First ever Imperial century

Succorso said:

Well, I was determined to do it this summer. Today was the day.

171Km (106.2m) later - one sore bum, but legs are fine - I'm really
pleased with myself; an ex 40-a-day smoking/16 stone blob 🙂

Well done.

A *proper* century! (None of your metric rubbish) Congratulations!

I still await mine...

"Succorso" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Well, I was determined to do it this summer. Today was the day.

171Km (106.2m) later - one sore bum, but legs are fine - I'm really
pleased with myself; an ex 40-a-day smoking/16 stone blob 🙂

--
Chris

On Mon, 31 May 2004 20:07:46 +0100, Succorso <[email hidden]>
wrote (more or less):

Quoted message said:

Well, I was determined to do it this summer. Today was the day.

171Km (106.2m) later - one sore bum, but legs are fine - I'm really
pleased with myself; an ex 40-a-day smoking/16 stone blob 🙂

I know what youy mean - I did a half-metric-century the other weekend,
(I normally do short utility/commute trips, so this was a biggie for
me) and it was the sharp searing pain thro' my bum-cheeks that did
for me!

--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

in message <[email hidden]>, Succorso

(') said:

Well, I was determined to do it this summer. Today was the day.

171Km (106.2m) later - one sore bum, but legs are fine - I'm really
pleased with myself; an ex 40-a-day smoking/16 stone blob 🙂

There's a big difference, isn't there?

I remember when I was doing 60 miles a day quite regularly, did one 110
mile day and completely ran out of legs.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
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Simon Brooke:

Quoted message said:

There's a big difference, isn't there?

I remember when I was doing 60 miles a day quite regularly, did one 110
mile day and completely ran out of legs.

Tell me about it!

My Sunday morning rides with the club usually weigh in around 60-65 miles by
the time I factor in getting to the start and back home afterwards, and I'm
getting quite accustomed to that distance. But I hadn't done a full century
for about 15 years - until two weeks ago. And I had exactly the same
experience. By 65 miles my legs were just empty shells - I could just about
keep my pedals turning steadily on the flat, but the moment I hit a slight
incline, I would just grind to a halt. By the end it was all I could do to
stay on my bike.

d.

davek said:

Simon Brooke:

Quoted message said:

There's a big difference, isn't there?

I remember when I was doing 60 miles a day quite regularly, did one 110
mile day and completely ran out of legs.

Tell me about it!

My Sunday morning rides with the club usually weigh in around 60-65 miles by
the time I factor in getting to the start and back home afterwards, and I'm
getting quite accustomed to that distance. But I hadn't done a full century
for about 15 years - until two weeks ago. And I had exactly the same
experience. By 65 miles my legs were just empty shells - I could just about
keep my pedals turning steadily on the flat, but the moment I hit a slight
incline, I would just grind to a halt. By the end it was all I could do to
stay on my bike.

d.

Gosh, this is exactly what I had on sunday. Other than cycling more
often, what's the solution?

I don't cycle all that frequently, but when I do, I've managed between
30-50 miles over not all that challenging (for most people) terrain,
though with some degree of running out of legs at some point in it.

I find short trips are more hassle than they're worth (lugging bike up
and down stairs/in and out house) and too short to be of much use
really, so am most interested in what I can do to prevent the empty legs
on a 30-50 mile ride, and hoping that doing those will eventually mean I
can do them and not get empty legs...

--

Velvet

Velvet <[email hidden]>typed

Quoted message said:

Gosh, this is exactly what I had on sunday. Other than cycling more
often, what's the solution?

EAT!
Before the ride (and the days before it)
During the ride, regularly
After the ride, cos glycogen synthetase levels are highest immediately
after exercise.
EAT!

Don't expect to lose any weight this way...

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email hidden]
Edgware.

Helen Deborah Vecht said:

Velvet <[email hidden]>typed

Quoted message said:

Gosh, this is exactly what I had on sunday. Other than cycling more
often, what's the solution?

EAT!
Before the ride (and the days before it)
During the ride, regularly
After the ride, cos glycogen synthetase levels are highest immediately
after exercise.
EAT!

