other advantage of staying to the right, is it is easy to pull off and stop.

PS. Make sure your daughter understand to stop off the side of the right side of road.

Have fun

[channlluv]

Skills test. That's a good tip.

I think we're all ready to go. I've got the water bottles in the cooler, bought some bananas and apples to carry, Bandaids and some baby wipes in case we need to make a pitstop along the way or clean up a wound.

I've just signed the release forms and written out our "in case of emergency" cards that we'll carry in our pockets. That made me kind of nervous. Why am I so nervous? It's just a bike ride, and it's through a populated area. It's not like I'm taking my only child hiking out in the middle of the desert in the dead hot heat of summer or something.

It's just a bike ride. Just a bike ride. Just a bike ride.

Oof.

Roxy

[HillSlugger]

I'm sure it will be a great experience. Please come back and give us a report.

[channlluv]

It was great!

Okay, not all of it, but most of it was great!

The very first hill nearly knocked me out. I got nauseous, even, and that's never happened to me before. It was steep and long, definitely not the bunny slope. I actually had to stop a couple of times to get my breath, and ended up getting off the bike and walking a good distance to the top of the hill. My daughter did, too.

The route was poorly marked. I'm glad I had hand-written the directions as they were given on the Website because I had the street names in my head, and about ten miles in where a group of riders we were following went straight, I knew we had to turn, so we turned, and the whole time I was wondering if the route had been changed, were we going to get lost, would we be found - would they send a search party? Crazy, huh? Soon, though, we caught up with some others and some others caught up with us, so we were feeling better about it all when we got to the aid station.

When we got there they were nearly out of orange slices. I'm so glad you all suggested I bring bananas. We needed them. (The apples didn't fit in the handlebar pack with all the other stuff I was carrying.)

We rode on roads in the bike lane next to some heavy traffic at times. Some roads didn't have any bike path at all. I got behind my daughter - I figured the cars would have to swing way out to avoid me, so they'd for sure miss her.

At the scary busy intersections, we were lucky enough to get behind people who actually knew what they were doing, so I told Danielle to just "follow that biker guy across, just follow him." And she did.

Danielle did great. No whining. Well, not much. When we stopped at the top of a hill to eat our bananas, she said "I'm dying out here. This uphill stuff is killing me!" I asked her to stop using language like that because words have power, and I don't want to her her talking like that. "Say, this is challenging, but we're going to finish and we're going to finish strong instead."

No more whining after that. We tried to stick with other riders as much as possible the rest of the way, and as we were finishing, the people who had done the 60-mile ride were coming in, so we got to ride next to some pretty elite-looking athletes, and I was glad that Danielle had their example to follow as far as hand signals and such at the lights and turns.

It was, indeed, a skills test, and I think we both did really, really well.

I did see two jerseys I'd really like to get. One has Super Grover on it, and the other was hot pink and had a fluffy yellow chick sitting on a bike saddle, with "Biker Chick" written above it.

And next year, we'll go for the 26-mile course, if not the 50.

Woohoo!

Roxy

[HillSlugger]

Congrats! I'm sure you and your daughter are proud of what you've accomplished. Any pictures?