Weekend rides.

[compo]

I was at my daughter's home in Sudbury, Suffolk, last week. In conversation I stated that Harlow to Sudbury on a bike would be easy peasy and she picked me up on it and threw down the challenge. Cycle up on Saturday and return home on Sunday. it's about 50 miles each way.

Back in June I completed the Dunwich Dynamo without any problems, but doing a long ride seems different to doing a similar distance but with a night in between. Since June in terms of miles I haven't done a lot, just short rides 20 - 30 miles. I did a 40 yesterday and a 30 today. Yesterday was easy enough but I found today a bit hard going.

What should I do in terms of food when I get to Sudbury in preparation for the ride back. Would a good pasta meal be the best thing. That is my instinct, followed by porridge and toast for breakfast before setting off for the ascent of Ballingdon Hill and home. For those familiar with it I will be riding the Dun Run route picking it up from Moreton.

One day I will learn to keep my mouth shut.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

What moving average speed are you comfortably doing on your 20-30 miles? Whatever it is perhaps dropping it a little for the longer ride might help?

As for nutrition... I'm not terribly experienced or any sort of expert, but if I was going to do this ride I'd eat pasta a couple of times a day for a couple of days before the rides and then eat as much pasta as you can after the first leg, but not so much that you feel overly full. As a caveat I should add that I abhor cycling with a full belly so I tend to start long rides with a couple of boiled eggs and a banana and then consistently consume gels at a rate of about one an hour throughout the ride. A chocolate bar or two seem to help out as well.

Without wishing to make this sound like an entirely chemical based advice post I reckon the stuff you get free with a couple of those High5 bottles should see you through pretty well. The 'Zero' tablets appear to be great at fighting off the cramps.

Actually the best advice I could probably offer you would be to do the ride with a friend

 

[snorri]

I don't think you should need any particular type of food, just a good square meal. The only tip I would offer is to leave home quite early, or at least four hours earlier than you admit to your daughter.

 

[compo]

What moving average speed are you comfortably doing on your 20-30 miles? Whatever it is perhaps dropping it a little for the longer ride might help?

Snipped:


Without wishing to make this sound like an entirely chemical based advice post I reckon the stuff you get free with a couple of those High5 bottles should see you through pretty well. The 'Zero' tablets appear to be great at fighting off the cramps.

I have really slowed down over the last year or so. A combination of health problems and advancing age is my story and I'm sticking to it I averaged just a fraction over 12mph on the Dunwich ride, so that speed should see me through. I don't do much faster even on shorter rides. I will start out gently then see how I feel on the day. In terms of terrain it isn't a hard ride so I am not overly concerned. Unless I get better ideas I will take a couple of bananas and some fig rolls which should see me through.

I ordered some High5 bottles and the tablets they offer with them the other day following a post on these forums telling us about a special offer.