Don't expect to lose any weight this way...

I'm tired of heaving my not inconsiderable bulk up the hills though...
and I find it impossible when riding in a group to stop and eat, cos
they're all accomplished one-hand-riders, and I'm a
must-have-two-at-all-times-er.

Is it really a question of eating rather than cycling more?

--

Velvet

Velvet <[email hidden]>typed

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm tired of heaving my not inconsiderable bulk up the hills though...
and I find it impossible when riding in a group to stop and eat, cos
they're all accomplished one-hand-riders, and I'm a
must-have-two-at-all-times-er.

Quoted message said:

Is it really a question of eating rather than cycling more?

It was for me. You may be different.

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email hidden]
Edgware.

Helen Deborah Vecht said:

Velvet <[email hidden]>typed

Quoted message said:

I'm tired of heaving my not inconsiderable bulk up the hills though...
and I find it impossible when riding in a group to stop and eat, cos
they're all accomplished one-hand-riders, and I'm a
must-have-two-at-all-times-er.

Quoted message said:

Is it really a question of eating rather than cycling more?

It was for me. You may be different.

Well, I'd noticed that food had done the trick before, but for very
brief periods of time, and I'm not sure if it was eating, or just
stopping for a couple of mins to scarf down something, that made the
difference - whatever it was wore off after another few miles.

I'd sort of assumed it was more a fitness thing though, I'm not all that
fit (though I manage to do rides that long and think nothing of up to 10
miles as long, but any hills really do take it out of me).

Ah well, now the weather is better (and I have a way of getting the bike
to a nicer part of hte country to cycle round) I'm hoping to get in more
of the 30-50 mile rides (every couple of weeks as long as rain doesn't
put paid to it, can't cycle in rain my pedals turn to ice rinks). I'm
going to try and remember to put fruit juice/water in my bottle next
time out and see if that makes a difference too.

Thoroughly enoying it, but just a bit frustrated with the body failing
to keep up with my enthusiasm when I go on a longer ride. I know hills
are going to stay hard work till I get lighter, but it'd be nice to find
them being hard work instead of just about impossible once I've got 20
miles under the wheels :-)

Just to keep it on track, one day I'd like to manage an imperial century
too. I never thought I'd swim a mile, let alone two, and I did that
(though it was easier than cycling 50 miles LOL!)

--

Velvet

Velvet said:

Well, I'd noticed that food had done the trick before, but for very
brief periods of time, and I'm not sure if it was eating, or just
stopping for a couple of mins to scarf down something, that made the
difference - whatever it was wore off after another few miles.

I'd sort of assumed it was more a fitness thing though, I'm not all that
fit (though I manage to do rides that long and think nothing of up to 10
miles as long, but any hills really do take it out of me).

Ah well, now the weather is better (and I have a way of getting the bike
to a nicer part of hte country to cycle round) I'm hoping to get in more
of the 30-50 mile rides (every couple of weeks as long as rain doesn't
put paid to it, can't cycle in rain my pedals turn to ice rinks). I'm
going to try and remember to put fruit juice/water in my bottle next
time out and see if that makes a difference too.

The answer is probably "both"; eat properly and cycle more.

Yesterday, I stopped to eat four times during the ride; only light stuff
- from sandwiches at lunch when I was feeling good - to more cakey stuff
later on when I was beginning to fade. That, and drink. Food is no good
without water - I got through 5 ltrs yesterday!

--
Chris

Velvet <[email hidden]>typed

Quoted message said:

Well, I'd noticed that food had done the trick before, but for very
brief periods of time, and I'm not sure if it was eating, or just
stopping for a couple of mins to scarf down something, that made the
difference - whatever it was wore off after another few miles.

Some foods cause the blood sugar to fluctuate wildly. One problem is
that you might not eat enough to keep the glycogen levels high for long
enough.

Quoted message said:

I'd sort of assumed it was more a fitness thing though, I'm not all that
fit (though I manage to do rides that long and think nothing of up to 10
miles as long, but any hills really do take it out of me).

