Advice for metric

[TsPoet]

I think riding a pace that isn't yours is tiring. Slow or Fast doesn't matter, it's more important that its natural for you.

[li10up]

I think riding a pace that isn't yours is tiring. Slow or Fast doesn't matter, it's more important that its natural for you.

I would agree with that...but should I slow my pace down a bit in order to complete the longer distance...I've never gone 62 miles before...or just ride at my normal pace?

[natheless]

I would start out a little slow, for the first 10-15 miles maybe... allow yourself to get nice and warmed up, then just go at whatever pace feels comfortable. If you already did 47 miles, you should be able to handle 62!

Good luck and enjoy!!

[Geonz]

What factors make you feel like you can't do any more? Plain ol' boredom? Muscles? Aerobic fatigue? Pain in the butt? What makes you tired? Answer that question and then coddle that aspect of your riding. If it's pain in the butt, then going faster will help that a lot 'cause you'll prob'ly be leaning forward more and of course you'll simply have less time *on* your butt.
That's the part I know about, 'cause that's the part that gets tired for me, but I'll hypothesize about the rest... If it's muscles, you want to make srue you're using good technique that uses lots of muscles all the way around the stroke of the pedal, and listen to muscles getting tired, and be sure to eat and drink right and keep those electrolytes in balance.
Are you a "keep going the same pace, don't stop" rider, or do breaks every once in a while really re-energize you? Recognize your pattern and work with it.

[li10up]

I've never gotten bored while riding and I usually don't feel like my legs sore. It's just a general feeling of fatigue. I usually only ride between 20 and 25 miles so I never take any breaks. I'm not sure how my body would respond to breaks. I did enjoy the long one we took on the 47 mile ride. The short ones didn't seem to help any. There will be rest stops every 10 miles so I don't plan on wearing a Camelbak. I wore one on the 47 mile ride because I was afraid of running out of water (along with 2 bottles of Gatorade). There were a couple of times I felt like tossing the Camelbak in the ditch!! I felt like my back was on fire!! I drank 1 1/2 bottles of Gatorade and about 1/3 of my Camelbak. I sweat a lot! I can see little rivers of sweat running down my shins, my hair becomes wet enough that I can actually wring it out, and sweat drips off of my nose and chin. When I take off my helmet a puddle of sweat runs out - the headband in the helmet acts as a dam. So under those circumstances that's still plenty of fluid, right?

[SnappyPix]

li10up,

I'm no expert, but if you only drank one and a half bottles of Gatorade and a third of your Camelbak, for a 5 hour ride, it sounds like you were massively under-hydrated to me - especially given the amount you sweat.
I don't know how big the bottles were, or how big the Camelbak (I'm assuming about a 2 litre capacity), but given the Texan heat, you should be drinking AT LEAST 500-750ml of fluid an hour. Probably nearer the 750ml mark (about the size of a large water bottle). That should have been ALL the contents of your Camelbank, the two Gatorade and more besides!
Dehydration can be the biggest cause of fatigue.
From what you said, you sweat LOTS, therefore you need to drink enough to replenish the moisture you're losing (without going to the other extreme and over-hydrating).
The Gatorade site has a fluid loss calculator, which might be helpful.
http://www.gatorade.com/hydration/fl...ss_calculator/.

I honestly think that your hydration may have had a big part to play in your fatigue. And that's speaking from experience - as someone who never used to drink enough, and would always start to feel "flat" halfway through the ride. As soon as started to pay attention to the fluids I was taking on board (along with the fuel), my fatigue disappeared.

[li10up]

li10up,
I'm no expert, but if you only drank one and a half bottles of Gatorade and a third of your Camelbak, for a 5 hour ride, it sounds like you were massively under-hydrated to me - especially given the amount you sweat.
I don't know how big the bottles were, or how big the Camelbak (I'm assuming about a 2 litre capacity), but given the Texan heat, you should be drinking AT LEAST 500-750ml of fluid an hour. Probably nearer the 750ml mark (about the size of a large water bottle). That should have been ALL the contents of your Camelbank, the two Gatorade and more besides!
Dehydration can be the biggest cause of fatigue.
From what you said, you sweat LOTS, therefore you need to drink enough to replenish the moisture you're losing (without going to the other extreme and over-hydrating).
The Gatorade site has a fluid loss calculator, which might be helpful.
http://www.gatorade.com/hydration/fl...ss_calculator/.

I honestly think that your hydration may have had a big part to play in your fatigue. And that's speaking from experience - as someone who never used to drink enough, and would always start to feel "flat" halfway through the ride. As soon as started to pay attention to the fluids I was taking on board (along with the fuel), my fatigue disappeared.

Thank you for your input. I guess I'm not getting enough fluid. I checked out the gatorade link and it confirms it. Yeah, it got up to 90 degrees that day. It was pretty warm. Texas heat, gotta love it. I've actually had the straps on my helmet dry with a thick crust of salt on them...I couldn't believe how much salt was on the straps that go in front of my ears. Yep, I sweat.

Geonz - I ate a packet of Power Gel with caffeine with about 30 minutes left in that ride...and it really did make me feel a lot better! I guess just the Gatorade isn't enough for me to stay energized.

natheless - thanks for the encouragement...I sure hope I can do the 62 miles. It would feel like such an accomplishment for me. I'll start out a little slow like you recommend.

[Nanci]

Don't forget that you did your 47 mile ride, will have recovered, your muscles will have gained strength, and you will be ready to go longer! When I rode 200k, I thought I was going to die at the end- I was the most tired I've ever been, and I was scared for the 300k in three weeks, but it was a piece of cake compared to the 200k! Apparently that's exactly how things are supposed to work!

Nanci

[Geonz]

I fill one of my bottles with iced tea. Around the 50 mile point I take a nice, long hit from it. (Yes, it's warm. It just means you can taste it better. ) I'm close enough to the end that usually it won't make me have to pee 'til then (tho' if the corn's high enough, that doesn't matter).

Etiquette-wise: maybe talk about it ahead of time - figure out where "decision time" will be. This can help a person who's not sure feel a lot better (just knowing "I can bail out at the fourth rest stop"). Ideally there will be a rest stop before the 'split' where you could decide, in which case she could hook up with another person or group that are also going "just" the 50. Basically, "let's meet at the end" is something that happens sometimes. Try to watch especially at the beginning that your comfortable pace isn't a pushing-hard pace for her and she'll be more likely to be able to finish... but it sounds like you already know that.

Some things I've done when riding with somebody slower on a long ride - sprint the last half mile or mile into the rest stop (and if I'm the slower person, I'm the one who takes off 20% and tells 'em "go ahead, I'll see you at the rest stop"). (That's really all I was trying to do when I picked up that guy in my drafting story, honest :-)) Or, charge to the top of the occasional hill and then get back togetehr on the downhill. The interval effect is a great equalizer. (I've told people my bike has special gearing to accelerate uphill.)