Is my glass half full? Today I rode 50 miles — OK, I rode 52 miles; and that’s a half-century! It’s a hopeful sign; but riding twice that distance in one day is something else again.
Today’s pedaling time was 4:16:03; and to ride 100 miles, I’ll need at least twice that amount of time. I’m bound to slow down as the ride goes on and I start to get tired; and in addition, century day might present me with a stronger wind than I had today.
This morning my legs really started to feel the effort at about 40 miles; and that means I’m not yet ready for the jump to a full century. Who wants to slog through 60 miles, feeling like their legs are mush? Not I!
Of course I can’t ride 100 miles non-stop; and time for the necessary rest breaks must enter into my calculations. In the end, we’re looking at a 10- or even 12-hour day. That’s a long time to be on the bike; but today’s ride seems to show the glass half full.
My Garmin showed something that puzzles me. The data for any ride includes calories burned/calories consumed. Today it said I burned 1445 calories; and took in 1200. I know very well that the latter is incorrect; so is the former also wrong?
Always Food!
Speaking of calories, any ride over an hour or so means on-bike eating.
I’m too lazy to do much cooking for my ride fuel; and I stick with FitCrunch bars, etcetera. The downside is, these bars tend to be sweet; and nothing but sweet food all day gets very tiresome — even for my sweet tooth. I need to look around for something more savory. The catch is that savory foods tend to make me too thirsty!
I have a good stash of Gatorade Whey Protein bars; so you could say that my glass — or rather, my “feed bag” — is half full. Maybe I can add some Epic Bites to my feed bag. Or a few small cubes of cheese; and some Combos. Whatever I choose, it needs to be something that won’t get too soft in the heat.
Incidentally, I started to get too warm today. As I was nearing my regular pit stop on the way home, I even began to feel a bit headachy. After I stopped, I took off one layer; and put my skull cap into my pocket. I also ate a GU-Gel that had a bit of caffeine in it; and after that, I felt better.
It looks like windy conditions will arrive about mid-week; and I’m glad there wasn’t much wind today. I hope next Sunday is another low-wind day; and I can shoot for 55 miles!