You might want to try a l-o-n-g ride by yourself, eating after every
60-90 minutes exertion just to see how far and fast you can go, without
worrying about other people. Start out at about 8am and choose a route
that takes you near to railway stations so you can wimp out & return
home, if needed.

Quoted message said:

Ah well, now the weather is better (and I have a way of getting the bike
to a nicer part of hte country to cycle round) I'm hoping to get in more
of the 30-50 mile rides (every couple of weeks as long as rain doesn't
put paid to it, can't cycle in rain my pedals turn to ice rinks). I'm
going to try and remember to put fruit juice/water in my bottle next
time out and see if that makes a difference too.

I rather like chocolate milk towards the end of a long ride.

Quoted message said:

Thoroughly enoying it, but just a bit frustrated with the body failing
to keep up with my enthusiasm when I go on a longer ride. I know hills
are going to stay hard work till I get lighter, but it'd be nice to find
them being hard work instead of just about impossible once I've got 20
miles under the wheels :-)

Quoted message said:

Just to keep it on track, one day I'd like to manage an imperial century
too. I never thought I'd swim a mile, let alone two, and I did that
(though it was easier than cycling 50 miles LOL!)

I thought I might just do a century.
I then thought I'd never manage Audax.
My first Audax was a 300km flat ride.
I completed an Audax Super Randonneur Series within a year of joining
Audax UK.
I then managed (*just*) to complete the 1000km Great Eastern Audax.

What worked for me was making sure that:
I ate enough in both quality & quantity
I drank enough
I didn't get too hot or cold
I attended to every discomfort before it became a major pain.

I was never an athlete. If I could, so can anyone.

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email hidden]
Edgware.

Velvet <[email hidden]> wrote:

: Gosh, this is exactly what I had on sunday. Other than cycling more
: often, what's the solution?

Take note of Helen's advice on eating. It's very easy to not eat enough
when riding. If you want to lose weight as well, it's more tricky, but
a good rule of thumb might be eat lots the night before a ride, eat
frequently on the ride and a good meal as soon as you get back. Then
worry about calories etc the rest of the time.

As for the empty legs thing, another tip is that if you only have time
for a 30 mile ride do it non-stop. Then a 50 mile ride with a tea stop
at half way will be much easier.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Velvet said:

Gosh, this is exactly what I had on sunday. Other than cycling more
often, what's the solution?

I don't cycle all that frequently, but when I do, I've managed between
30-50 miles over not all that challenging (for most people) terrain,
though with some degree of running out of legs at some point in it.

I find short trips are more hassle than they're worth (lugging bike up
and down stairs/in and out house) and too short to be of much use
really, so am most interested in what I can do to prevent the empty legs
on a 30-50 mile ride, and hoping that doing those will eventually mean I
can do them and not get empty legs...

You may not be bonking (running low on energy), you may be running be
running out of aerobic capacity. You may be doing both, although at
different times.

I ran a hill race yesterday, basically 9 minutes up a hill and 9 minutes
down. When I got to the top I was knackered, my legs felt heavy, I was
breathing extremely heavily and feeling bad. I was at the absolute limit
of my aerobic capacity. I wanted to stop. This had nothing to do with
lack of glycogen because I hadn't been running for long enough. To stop it
happening I need to train to increase my aerobic capacity (or my ability to
run close to it despite the discomfort). So, if your breathing gets heavy
on hills and your legs get tired then it's your aerobic system that
limiting you.

On the other hand, marathon runners generally hit the wall at about 18
miles, after they've been running for quite some time. They feel bad,
their legs feel tired, they often want to stop. What's happening is that
they're running out of glycogen. It's not an aerobic capacity problem
because they're running well within their capabilities. To stop this
happening they need to train to increase their endurance (teach their
bodies to access energy from body fat) and learn to take food onboard
whilst running.

