Advice needed before long ride next Sat.

[Sindyeli]

thanks for the posts. I'm surprised to see so much rest recommended. I also talked to a biker today, he said ride the next 3 days, easy for the next 2 and on day 3 make sure to incorporate an easy hill or 2. His explanation for this was that it would rev up my cardiovascular system and have me ready for the big day.
Hmm, not sure what to do, but I'll take a bit of every advice and make up my own cocktail!

[kfergos]

I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you what I've done before long rides:

1. Take the day before off, or ride only very lightly. I like to be completely well rested before a long ride. Plus it gives your buns a chance to get off the saddle, and you can wash your favorite bike clothes to wear for your long ride.
2. Eat lots of carbs the day before, but also make sure to drink a lot, even if it's just water. If your ride is in the morning, eat the previous lunch and dinner carbo-loading; if it's in the afternoon, you'd eat dinner and breakfast carbo-loading, etc. I don't know if eating lots of carbs several days in advance does any real good.
2.a. Eat foods that are familiar to you and that you know won't bother your stomach. Don't experiment the day before your long ride!
3. Eat a BIG bowl of oatmeal (I like it with yogurt, raisins, cinnamon, and brown sugar) on the morning before your ride. Feel full but not agonizingly stuffed. I usually need an hour or so after eating to ride comfortably. A bowl of oatmeal like that will sustain me for 20 miles or more.
4. Bring food with you on your ride that you've eaten before. I always carry 3 or 4 Luna bars for a long ride like that -- I eat at 20 miles, 40 miles, and 60 miles, or whenever I'm hungry. I also carry a banana and lots of water. Eat and drink before you get hungry and thirsty.

On number 4: I can't stress enough the value of eating consistently on a very long ride. I did a 100-mile ride earlier in the summer where I ate sparingly, and it was miserable. I followed that with two 75-mile rides in a row, ate consistently, and felt fabulous. For me a 50-mile ride requires only a few stops along the way, whereas a 70-mile ride is a whole different ballgame. I take a lot more care to be well fed and hydrated on those longer rides (the line for me between long and short is right around 50 miles. 50 isn't too long; 60 is getting there; 70 is definitely long).

[mayanorange]

I haven't done a ride that long yet, but if I may comment as an exercise physiologist/biomechanist, what you don't want to do is a really hard (for you- whether that mean fast/long) bout for about 3-4 days before. Every time you exercise at moderate to hard intensities, you tear muscle fibers. Don't freak, it's natural. Most muscle will repair itself within 3 days, so I'd want to stack the deck to having my muscles fully healed before a high intensity bout. Stretching and low level workouts are good to keep the muscles more adaptable, but you don't want to go into the race with damaged muscles. Some of this damage you won't feel, but I'm sure we all have felt what happens when you decide to overexert yourself with no training specific to whatever it was- the dreaded DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness, aka weekend warrior syndrome). The most likely culprit for causing DOMS is micro-tears in the muscle and the immune response to the tears. But there also maybe be an electrolyte component- so stay hydrated! Good luck!

[indysteel]

Consistent with what Mayanorange said, when I have a big ride, which are almost always on Saturday, Tuesday is the last day that I ride hard. I'll usually do an easy ride on either Wednesday or Thursday (or both), and rest on Friday. Stay hydrated, eat a generous meal the night before. I eat a lot of carbs anyway, so every day is carb loading with me!

Morning of the ride, I drink a big glass of water first thing. Yes, it means more potty breaks, but dehydration usually gets me before hunger does. I then eat a bowl of oatmea and some yogurt with honey. I eat a banana about a half hour before the ride.

I'm making better use of my top tube back for long rides. On my most recent long ride--RAIN--I put snack size bags of cut up pieces of PayDay candy bars and Clif Bloks in the bag and ate them between official stops. The stops at RAIN are every 35 to 40 miles, so having a snack every 15 miles or so really helped my energy level stay constant.

I would also suggest taking a moment at each stop to stretch--especially your hamstrings and low back. Don't stay too long at the stops though. Keep moving!

Good luck with the ride and have fun!

[Smilie]

IndySteel, why payday candy bars? Is it just a personal preference? I too am doing my first Century Ride on Saturday, then another 100 on Sunday. (not meaning to hijack this thread, but my thread I tried to post Monday hasn't been approved or has been lost ) I need all the pointers I can get!

I have been reading a lot, and have found that most important items are to stay hydrated, and eat frequently to keep the energy up. Is there any way to stay comfortable in the saddle the second day? Thanks!

[Zen]

IndySteel, why payday candy bars?

Think about it.
Covered with peanuts and filled with that ooey-gooey rich and chewy sugar.
So if you cut it up into bite sized pieces you get some protein and just enough sugar to keep you going and avoid the sugar crash.

Plus they're just oh so tasty.

[Smilie]

So they are not necessarily better than a protein bar, they just are delish! Haven't had a payday in...can't remember when. Thanks for the info, just trying to learn all I can.

[indysteel]

Think about it.
Covered with peanuts and filled with that ooey-gooey rich and chewy sugar.
So if you cut it up into bite sized pieces you get some protein and just enough sugar to keep you going and avoid the sugar crash.

Plus they're just oh so tasty.

Zen nailed it. I just wanted something that I could easily cut into bite size chunks that had some salt and sugar. They had mini-Paydays at the Horsey Hundred a couple of years ago and they hit the spot.

[kfergos]

Is there any way to stay comfortable in the saddle the second day? Thanks!

The only really good way is time in the saddle -- the more long training rides you do ahead, the less pain you'll have on the ride itself. Training isn't just to get your muscles and cardiovascular system in shape; it also gets the rest of your body used to sitting in this weird position for hours at a time.

That said, some people swear by Butt'r, or other such gooey gels. I'm sure people here can weigh in on those, since I've never actually availed myself of them.