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Rests during long rides
Curious to know what strategy people take for rests during long rides
such as centuries. Specifically, how often do you stop and rest, and for how long? I do sometimes get that out of gas feeling, and wonder if I could have forestalled it by resting preemptively, much as your supposed to eat preemptively (before you're actually hungry). Dave |
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On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 13:18:34 -0400, Dave Stallard
wrote: Curious to know what strategy people take for rests during long rides such as centuries. Specifically, how often do you stop and rest, and for how long? I do sometimes get that out of gas feeling, and wonder if I could have forestalled it by resting preemptively, much as your supposed to eat preemptively (before you're actually hungry). The number of rest stops hasn't been an issue. Water and food are what counts for me. While there are usually a couple of stops if I'm drinking enough water, I've finished a few centuries without stopping with no ill effect. Curtis L. Russell Odenton, MD (USA) Just someone on two wheels... |
#3
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"Dave Stallard" wrote in message ... Curious to know what strategy people take for rests during long rides such as centuries. Specifically, how often do you stop and rest, and for how long? I do sometimes get that out of gas feeling, and wonder if I could have forestalled it by resting preemptively, much as your supposed to eat preemptively (before you're actually hungry). Me, I normally stop every 90 minutes or so for 10-15 minutes on a 60+ mile ride to eat, drink, and stretch; I'm usually riding solo and in no particular hurry. On this sort of schedule I can ride 100 miles without much stress. Recently on a trip to Chicago I found myself having committed to actually meeting someone at a place 60 miles away at a specific time that I thought would be an easy ride with an hour to spare. Then I got lost, twice, and found myself having to actually ride hard without stopping. It ended up being 75 miles and I was very tired when I got there, and started having leg cramps immediately after (very unusual for me). The constant headwind didn't help, either. I don't know if my 10-15 minute breaks are pre-emptive or recovery, but I'll never skip them on a long ride again. RichC |
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Dave Stallard enquired - Curious to know what strategy people take for rests during long rides such as centuries. Apart from stopping and resting, a few things that help - when its safe to do so, ride no hands and stretch your back and shoulders out (after you have done a few long rides, this will feel natural even if a bit hairy at first) change location of your hands on the bars often, and occasionally take one hand off the bars and turn the wrist away from the bike and push the wrist outwards - extraordinary how tense your wrists get over a long ride. if you can handle it, take a foot out of the cleat and fold your foot back under you on the seat (great stretch for tired quads) and absolutely best, find a similarly paced to companion to share the work and the experience with - even better if you can find a similarly paced bunch of riders that stick together. best, Andrew |
#5
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Dave Stallard enquired -
Curious to know what strategy people take for rests during long rides such as centuries. That's a broad question in the absence of any conditions. I stop at grocery stores whenever I feel I need some food and drink or when there won't be any for awhile. How often depends on how long and steep the hills are and how hot or cold the weather. You don't need to raise your hand and ask the teacher whether you are allowed to stop or not. Just do it. Jobst Brandt |
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"Rich Clark" writes:
Me, I normally stop every 90 minutes or so for 10-15 minutes on a 60+ mile ride to eat, drink, and stretch; I'm usually riding solo and in no particular hurry. On this sort of schedule I can ride 100 miles without much stress. [snip] I don't know if my 10-15 minute breaks are pre-emptive or recovery, but I'll never skip them on a long ride again. Aside from their "stop and smell the roses" value, my thoughts on rest stops are that if you need them then you're riding too hard. I feel better if I keep the legs moving than if I stop, so I pace myself, eat and drink on the bike, and keep refueling stops and nature breaks as short as possible. I'd rather rest on the bike than by the side of the road. -- Michael Fuhr http://www.fuhr.org/~mfuhr/ |
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On "event" rides--organized centuries or metrics--some of my friends
like long stops where they eat and kibbutz. Some of my friends prefer quick stops--refuel and go. Some of my friends--and I--are in between: generally, I like to grab some food and eat quickly, drink then refill my water bottles, stretch my legs a bit, then go. I find that I get cold and stiff if I stop too long, so the benefit of the breather is offset by having to warm up again. On my longer weekend club rides (40-60 miles), we usaually stop once, about half-way. On the long "event" rides (75-100 miles), I need to eat a little bit every ten minutes or so--a bite of bagel does it. I always stop at the stocked rest stops on these rides, even if just briefly, to get some food and drink and to get off the saddle for a moment. If you feel that you hit empty, you may be misinterpreting what your body is telling you about what it needs to keep going. That is, it may be a "refueling" problem, not a "pre-emptive rest" issue. --Roy Zipris |
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#9
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Roy Zipris wrote:
If you feel that you hit empty, you may be misinterpreting what your body is telling you about what it needs to keep going. That is, it may be a "refueling" problem, not a "pre-emptive rest" issue. Yeah, I've been thinking that maybe I need to eat more early in the ride, so as to have the fuel available and online at the 3 hour mark, where I sometimes feel zonked with my current practices. Probably a big part of my problem is just the weekend warrior syndrome, though. I don't ride during the week, generally. I need to start getting out of the house early for a 20 mile ride, a couple of mornings during the week. Dave |
#10
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If you feel that you hit empty, you may be misinterpreting what your body is telling you about what it needs to keep going. That is, it may be a "refueling" problem, not a "pre-emptive rest" issue. --Roy Zipris I'll add another vote for paying attention to nutrition on long rides. As long as the pace is moderate enough so that I don't blow up I find that fatigue is more related to my caloric consumption than "resting." I think lots of folks really underestimate how many calories you are burning and how many are readily available to burn. Over 50 miles and I make sure to eat. Less than 50 miles and sports drinks seem to be sufficient. |
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