So, I suspect that you're 'running out of legs' at different times for
different reasons. The solution, in the short to medium term, is
relatively easy - spend more time on your bike, gradually increasing speed
and the distance of your long rides, while making sure that you consume
enough food and drink during your rides. You currently almost certainly
don't need to eat extra in the days before a long ride but a good breakfast
of something like muesli, porridge and bananas should be useful on the day
of the ride.

Regular riding will increase your speed, endurance and strength and,
provided you don't pig yourself on high calorie food, reduce your weight.

--
Michael MacClancy
Random putdown - "He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." -
Forrest Tucker
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk
www.macclancy.co.uk

Michael MacClancy <[email hidden]>typed

Quoted message said:

I ran a hill race yesterday, basically 9 minutes up a hill and 9 minutes
down. When I got to the top I was knackered, my legs felt heavy, I was
breathing extremely heavily and feeling bad. I was at the absolute limit
of my aerobic capacity. I wanted to stop. This had nothing to do with
lack of glycogen because I hadn't been running for long enough. To stop it
happening I need to train to increase my aerobic capacity (or my ability to
run close to it despite the discomfort). So, if your breathing gets heavy
on hills and your legs get tired then it's your aerobic system that
limiting you.

Yebbut anaerobic metabolism partially consumes *huge* amounts of
glucose/glycogen very fast, doesn't it?
Acid build up in the system is what limits short-term exertion.

If you can adapt to using lactic acid as a short term fuel, you can eke
out your glucose better.

Quoted message said:

Regular riding will increase your speed, endurance and strength and,
provided you don't pig yourself on high calorie food, reduce your weight.

Nobody wants to pig out but not roughly keeping abreast of your energy
expenditure will give you empty legs sooner.

I tried slimming one season; I was running on near-empty much of the
time and found maintaining 12mph on the flat *really* hard.

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email hidden]
Edgware.

Helen Deborah Vecht said:

Yebbut anaerobic metabolism partially consumes *huge* amounts of
glucose/glycogen very fast, doesn't it? [...]
I tried slimming one season; I was running on near-empty much of the
time and found maintaining 12mph on the flat *really* hard.

To each his own limits, but yes, when losing weight it's best to do
slow long-distance work. Almost as much fat burning as higher
intensity pieces, yet easier to maintain for 1h+, and much less of a
(additional) strain on the system. Think about it as doing double work
(starving and training) then you have to have lots of recovery rides.

"Helen Deborah Vecht" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

[snip]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Is it really a question of eating rather than cycling more?

It was for me. You may be different.

This is certainly a well known phenomenon, well enough known for
cyclists to have given it a name, "the bonk". Cyclists had the name
long before the tabloids. Traditionally cyclists would carry
emergency rations, a "bonk bag". I suppose the running out of blood
sugar/glycogen is the same problem that diabetics have to worry
about, hypoglycemia, when blood sugar is too low.

Wild fluctuations may be a bad thing, but when you have run out, a
quick fix might be what you want. Glucose is supposedly best for
that. That's what Lucozade advertizes as its benefit, although I'm
not sure I would want to drink anything that colour. Kendal Mint
Cake also apparently has a lot of glucose rather than ordinary sugar.

I've heard tell that cyclists' bonk is different from marathoners'
"hitting the wall", although both are running out of glycogen. With
marathoners, it's apparently the glcogen stored in the muscles, with
cyclists it's all over the body, with glycogen in the bloodstream
going down. That affects the brain as quickily as anything, so it's
almost a psychological problem, you just feel horrible.

Note that I'm not a doctor, and there are others on this list, like
Helen, who are, so watch for all this to be corrected.

Jeremy Parker

Jeremy Parker:

Quoted message said:

That's what Lucozade advertizes as its benefit, although I'm
not sure I would want to drink anything that colour. Kendal Mint
Cake also apparently has a lot of glucose rather than ordinary sugar.

I usually carry bananas and raisins as my bonk rations. As per recent
discussions, mangoes would be good but a bit messy. Basically, anything with
a high Glycaemic Index is good for a quick energy fix, but when stuffing
yourself before a ride, you want stuff with a low GI (whole fruit
[especially apples and pears], oats, wholemeal bread, pasta) to give you
lots of "slow release" energy. High GI food can also cause a dramatic surge
in your insulin levels, and that can cause all sorts of problems and
counteract any of the health benefits you may get from cycling in the first
place (higher insulin levels make it easier for your body to store fat).
Highly processed and refined foods are particularly bad.

