First 30 Mile Event Ride-What I Need to Know

[Velocivixen]

It's going to be cloudy and in the 60's. Maybe partly sunny. 30 miles won't be a big deal, but it's my first "organized ride". I do Portland Sunday Parkways but they're more meandering loops of about 7 or 8 miles. I don't worry about myself, but about other riders who are idiots!
I know about pacing myself and use a training computer (Polar FT40) at least for running races. I know not to go too fast in the beginning if I want to finish strong at the end. As I said, my friend is much slower and we're going to stop and take photos, etc. along the way as appropriate. I have a Trek FX 7.3 and I really wish I had my road bike by now. I'm trying to convince DH to finance it for me and I will repay him. If I didn't already have a bike he'd probably buy me one, but since I don't really need another bike it's up to me to pay for it. Anyway, that's an entirely different story.

[jlnc]

Let us know how your ride goes VeloV! I finished my first 25 mile charity ride this morning. It was so much fun! I was nervous about the heat but made sure i drank the whole time, and I took a good rest at the halfway point. Last quarter of the ride was uphill and in the full sun, but I made it! So glad I did it. I hope you have fun on your 30 miler today!

[Velocivixen]

UPDATE: It poured rain! Thank goodness I had waterproof (yes, they were) over my biking shorts, then a tech tee shirt, a thermal cycling jacket, then a PI Barrier cycling jacket. My feet, hands, face and hair were soaking wet most of the time. It rained, we had a 10 mph or so headwind, sometimes a "side wind" when the rain was coming down horizontally, and sometimes but not often a tailwind. There were what I call long, slow rolling hills that went "uphill" if that makes sense. I have NEVER ridden 30 miles and I have not practiced hills except a few very short steeper ones around here once in awhile. At mile 16 there was food- dave's killer bread peanut butter & jelly half sandwiches, watermelon, gatorade, strawberry shortcake, boiled eggs, etc. They also had breakfast, and gourmet food for our "dinner" with a band.
In the beginning I think I tried to go too fast up the first loooong rolling hill AND into a headwind and I was almost crying, I just got off and walked. I was so disgusted with myself. My 62 year old friend who's been off her bikes for a few years, just kept peddling and she was 10 minutes ahead of me the entire time. She was riding a heavy hybrid, only had clipless pedals. My DH stayed back with me and it took 3 hours of actual riding to ride 30 miles. Let's just say that many folks who signed up for the 68 & 100 mile rides quit after 35 or 40. The weather was bad.

[jlnc]

Ugh, sorry it was rainy and windy, but kudos to you for sticking with it. I'm not sure I would have even attempted it if it were pouring!

[Velocivixen]

Continued: I meant to say waterproof rain pants. They are the REI women's generic waterproof pants and I can say that they kept me dry.
At the end of the ride there was a moderately steep hill back to the Oregon Garden and I was hellbent on not having to walk. I was in gears 2 (front)& 1(rear) and I focused my gaze about 5 feet in front of my front tire and kept peddling. I finally had to shift into 2 & 3 because I guess I'm not a "spinner". As I reached the summit up into the garden's parking lot I was screaming going "WHOOOOHOOOO-I DID IT!" and was in tears. People were smiling and saying "Good Job". My HRM said I burned around 1500 calories, and they fed us salmon, risotto salad with goat cheese, chicken, salad, whole wheat rolls, cake, free beer (I don't drink but was tempted). I don't know if I'd do this kind of ride again. Some places had no shoulder with 6' gullys on the side so if you fell it was a long way down. Big trucks occasionally speeding by were scary.
I would definitely want a road bike for my next long ride.
Also, bought MKL "Lambda" pedals and they ARE very slick in rain. My feet slid off of them more than once and I was very p*ssed about this. I can't return them, so I guess they'll be my dry weather pedals.
Thanks for all your support. Although I did eat too much at the stop and I had indigestion as I rode on (I'm guessing all the blood was going to my legs).
What should I expect tomorrow in the way of soreness? I've taken tylenon and have been drinking tons of water to clear away the lactic acid so my muscles won't be sore.

[Bike Writer]

VV, you make us proud to persevere in the rain and wind and finish. Some times we build things up in our head to be a certain way and when it does not materalize that way we get frustrated and dissapointed, including being dissapointed in ourself, which I am sure, is why you felt like crying at one point. That tugged at my heart as we have all been there at some point and suffered near defeat, but you came back to overcome that defeat and finish the course.

Bully for you!

If you reread through your thread you realized that an all out assult might cause you problems and you wanted to avoid that and pace yourself, you got excited and caught up in the moment and abandoned that plan. That happens. To the best of people, often more than once.

You finished, what a huge accomplishment for you or anyone in that weather!

Congratulations to you.

[smilingcat]

Congratulation for finishing the ride under extreme condition.

As for tomorrow, depending on your conditioning, you may or may not be sore and stiff. Treat yourself to a nice long hot bath and better yet a full body massage. Preferably deep tissue or sports massage. It may hurt a little while getting the massage but it really helps with recovery and how you feel afterwards.

[Velocivixen]

Thanks for your suport. It took me awhile, when I was running races, to learn to pace myself so I could finish strong and although this wasn't a race I will have to learn how to pace myself for these endurance activities. I've never done it so I wasnt sure what or how much to eat, drink, when to go faster and when to conserve energy and go slower. Still a learning process. I just don't know if I'd do enough of these to get that all sorted out.
I do know that I am really hungry. I ate very well after the event, but I feel very hungry.
I wonder if it's normal to feel that way.