100k Ride Prep

[HankScorpio]

I've got a 100k gravel ride coming up in 2 weeks. It's a decent sized ride with 7,000 vert. ft. of climbing, almost all of it on dirt and jeep roads. I'm not too worried about fitness; I've been riding hard all summer (mountain and some gravel), regularly doing long rides with plenty of climbing. This will be my longest ride to date so what I am clueless about is how to prep so I don't bonk 40 miles in. It's not a race so I just wanna finish and not die.

Really wondering about food and how much to ride the week before. How much to eat/drink the night before? The morning of? During? Should I lay off the booze for a few days?

I've never really been to focused on food and prep before riding but I feel like now is a good time.

[Iowagriz]

Any idea on your expected finishing time? I'd guess 5-6hrs. Also depends on what they have for aid stations on course for you.

For my 100k efforts - a solid breakfast within an hour prior and starting out somewhat easy to keep the food digesting. Then I normally only need a clif bar, a few cookies, maybe a gel or two. That is assuming they have water to refill along the way.

[smartyiak]

Is it a ride or a race? I go on 100K rides all the time...not bragging, just saying: if it's a regular weekend ride, I don't drink beers the night before...and then pretty much just go for a ride.

If it's a race/fondo (or I know I'm going with a group that will be a challenge), I'll generally:

- lay off the booze for at least a week...the longer the better, but I feel surprisingly better if it's been longer that 2-3 days;
- maybe it's an old wive's tale, but I eat past for dinz Wed night, Thurs night, Friday lunch, Friday dinz;
- make sure your stomach agrees with whatever you're gonna eat (especially gels and gatorade/NUUN stuff);
- at rest stops, don't eat stuff you haven't had...if it's a brand you've never had - don't eat it...or you may suffer;
- how much do you weigh...there's calculators that tell you how much to eat/drink...basically: eat before hungry/drink before thirsty.

Riding the week before: I'll generally do the normal thing up thing through Monday, do an easy Tues ride, take off Wed., ride a easy pace ride Thurs (20miles or so), and just an easy, short spin on Friday (maybe 5miles)...or take off.

Those are just some general things that you might already know, but never hurts to be reminded.

[HankScorpio]

Is it a ride or a race? I go on 100K rides all the time...not bragging, just saying: if it's a ride, I don't drink beers the night before...and then pretty much just go for a ride.

If it's a race/fondo (or I know I'm going with a group that will be a challenge), I'll generally:

- lay off the booze for at least a week...the longer the better, but I feel surprisingly better if it's been longer that 2-3 days;
- maybe it's an old wive's tale, but I eat past for dinz Wed night, Thurs night, Friday lunch, Friday dinz;
- make sure your stomach agrees with whatever you're gonna eat (especially gels and gatorade/NUUN stuff);
- at rest stops, don't eat stuff you haven't had...if it's a brand you've never had - don't eat it...or you may suffer;
- how much do you weigh...there's calculators that tell you how much to eat/drink...basically: eat before hungry/drink before thirsty.

Those are just some general things that you might already know, but never hurts to be reminded.

Good stuff here, thanks. I'm 6'1" about 190 lbs and will eat about anything. It's a ride, not race so I'm looking to finish is about 6-7 hours, also doing it with a buddy who is a roadie who does regular century rides. The route description says even the "fittest" riders will struggle to finish in under 6 hrs. There are 2 rest stops but I think I should be eating more than a couple of snacks at the stops.

[bagtagley]

The only drinking I've found to be detrimental is the excessive kind. A big breakfast is nice, but not always necessary. Eat real food, and make sure to get some protein along the way. I'm a believer in electrolytes. I'm still on the fence about their effect on cramping, but I'm certain they help with muscular and mental fatigue if taken as directed.

I think the most important aspect is pacing. You know this will be a long day, so don't rush it. No need to hammer up climbs, and paceline the flats. Take it easy, enjoy the ride, and conserve early so that you aren't suffering later.

[Laps]

[QUOTE=There are 2 rest stops but I think I should be eating more than a couple of snacks at the stops.[/QUOTE]

I imagine you are bringing small things to eat, gels/waffles whatever but I like (have to) eat something everything 45~ mins to fight off bonking. Eating at just the aid stations wouldn't be nearly enough for me.

