How hilly is the ride? I was nervous before my first 62 mile ride. It turned out to be way easier than I ever thought it would be.
I don't do low carb riding or diets, but here are a few general long ride tips: 1. *Keep it in perspective*: If *there is SAG*, there is nothing to worry about. If you get tired/bonk, then you can get a ride back. You may even feel like getting back on the bike after the rest while waiting for them to come get you and finish the ride. *So don't give up too quickly. *I have heard that some riders regret ending a ride and felt they did so too early. 2. If tired, try* recovering on the bike*. Ride as gentle and slow as you need to. Soft/light on the pedals. You may find yourself feeling better and doing fine after a while. 3. Same for bonking. I have heard of a person continuing to ride through a bonk gently and successfully, like in #2 above. 4. *Hard boiled eggs*. Pure energy. 5. *Rest stops:* Start gently after each rest stop until you warm up again. Some people stop for long periods (30min.). Some only long enough to get food and drink, then they take off. Both work for me. But I tend to stay looser if I just have a quick stop. 6. *Focus on getting to each rest stop*. Do not think about how many miles you have left in the total ride. Just do it chunk at a time. The goal is the next rest stop. "Yes,I can do 15 more miles!" 7. *If it is a hilly ride, gear down and accept slow*. Keep a pace on the hills where your breathing stays calm and you don't start huffing and puffing. Do not blow yourself up trying to power up hills and getting out of breath. I did that once on a 4700ft. climbing 72 mile ride and was blown up at 50 miles. Had to lay down for 20 minutes to get going again for the last 25. It took all I had to finish. *But it was my fault* for repeatedly blowing myself up trying to go fast up the repeated steep hills. I had to walk the bike up anything steeper than ~5% grades for the rest of the ride. Legs were shot. Unsupported ride, too. No SAG. By God's grace I made it to the end happily! 8. *Have fun enjoying the rolling bike show!* It is fun to see all the different people and bikes on the ride. You may even be encouraged when you see elderly people on walmart bikes doing the same ride you are doing. Also if you meet people at the rest stops who say "this is my first ride"." No training." "I bought this bike yesterday at a garage sale". Then you will feel encouraged at how prepared you are for the ride. You will feel that if they can do it, you can do it, too. 9. *Don't get demoralized* if you see people laying down on the ground or if you hear about people who dropped out. It may not be the ride that got them or lack of prep. It may be they have medical issues, and no indicator of how hard the ride is to you. Relax and have fun. 10. If you just did a 4 hour, 40 mile ride of similar elevation, I am sure you will be able to pump out a 72 miler. Be confidant! At of it is mental. If you eventually do longer rides, then 72 miles will seem an easily mentally managed distance. 11. *Find your forever pace. *Cruise along at a comfortable pace that you feel you can ride at all day. Don't try to keep up with others at all. Just temper your enthusiasm and take it easy and make it a fun cruise of a ride!!!! Have a great time and don't forget the pics!!! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