Interestingly, potatoes, though considered a "complex" carbohydrate, have a
very high GI, so are not good for carb-loading prior to a ride.

Fruit juice is good to have in your drink bottle, but it needs to be diluted
to at least 50:50 with water so that you can absorb the energy more easily
(ie you want an isotonic or hypotonic solution, where the energy levels are
in balance with your body fluids). Hypertonic solutions, such as neat orange
juice or over-strength energy drink, are difficult to absorb and in fact are
just likely to make you wee more, leaving you dehydrated.

Quoted message said:

Note that I'm not a doctor, and there are others on this list, like
Helen, who are, so watch for all this to be corrected.

Likewise - I *think* I'm reasonably well informed on this subject, but I
don't claim to be a reliable authority. I'll be happy for anyone to correct
any of the above.

d.

"davek" <[email hidden]>typed

Quoted message said:

I usually carry bananas and raisins as my bonk rations.

Bananas have seldom survived my panniers, so I hesitate to recommend them.
They're good if someone else supplies them though.
One banana contains about 20g sugar, which (by itself) is possibly not
enough for more than 20 minutes' cycling.
A teacake would provide more carbohydrate and this may be released more
slowly.

Quoted message said:

As per recent
discussions, mangoes would be good but a bit messy.

A BIT? I can't eat them tidily in my own kitchen! At least I have
running water there.
Wasps etc are attracted to syrupy things; I would not welcome their
company on a ride after eating a mango!

Quoted message said:

Basically, anything with
a high Glycaemic Index is good for a quick energy fix, but when stuffing
yourself before a ride, you want stuff with a low GI (whole fruit
[especially apples and pears], oats, wholemeal bread, pasta) to give you
lots of "slow release" energy.

A nice bowl of muesli is what I'd usually recommend.
Riding without breakfast might be OK for those who are accustomed to it.
I was always USELESS on no breakfast.

Quoted message said:

High GI food can also cause a dramatic surge
in your insulin levels, and that can cause all sorts of problems and
counteract any of the health benefits you may get from cycling in the first
place (higher insulin levels make it easier for your body to store fat).
Highly processed and refined foods are particularly bad.

This is particularly true if your body is not crying out for
carbohydrates, as it would be if your average cycling mileage was

Quoted message said:

200m/week.

Quoted message said:

Interestingly, potatoes, though considered a "complex" carbohydrate, have a
very high GI, so are not good for carb-loading prior to a ride.

Who wants spuds for breakfast anyway?

Quoted message said:

Fruit juice is good to have in your drink bottle, but it needs to be diluted
to at least 50:50 with water so that you can absorb the energy more easily
(ie you want an isotonic or hypotonic solution, where the energy levels are
in balance with your body fluids).

The issue is that the solutes are in balance with the body, to
facilitate absorption of both the water and the nutrients.

Quoted message said:

Hypertonic solutions, such as neat orange
juice or over-strength energy drink, are difficult to absorb and in fact are
just likely to make you wee more, leaving you dehydrated.

They are difficult to absorb because the body has to dilute them down to
isotonic prior to absorption, temporarily removing water from
circulation, leaving it relatively dehydrated, which is the last thing
you want. AFAIK they won't make you wee more (even caffeiene is not
diuretic when you're dehydrated). They leave me, at least gasping for
WATER.

My favourite hypotonic drinks were diet fruit squash (cheap, more
appetising than plain water, does not attract wasps, does not leave bike
sticky) and water (use sparingly for washing & cooling as well as
drinking)

Vélocio's golden rules usually worked a treat for me.
Eat before you are hungry
Drink before you are thirsty
Whilst on the road, avoid alcohol, meat and tobacco
I've forgotten the rest but there was something about not burning
yourself out early in a ride when you are fresh...