Did my first 50 miler today.and really chuffed with it. Went out with my brother in law, both of us are building up our fitness and today's ride was 10 miles longer than our previous longest.
https://www.strava.com/activities/4179684867
We didn't head for many hills as we are just trying to get miles in our legs but they will come.
I was riding my hybrid with full mudgaurd, pannier rack tool bag and child seat bracket, so it has some weight but felt good. Hit a snag on the trans Pennine trail from Altrincham which really slowed us down, large chunks where flooded or very muddy, the water was up to our pedals at parts.
Food was one thing we didn't get right, I had a tried and tested breakfast which got me through the first half fine but the energy bars I bought where too rich and gave me a bad stomach which was uncomfortable on the last 15 miles.
My BIL skipped breakfast and didn't eat untill I forced a bar on him and we grabbed a hot chocolate, he really hit the wall towards the end.
I have 5 days in commuting this week so no real rest for the legs but I can let them rest at the weekend.
My first 50
Re: My first 50
Hi
Well done. There's a thread here on snacks https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=139846
As we head towards Winter a small flask of your hot drink of choice is a good addition. Some 500ml flasks fit in a bottle cage with a velcro strap around to take up any rattling
Regards
tim-b
Well done. There's a thread here on snacks https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=139846
As we head towards Winter a small flask of your hot drink of choice is a good addition. Some 500ml flasks fit in a bottle cage with a velcro strap around to take up any rattling
Regards
tim-b
~~~~¯\(ツ)/¯~~~~
Re: My first 50
Well done! A huge part of it is discovering what works for you. Well done to focus on refuelling.
Personally I go for a solid breakfast of porridge at least an hour beforehand, and I cannot stand energy drinks.
Personally I go for a solid breakfast of porridge at least an hour beforehand, and I cannot stand energy drinks.
Re: My first 50
Well done!
My favourite in-flight refuelling: mini-salami, crystallized ginger and Decathlon's marzipan bars. That and a coffee/cake break at around 40k from home. The sugary stuff is good fast-burning fuel while the salami gives your palate and your gut a bit of a change while supplying some slower-burning fuel. I like eating the salami and ginger together.
My favourite pre-ride breakfast is pasta & bacon bits, with raisins on top.
My favourite in-flight refuelling: mini-salami, crystallized ginger and Decathlon's marzipan bars. That and a coffee/cake break at around 40k from home. The sugary stuff is good fast-burning fuel while the salami gives your palate and your gut a bit of a change while supplying some slower-burning fuel. I like eating the salami and ginger together.
My favourite pre-ride breakfast is pasta & bacon bits, with raisins on top.
Have we got time for another cuppa?
Re: My first 50
GeekDadZoid wrote:Did my first 50 miler today.
I have 5 days in commuting this week so no real rest for the legs but I can let them rest at the weekend.
Well done. BTW you can have a rest and commute. You just need to throttle back and take it easy for a few days. Doing this will probably be better than if you did nothing. It's called active recovery. For many people starting cycling it's actually harder to have the confidence to slow down a bit every now and then than to ride hard all of the time.
Re: My first 50
Epic indeed.
You live the opposite end of the Peak District to me, but you have plenty of route choices ahead of you and despite the name they needn't be as hilly as some expect - unless you want them to be be.
Eating on a ride is different for us all, bread and jam (Sometimes with added peanut butter) works well for me, sugars, carbs, easy to digest...I usually take a banana, though often return with it uneaten, dried apricot as a treat if I have some in the cupboard. I know plenty of riders get on well with specific cycling nutrition, but it does nothing for me and I prefer to stick with what I like at other times.
You live the opposite end of the Peak District to me, but you have plenty of route choices ahead of you and despite the name they needn't be as hilly as some expect - unless you want them to be be.
Eating on a ride is different for us all, bread and jam (Sometimes with added peanut butter) works well for me, sugars, carbs, easy to digest...I usually take a banana, though often return with it uneaten, dried apricot as a treat if I have some in the cupboard. I know plenty of riders get on well with specific cycling nutrition, but it does nothing for me and I prefer to stick with what I like at other times.
