I failed

[jobob]

I am just now starting to feel better.

Excellent - I'm very glad to hear that.

I have emailed one of the organizers of the ride to find out if they know how many drop-outs they had.

Errr. What if they had only, say, 10% of the riders not finish (just tossing out a number here)? That might make you feel bad all over again. But what if nearly all those non-finishers were doing their very first ride over, say, 50 miles in length, and the people who did finish had done at least one 50+ mile ride prior to that? I seriously doubt they'd have that kind of statistic on hand, but its something to bear in mind if the number comes out lower than you might expect (or hope) to see. Just sayin'.

[TrekTheKaty]

Oh, girlfriend. It was BRUTAL yesterday. I did 24 at 7:00 am and I didn't feel good after. I'm glad you quit before you got heat exhaustion.

If you really want advice for next year, I would try a few more rides beforehand. Maybe 35, 40 and 45 if you have the luxury. I used to use gatorade, but switched to cytomax--has carbs, electrolytes, etc. It really does help with the long, hot rides.

You'll get em next year!

(We do the Trailnet Ride the Rivers Century in October. There's all the MOBike Fed Fall Foliage ride that is shorter. We're thinking of coming down for the Big Dam Bridge ride).

[babynoahsmom]

Where is the Trailnet? I am thinking about doing Big Dam also, but one of the shorter rides. There are a lot of hills on that ride. I rode the bridge last year so I could say I did it before my husband. It is really neat and the bike trails around it are nice too. It will be interesting to see where they plan on parking everyone.

[AnnieBikes]

Three potato chips and 1/10 of a banana has the same sodium chloride and potassium as the endurolytes for way less money!!

You did super and the heat was awful. To continue and chance heat exhaustion was not an option. You definitely did the right thing. That heat will take it out of you so fast.

Keep training, recognize that heat is hard for you, and ride in cooler events!

Way to go to get over 50 miles.

[KathiCville]

You're being WAY too hard on yourself! Sounds to me like you did an amazing job, given the temps and humidity. Revel in what you accomplished under less-than-ideal circumstances. Congrats!

[Tri Girl]

Three potato chips and 1/10 of a banana has the same sodium chloride and potassium as the endurolytes for way less money!!

Hmmm... I did not know that. Good to know!!!!
If bananas didn't give me terrible stomach cramps, I would sooo jump on that (they never used to as a kid, but cause me horrible discomfort now). True, the endurolytes are expensive, but sooooo much more convenient to carry and consume. I just wish I could eat bananas- they are truly natures best fuel!!!

[Nightowl]

The heat and humidity in KS/MO were horrible yesterday. (See my hail/lightening experience in KC, MO yesterday)

TdeC was a 30, 60 or 100 miler. Perhaps you can find comfort in knowing you nearly doubled the 30 milers, and you were wise enough to know when your body was done.

[shootingstar]

Well done, noahsbm! No doubt, you will have more ride stories in future for us.

Bananas are great fuel..but I find it dries out my mouth. I absolutely must have a swig of water or liquid with it to make it work for me on a bike ride.

[denny]

Don't feel too badly. If you look up a post or two you will see "I almost" got to do my first century yesterday but ended up having to take a SAG vehichle back after only 27 or 30 something miles after getting lost, etc! I wish I had got in at least 50 miles because I signed up for 100! You did great finishing 50!!!! I understand your disappointment at not reaching your goal. I think failure is a strong word in this instance, although I agree that "failing" forward can be used to your advantage which we will both do next time anyway!!

Tomorrow i'll have to live down the good natured jabs from my friends about the cute "puppies" that scared me and arriving in style sweat free in an A/C pick up back to the start line.

[Jiffer]

Yes, you prepare for the heat by training in the heat. Shorter distances at a time. Pouring water on your head, and everywhere for that matter, is an awesome way to keep cool. Feels SO good to have even the hot breeze on you as you ride when you are wet. Keep an extra bottle of just water. On longer training rides, plan where you can stop and refill your water bottle. Could be a park with a drinking fountain, a hose ... maybe a McDonalds or Gas Station where you get fountain drinks ... only just fill with water. Or buy bottled water. On an organized ride refill your water bottle at SAG stops and douce yourself while you're at it. Makes a big difference. You might carry two bottles with your sports drink on your bike and a water bottle in your jersey pocket.

I just did a club ride yesterday in hotter weather than I've ridden in all year. Wasn't fun. I did okay, but not nearly as well as I usually do. I lost the group I was with on a hill on the way back and finished the ride by myself, cutting out the last climb. This never happens to me. The heat definitely affected me. It can be mentally depressing, but I have to remind myself how well I did just a week before.

