Wake up call

[maillotpois]

Sometime you need a tough ride to remind you how important off the bikenutrition and especially hydration are to your performance. I am usually a very good water drinker. I will drink 2 large bottles of sparkling water every day (at least 2 - 3 liters total). Well, Saturday after the TE Diablo ride (and granted Em and I only did 17 - 18 miles, but still) I drank a small glass of water at the Mexican restaurant - and then no water the rest of the day that I can recall. I had several glasses of wine at dinner.

The next day was a tough 110 miler on the second half of the Terrible Two course. I could tell my performance was suffering because of lack of proper hydration the day before. I was tired, drank quite a bit more than I might otherwise have to "catch up". I was also very hungry as I have not eaten as much as I usually do for breakfast.

It was just me taking things for granted and being lax. Fortunately, I was able to make it up on the road, but I know I would have been happier and performed better if Ihad been properly fed and hydrated before the ride.

Sometimes I need a kick in the pants to remember the basics. Good that this happened a week before my tough double century coming up. I have a whole week to flood my body with water and good food!

[hirakukibou]

Thanks for the reminder. Now that summer has finally come to the Northeast, I am going to have to pay more attention to hydration and overheating too.

[hermitclub]

I had my wake up call on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. I woke up with a migraine, which I battled in the wee hours of the morning and got to feeling about 70% of normal by 10 am. I called my biking buddy up and we decided to go out at noon. I ate a bowl of cereal with skim milk (I'm on WW) at 9 am and walked the dog. Got on the road about 12:30 and we decided to do a 45 miler at a 15 mph pace.

Here comes the stupid part. I only had one water bottle with me and no protein type bars. I neglected to eat lunch before we started. The ride seemed so easy that I just didn't think I needed to stop for more water and food. About 34 miles into our ride, I felt a bit dizzy and fell down onto my leg at an intersection. My brain just wasn't firing properly due to lack of hydration and food. I wound up with a 3 inch spiral fracture of the subcutaneous fibula about an inch and a half above my left ankel and now I'm out for 6 weeks!!! I am so angry at myself for not eating and drinking along the way. I know better. It doesn't matter how easy the ride seems, my body needs food and water.

It's a hard lesson learned and I have 6 weeks to stew on it before I get back on my bike.

[KSH]

Hermit Club...WOW... what a hard lesson to learn... the HARD way!

I think every single person here has done what you did... but we were fortunate not to injure ourselves because of it.

For me, I have learned that I need to EAT on a ride longer than 30 miles and for ANY ride I do, I have to eat at least 600-800 calories for breakfast.

Being hungry with a growling tummy... on mile 35 of a 50 mile ride is downright miserable. Not to mention, it's near impossible to move forward when you are that hungry.

I hope you heal soon and are back to biking when you are cleared by your Dr.

[hermitclub]

Thanks KSH. It really was the hard way to learn this lesson. The orthopedic specialist I met with today says this will be a six week heal. I get to stay in an aircast vs a fiberglass cast so at least I can shower and feel clean and human. He even said I may be able to go on a stationary bike in 3 weeks. And six weeks puts me at July 8h, so I have a lot of good summer biking days ahead of me yet.

Things could be a hold lot worse. If I don't learn my lesson from this accident, I'll have to give my bike to someone more worthy!

[maillotpois]

Wow Hermit, that is so scary! Don't go giving your bike away - I am sure you learned your lesson. Sometimes it is the shorter rides like that which you just take for granted. But the migraine in the morning - sounds like that was trying to tell you something right there, too.

[Dogmama]

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery! What a way to learn!

To the original poster - I'm wondering if your glasses of wine didn't contribute to your lousy feeling the next day? Doesn't alcohol dehydrate you?

I always try to drink extra the day before big rides. Here in AZ, it's 95 degrees by 8AM and climbing rapidly.

[Nanci]

It's supposed to be 97 for my 200k Saturday. I hate to do it, now that I've had the monkey off my back for so long, but I'm going to ride with my Camelback. Nothing is worse than running out of water.

Nanci

[uk elephant]

And I will try to learn from your mistakes and carry lots and lots of water on my charity ride on sunday. I'm not usually very good at staying hydrated. I forget until it's too late. But it is supposed to be 30C (BF burst out laughing when we saw the weather forecast last night) and I tend to boil at anything above 18C so I will make sure to carry my camelback and a couple of extra bottles and try to remind myself to actually drink some of it. And I will consider this a short test run to see if I can actually survive the aids ride in the CA heat next year.