How many calories do you need to replace on a long ride?

[kajero]

Oh dear, it looks like I can add my poor eating habits to my getting lost adventures. That way I can be really frustrated!

[OakLeaf]

Yeah, intensity is really key to how much you need to eat during a ride. I might eat that much on a hilly century. Are you sure you bonked, or was it something else? What were your symptoms? I always suspect hyponatremia since I'm so very prone to it myself, and since it doesn't sound like you got much sodium outside of your sandwich. Remember you need to replace at least 500 mg sodium per liter of water, and along the lines of "everyone's different," that's a minimum, some people lose much more, especially if they're not heat acclimated.

[Crankin]

I would get some blood work done, Kajero. You should not be that tired. I am only 2 years younger than you, I get up at 4:45 2X a week to go to boot camp, and then I go to work for 5-9 hours. I do need to sleep later (but not by much, always up by 6:15 or so) on the other days. You can't be your best if you aren't sleeping. No wonder you are tired. There's lots of reasons for sleep problems; get a check up and if everything comes back all clear, do some reading on sleep hygiene. A lot of sleep disturbance comes from not being able to slow our brains down; my prescription to my clients is meditation on a regular basis.

[kajero]

Thank you for the advice, Crankin. I have had the doctor's check my blood and thyroid. I got a Lyme disease tick bite two years ago but they can't tell if it is Lyme disease. They can't find anything else. I think I know what causes me not to sleep; I just need to address it. Once I do that I expect I will sleep well and not be so tired. I just can't seem to motivate myself to follow my guidelines. I think I may start soon. You people are so darn helpful I don't want to let you to down. If you are going to spend time helping me out I need to thank you by taking, no USING, your advice.

I do get tired though when I play with my grandson for 8 hours. And I do mean I play with him! And the kid never takes a nap! If you want, you look at my photos on my webpage and you see it. I will need to give you the password so please let me know.

[kajero]

I went on 42.75 mile ride today and I DIDN'T BONK! The miles should have been less, but as usual I got lost. I followed nearly all of everyone’s suggestions. SO THANK YOU EVERYONE! I didn’t do the “organic stuff” but relied on Gatorade and one energy bar. (From my earlier post you can see I honestly thought I needed to replace the calories I was burning during the ride.)

I got a good night’s sleep last night. I ate a good breakfast 90 minutes before I left. I hydrated myself before I left. I stopped to drink only when I felt I was really thirsty, but didn’t drink too much. About 90 minutes into the ride, I stopped and had some Gatorade and my energy bar. I continued to ride again only stopping when I thought I needed water. Later on I had some more Gatorade and made it home WITHOUT BONKING! I've had my shower and I still feel great!

I averaged 11.5 mph which is really good for me because usually it is around 10.5 mph or so. I need to look into clips or straps. My feet slid off the pedals too many times and I think my mph might get better if I didn’t keep losing the pedals. I would probably be less frustrated, too.

Now, if you could help me with one more thing . . . No matter how many maps I have, no matter how much I study the route before I leave, no matter how many people give me directions when I ask, and no matter how observant I think I am being of the trail directions, I ALWAYS GET LOST if it is an unfamiliar trail! You can see my route here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/558995134 and you can see how many extra miles I went to get Elm Creek. I must traversed one part of trail six times before I figured out I wasn’t going far enough to get anywhere! I REALLY NEED A NICKNAME — maybe “The Biggest Lost-Her”? Suggestions are welcome.

Coming home was great. I just followed The Three Rivers Regional Trail out of the Elm Creek Park to Medicine Lake. Too bad I couldn’t do it on the way there.

[Crankin]

If you are recording your rides on a GPS, then can you look on Ride With GPS for rides in your area, that you can download and follow? Or, if you don't have a GPS, you can at least print out the cue sheet from any ride you see, that you like.

[emily_in_nc]

Congratulations on not bonking and getting your food/drink intake figured out! That's great.

Definitely sounds like clipless pedals would help. I can't imagine riding without them (other than on a MTB on singletrack). I think you'll find you get speed/efficiency gains once you get used to them.

As far as the getting lost thing, if you don't want to buy a bike GPS (and they are pricey -- I don't have one either), I am not sure what to advise. I get lost too, at times, if I am riding in unfamiliar areas. Some people are just less spatially inclined than others. If it's any comfort, my DH, who is really good with directions usually, got lost around 7 times on his way back from riding the Centennial Trail in Washington State. He did not carry a map with him and assumed he could find his way following the signage, but it was confusing. Every time it went off trail and onto roads, he missed a turn or took a wrong one, it seemed. If it's a trail you haven't ridden before and not well-signed, it can be challenging to find your way. So maybe just give yourself a break? And print out the maps and carry them along if you can.