Good for you for teaching your kids it's okay to not reach a goal, but to keep working at achieving it. It's possible you might have been able to finish had you pushed yourself. But you also might have suffered heat exhaustion or heat stroke (are those two different things?!). All you can do is listen to your body the best you can. The more you ride, the better you'll know what your body can handle. Better safe than sorry. I was a spectator at VERY hot L.A. marathon my dh did a few years ago and watched a runner fall over right in front of me. Paramedics came to help him. You could hear sirens all day as runners were continually affected by the heat. You may very well have done the smart thing. You'll learn from this experience and be a better and stronger rider for it.

[TrekTheKaty]

That said, we had one guy on that training ride yesterday who had to bail out about 2/3 rds into the ride. To put it simply, the heat got to him. He is by no stretch of the imagination a quitter, he has done many strenuous bike rides (and run marathons!!) in the past. He had trained well leading up to this ride. But once in a while stuff happens and our bodies don't cooperate the way we want. He was bummed to have to end his ride when he did, but he's also experienced enough to know that sometimes that is the very best option (and at times, the only sane option).

So all I'm saying is, it happens to the best of them. Please don't beat yourself up for not finishing the ride. You'll learn from it, and if you want, you'll do another, and hopefully you'll be better prepared for it and it'll be a breeze, comparatively speaking.

Jobob hit it here. When I used to run, they emphasized training logs. The amount of sleep, resting heart rate, overall diet, stress at work, hydration, breakfast that morning, and food/sports drink consumed during the workout were all factors that could affect a long run. Even a professional athlete may not know exactly what caused a DNF. But we know yours was HEAT/HUMIDITY--but there are other factors we can all work on during training rides. For instance a quick bathroom break and back stretch followed by jelly belly sport beans send me off like a rocket. DH is learning that a 5 minute break once every 2 hours improves my overall speed.

How about you change the title to "learning experience?"

[TrekTheKaty]

Where is the Trailnet? I am thinking about doing Big Dam also, but one of the shorter rides. There are a lot of hills on that ride. I rode the bridge last year so I could say I did it before my husband. It is really neat and the bike trails around it are nice too. It will be interesting to see where they plan on parking everyone.

Trailnet is our local biking awareness group. Their Ride the Rivers century is in St. Louis. (trailnet.org and click and "rides and events.") It's a hilly ride, but my DH, BIL and I made it through last year on our first century. It is a very scenic and fun route. The Big Dam would be our metric training ride.

When I get off your thread, I'll post a ride report for TrailNet's Chain of Rocks Bridge Birthday Bash today.

[Mr. Bloom]

Three Cheers for babynoahsmom! She did 56 miles in horrible conditions!

[Pyannyplayer]

As Claudia said, I was at Tour de Corn as well and it was DANGED HOT and DANGED HUMID!! It hit Missouri earlier this past week and it's been HOT, HOT, HOT! I was lucky (?) in that I've ridden 7 of the last 8 days in this weather, so I was ready for it. I was sweating before I even got on my bike yesterday!

That being said, please don't say you failed! You learned something about yourself and what you might need to do next time you're faced with similar circumstances. I do know that the people I was riding with went through water, electrolytes, gatorade, shotblocks, etc., like they were going out of style. I drank at least 4 bottles of water, one bottle of Powerade, and a couple cookies....and one ear of corn during the ride. I still, after the ride, drank water like there was no tomorrow. It was 100 degrees when I finished at 11:00 a.m.! I heard stories of a couple of people being taken by ambulance because of heat stroke (don't know if that's true), but knowing when to say when, at least in my mind, is important. NEVER risk yourself....ever. It's just not worth it.

Flats are not easy. This ride had one "hill", it was an 18 foot ascend and descend. Yes, that's right, EIGHTEEN feet. Our total change in elevation was 58 feet, we climbed a total of 400 feet (I did the 30 mile ride this year; did the 60 last year; however it's pretty much the same). You pedal on a flat CONSTANTLY or you slow down/stop. Add to the mix the fact that there was NO SHADE on this ride, only cornfields...it made this ride a little tricky.

I live in the Ozarks and my rides typically have 2000 total feet of climbing for a 60 mile ride with a change in elevation of 600 feet. Whether a route is flat or hilly, in my humble opinion, does not matter. They are each hard in their own way.

The nice thing with this ride, though, is the GREAT SAG service and really helpful people. One of my sons and his friend rode the ride and anytime I stopped to wait for them, a SAG wagon was there, asking if we needed help. That was really reassuring.

I think you did just fine! No reason to feel bad or anything at all!

Training....hhmmmm...that's a good question. I would do a few longer rides just for mileage sake, and the tough thing - probably the toughest thing - about a flat ride is no break. You pedal and pedal and pedal and then pedal some more. You don't get to ZOOM downhill and get a breeze and a little of a breather.

You did GREAT! Enjoy what you accomplished!

Lorie

[Zen]

Heh.

I did a ride this weekend and I did not fail. Nor did I do the amount of miles I intended but i kind of knew that I wouldn't since I was woefully undertrained.

I had a great time, though.

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