Re: My first 50
There's a post here about eating. There are some personal suggestions and as it goes out to 8 pages a fair bit of arguing.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=120491&hilit=eating+audax
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=120491&hilit=eating+audax
Re: My first 50
Congrats on the ride. 
Energy bars were never intended as the only fuel source on a ride, they are a supplement to keep you going and should be part of a fuelling strategy - i usually have a gel/bar with me 'just in case' but its rare to need them, indeed, if i need them on a leisure ride i've got something wrong. Pro racers and even all those sportive riders haring around the countryside will have a mixed variety of food on the rides, everything from jam sandwiches to pork pie, bacon rolls to soup
Breakfast is good, ideally at least 30 minutes before you set off, for most people that will suffice for a couple of steady hours riding. In normal times i'd be looking for a stop around then, egg/beans on toast and beverage of choice which will then get me another couple of hours riding. With Covid and a more iffy cafe finding world i've taken to making a couple of sandwiches, usually cheese + but the main consideration is easy digestion so avoid spicy stuff or thick cuts of meat. You could eat on the go but a short stop won't do you any harm.
And drink, hydration, even in cooler weather is very important and lack of liquid can lead to excess fatigue quite quickly, water will do most of the time, i might drop an electrolite tab in the bottle on hot days. On club runs back in the day i used to be laughed at for my tea consumption at cafe stops but i wasn't the one begging bottles later on!
As you do more longer rides experiment a bit, work out where you hope to stop, try different 'pocket' food, find out what works for you, you don't need to get anal about it
Oh and mostly, enjoy your rides.
Energy bars were never intended as the only fuel source on a ride, they are a supplement to keep you going and should be part of a fuelling strategy - i usually have a gel/bar with me 'just in case' but its rare to need them, indeed, if i need them on a leisure ride i've got something wrong. Pro racers and even all those sportive riders haring around the countryside will have a mixed variety of food on the rides, everything from jam sandwiches to pork pie, bacon rolls to soup
Breakfast is good, ideally at least 30 minutes before you set off, for most people that will suffice for a couple of steady hours riding. In normal times i'd be looking for a stop around then, egg/beans on toast and beverage of choice which will then get me another couple of hours riding. With Covid and a more iffy cafe finding world i've taken to making a couple of sandwiches, usually cheese + but the main consideration is easy digestion so avoid spicy stuff or thick cuts of meat. You could eat on the go but a short stop won't do you any harm.
And drink, hydration, even in cooler weather is very important and lack of liquid can lead to excess fatigue quite quickly, water will do most of the time, i might drop an electrolite tab in the bottle on hot days. On club runs back in the day i used to be laughed at for my tea consumption at cafe stops but i wasn't the one begging bottles later on!
As you do more longer rides experiment a bit, work out where you hope to stop, try different 'pocket' food, find out what works for you, you don't need to get anal about it
Oh and mostly, enjoy your rides.
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
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GeekDadZoid
- Posts: 166
- Joined: 21 Aug 2020, 7:01pm
- Location: Stockport
Re: My first 50
Thanks for all the advice and comments.
I was a bit silly by not sticking to my known working fuel of peanut butter and jam sandwiches which got me through all my training and the event when I did the Yorkshire Three Peaks.
Hoping to get a "road bike" soon which might lighten the load a bit for these lesiure rides.
I was a bit silly by not sticking to my known working fuel of peanut butter and jam sandwiches which got me through all my training and the event when I did the Yorkshire Three Peaks.
Hoping to get a "road bike" soon which might lighten the load a bit for these lesiure rides.
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tykeboy2003
- Posts: 1277
- Joined: 19 Jul 2010, 2:51pm
- Location: Swadlincote, South Derbyshire
Re: My first 50
Well done mate, keep pushing your distance up.
On the subject of food, I would suggest you take bags of mixed fruit and nuts and munch them regularly. Also take a couple of packets of fig rolls.
