So I'm back after a long time away, with a big challenge and a need to get this right!
I've signed up to ride La Sufrida next May. (The website is in Spanish, but there's a link on the first page to a report by a UK cycling journalist who did it this year -
http://www.lasufrida.net/web/ )
I hadn't done much cycling at all for over a year, started again in October, and decided I'd do it if I could ride 100km by the end of the year. I did my first 100km ride yesterday.
I did 85km last week, and did it pretty fast. I was fine until 6km from home, when I started feeling sick and ill, stopped to eat a cake (mini coconut macaroon), then carried on home with no problem. For the next few hours, every time I ate, I got stomach pains and felt like I was going to throw up, so I figured I'd over done it!
Yesterday, I took it a bit easier, and was fine until 3 hours in, when I realised I wasn't going to be able to maintain the effort and backed off a bit. From 14km from home, it was a battle. I managed to keep myself going with the promise of a macaroon at a nice spot 8km from home, but I did actually think at one point that I couldn't keep going. I just reminded myself I didn't have any other way of getting home! I just had to get in a low gear and spin, and any time I tried to go faster, I felt queasy and weak. (It was rather like having a bad stomach bug.)
I did it, but it has scared me a little. I've been tired before, my legs have struggled, but I've never felt like I can't go on. I'd eaten one macaroon and some oat biscuits during the ride, and I suspect it wasn't enough.
Can anyone who has experience of big rides give me some advice on nutrition? I think the ride itself will be around 9-10 hours moving time.
