Metric Century

I’ve come to learn that the “Century”, a 100 mile ride, is a magical accomplishment among cyclists. Ok, maybe not “magical” but certainly an accomplishment.  An “easier” form is a “Metric Century” which is 100 kilometers or 62 miles.

Due to scheduling problems, I haven’t been able to participate in any organized road rides. However; I when I do, I really want to be able to select the longer routes. Around here, it seems like these are a minimum of 50 miles up to Century rides (100+ miles).

Until recently, my longest road ride had been 35-ish miles.  As noted here, I was pretty proud of that kind of mileage. A few weeks ago, I pushed this up to 46 miles. The longer I ride, the less “significant” this number becomes. Particularly when I watch a pro race like the Tour de France.  My puny mileage is downright shameful compared to what those guys churn out every day for weeks at a time.

For example – Eldon over on FatCyclist.com is one of my hero’s.  I love his writing but his rides are fantastic.  I feel like a weenie being “proud” of a 30 mile ride when he rides that far just to get to his ride!!  He recently completed a 423 mile ride!!  Is that crazy or what!?!?  This motivated me to do something to increase my own mileage.  A bit of a side trip… I agree with this article on Tuned In To Cycling which sets forth the idea that there are some that cycle to lose weight and some because they enjoy it.  I think I am primarily the latter.  I started as I needed an activity, I fell in love and I am losing weight – can’t beat that combination.

There just happens to be a pretty nice 70 mile triangular shaped route where I am located.  I set my sights on riding that route – a Metric Century+ (plus eight miles).

When I started riding, I read many articles on proper ride nutrition and hydration. I ate as often as is suggested and I found that I was gaining weight!  What!?!?  It quickly became apparent to me that those of us that are riding for weight loss need an entirely different plan. A newb like me riding a total of 5 miles over the course of an hour doesn’t need to eat like a pro who is riding 25 miles per hour for five or more hours. So, I changed my plan.  I started riding before breakfast and attempting to fine tune what I ate afterwards, limiting my calories and trying to get my body to burn stored fat.  It seemed to work, I lost weight.  However; I took a couple of long mountain bike rides this summer (Quasimoto MTB Ride) and I quickly learned that I must alter my plan when going from a 1-2 hour weight loss ride to a seven hour MTB/endurance/survival ride.  Even the 46 mile ride mentioned above taught me a lesson about nutrition.  About two hours into that ride I was feeling pretty wasted. It was not that I hadn’t ridden two hours before – it was that my body was out of energy stores. I had purchased some gels as a result of my Quasimoto experience so I ate one.  Wow!  What a huge difference within 15 minutes I felt like a new person.  All of this is make the point that I had a plan for my first attempt at a Metric Century.

I expected my Metric Century to take about five hours of riding.  I am not fast and I was not going to attempt a speed record – finishing was the goal.

I decided to follow the rule of thumb that a cyclist should eat something every 30 minutes after one hour of riding. In addition to two bottles of water and a hydration pack, I packed several gels, dried fruit, some chocolate, trail mix, and granola bars.  Not very high tech, I know. I suspect I’ll eventually get to the high-tech energy bars and drink mixes.

The morning temperature is dipping well into the forties this time of year so I picked a late start time – 09:00 AM.  I made a leisurely start with my basic kit and arm warmers. Using common advice, I avoided working very hard by using my heart rate monitor. I kept it low – in the 70-75% range.

Part of the reason I love cycling is the peace and quiet.  This particular route took me far from civilization and there were very few cars on the road. I loved it!

I stopped at the one hour mark for a granola bar. I then did a pretty good job of taking in a small bit of fuel every 30-45 minutes. Of course, liquid the whole time.  All of this seems to have paid off.  I was pretty tired near the end but never exhausted.  My experiment shows me that the foods I selected may not have been the perfect sources of quick carbohydrates though so I will modify my menu for the next long ride.

The biggest problem that I had was saddle comfort – the lack of it.  After more than a month, I am not comfortable on my current saddle (on my new road bike) so I have a new one ordered. Fingers crossed for success with it.

Interestingly, as I was pounding out the last couple of miles, I started feeling a wet sensation on my lower left leg.  I thought it quite odd and continued on pondering why such a thing would happen.  After a couple of minutes, I finally noticed that my front tire had a puncture and the self-sealing goo was squirting out (and hitting my leg).  Ha! Amazing what five hours on the bike will do to a guys brain!

I stopped and put my finger over the hole.  The leak seemed to stop (self heal as the goo is supposed to do) and I carried on.  A couple minutes later I noticed that it was weeping again.  So, I just carried on hoping that I would get home before the tire was completely flat.  I did and it was not really a factor in the ride – good timing for me.

METRIC CENTURY SUCCESS!!

I finished the ride in 4:40 (moving time) and something around 5:30 total time.

I definitely learned a number of things about long ride nutrition, hydration, and pacing during this metric century ride. As I sit here a day or so later, I am not experiencing much soreness. A bit in my quads, hams, and lower arms but that’s about it.  I suspect my recovery ride later today may tell me more. This accomplishment is just one of many and I am not attaching a great deal of meaning to it. I hope I look back at it a year from now and chuckle. However; for a few moments, I am proud of it. It wasn’t very many months ago that a sixty pound heavier me sat on my old bike wondering how I was going to pedal five whole miles.

If there is one important point to all this it is that I want to encourage YOU!!  You can do it!  If I can, you can too!   If you are fighting with your weight – get on your bike and ride!  (to steal a line from Queen)