Don't expect a "road bike" to make much difference. I did my first 100 in 2018 (aged 62) on a steel framed touring bike. The gearing on racing bikes is somewhat heavier than your hybrid or touring bike. These forums are packed with posts asking how to change the gearing on racers to make them easier to get up the hills..... Also my bike weighs 14kg and I weigh about 80kg so trimming 4 or 5kg off the bike won't do much for you.
On the subject of food, I would suggest you take bags of mixed fruit and nuts and munch them regularly. Also take a couple of packets of fig rolls.
Don't expect a "road bike" to make much difference. I did my first 100 in 2018 (aged 62) on a steel framed touring bike. The gearing on racing bikes is somewhat heavier than your hybrid or touring bike. These forums are packed with posts asking how to change the gearing on racers to make them easier to get up the hills..... Also my bike weighs 14kg and I weigh about 80kg so trimming 4 or 5kg off the bike won't do much for you.
Re: My first 50
Don't expect a "road bike" to make much difference. I did my first 100 in 2018 (aged 62) on a steel framed touring bike. The gearing on racing bikes is somewhat heavier than your hybrid or touring bike. These forums are packed with posts asking how to change the gearing on racers to make them easier to get up the hills..
OP said "road bike" - not all road bikes are racers. My audax bike is a drop handlebar, steel framed, not particularly light, joy to ride, with gears low enough to get up most hills. (Octogenarian legs balk at some).
What is your touring bike?
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tykeboy2003
- Posts: 1277
- Joined: 19 Jul 2010, 2:51pm
- Location: Swadlincote, South Derbyshire
Re: My first 50
Grandad wrote:What is your touring bike?
It's a Revolution Country Explorer (Edinburgh Cycles), bought new in 2012. I don't think they make them any more. Steel frame, drop handlebars, triple chainset and cable disk brakes. I changed the original 28mm tyres for 32mm and it's quite happy on off-road cycle tracks etc, I've done just over 10,000 miles on it so far and it still feels new.
From reading these fourums I was under the impression that the term "road bike" refers to what 40 years ago we called a "racer". Mind you, back then I'd never heard of a touring bike either, everything with drops was a racer. Anything with straight handlebars was just a bike, hybrids and mountain bikes etc didn't exist....
Re: My first 50
I think the 5 days commuting is good. If you ever want to go touring or do multi day rides, then you have to do it all over again tomorrow and the next day, etc.
We sometimes get people who do a hundred or so at the weekend and then (have to?) rest till they do it again next weekend. For touring etc, it's being able to be in the saddle day after day. In order to do this, slightly shorter days are sometimes necessary.
Well done and keep pedalling.
We sometimes get people who do a hundred or so at the weekend and then (have to?) rest till they do it again next weekend. For touring etc, it's being able to be in the saddle day after day. In order to do this, slightly shorter days are sometimes necessary.
Well done and keep pedalling.
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GeekDadZoid
- Posts: 166
- Joined: 21 Aug 2020, 7:01pm
- Location: Stockport
Re: My first 50
Thanks for all the replies.
I ended up only having it head into the office for 4 days so yesterday was a no bike day. However my days ended up being longer than expected so my commute both ways ended up in the dark, with the home leg being 2115-2200 each night. Made for an interesting few rides, my normal route is a bit no go at that time of night, however the main road was quite a decent ride and apart from a few closeish passes felt very safe. The 1 mile less taking the direct route made a difference at that time of night.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll be picking up a drop bar road bike.
I ended up only having it head into the office for 4 days so yesterday was a no bike day. However my days ended up being longer than expected so my commute both ways ended up in the dark, with the home leg being 2115-2200 each night. Made for an interesting few rides, my normal route is a bit no go at that time of night, however the main road was quite a decent ride and apart from a few closeish passes felt very safe. The 1 mile less taking the direct route made a difference at that time of night.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll be picking up a drop bar road bike.
Re: My first 50
Have a word with Sth M/C CTC section if you havent already. Plenty of experience and tips can be gained, but congrats on doing the ‘50’