[HankScorpio]

Any advice if I should pedal or rest the day before?

[Iowagriz]

Same as what Smartyiak days up above for me. Off Monday/Wednesday, easy hour Tuesday/Thursday, off Friday or less than 30min. Need to feel fully rested going into the event.

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[HankScorpio]

Same as what Smartyiak days up above for me. Off Monday/Wednesday, easy hour Tuesday/Thursday, off Friday or less than 30min. Need to feel fully rested going into the event.

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Ahh should've read closer. Thanks all for the tips

I've been mountain biking for 20+ years and just got into drop bar gravel riding this past year. It's a whole new world.

[nyskirat]

Any advice if I should pedal or rest the day before?

Easy rides don't hurt. Just spin the legs, 5-10 miles max.

[djspookman]

First off, I'm weird and typically have 'Woodchuck' style training habits. I may or may not have a beer/ cider the night before. Dinner is some sort of chicken/ rice or high protein like a BIG Quinoa dish/ salad. I 'm in by 9:30 the night before (sometimes..)
Ditto on the easy 5-10 mile ride the day before.
Breakfast: bacon, eggs, cheddar on a bagel loaded w/ cream cheese. Long term nasty energy.
Ride nutrition: maple syrup shots, clif blocks, lara bars, bananas. 2 bottles of water on bike, 1 bottle gatorade/electrolite replacement drink in jersey back pocket.
Start out slow, even though everyone else will take off like a rocket. You'll pass half those rockets when they bonk 40 miles in. The other half will stay rockets and finish soon.. Let em do that. Stay pedaling steadily for the first 25-30 miles, take in the scenery. Start ramping up at mile 35 or so, have fun with it! Just remind yourself that you are going to be on the bike for a while.
D

[jamal]

I try for 250-300 calories and a whole bottle of water an hour, which works out to a bar of some sort and a couple of shot blocks. If it's hot you'll want to drink more water. I will usually fill like half of one bottle with gatorade which gets me some electrolytes and calories. But then also I've gotten into bringing these pill in a little plastic container and taking 1-2 an hour. Then I don't have to worry about carrying drink mix or having something at the aid stations not agree with me. The first time I raced butte I was filling one bottle with the hammer heed and that turned out to be a bad decision.

Main things though would be to pace yourself, drink enough water, and eat some stuff over the course of the day. If you can avoid drinking the night before that is helpful. I have a hard time getting to sleep the night before races and events so if you can get a good night's sleep a night earlier that is useful. So like if a race is saturday I'll try to get to bed early thursday night and sleep in.

I also like to get out for an "openers" ride the day before. most of the week before I take it easy but then the day before I'll go out and pedal kind of hard for a bit.

[toast2266]

Granted I'm not a grinder, but for longer rides, food and water consumption varies a lot based on the course and the weather. I eat a bit more, and drink a whole lot more if it's hot out.

Regardless, during the ride, I'm very much on the "eat early, eat often" bandwagon. Eat before you think you need to eat, and eat at regular intervals. If you get to a point where you're hungry, you'll have a pretty tough time eating enough to not be hungry for the rest of the ride.

Personally, if I'm riding hard, I'm basically a dumpster. I will happily eat pretty much anything, and I rarely have stomach issues. In the pack might be a few bars, some gummi bear type things (shot blocks or whatever), a couple of those waffle things, maybe some beef jerky, maybe some candy. And with a bit of luck, the aid station will have Fritos.

[buttahflake]

It all comes down to the last hour on the bike, I’m either cramping and cross eyed or I’m hammering past the dead and dying. There is something about the taste of pickle juice that triggers anti-cramping mechanisms in our brains. Most sags have a jar or two of pickles. Drink the juice! And having followed your rides online, you have the legs. Go have fun!
I would join you but that’s the same day as the Dirty Pizza. Local gravel event that rocks.

[bagtagley]

Mmmmmm, Fritos. I'm doing an event next weekend that has a fryer set up, cranking out heavily salted french fries. I'm also a sucker from some Pringles.

I sorta feel like we're talking about two different things. Race prep is a completely different animal than big ride prep.

[Laps]

+1 for Pickle juice. That stuff can work miracles. I always feel better if I ride 30-45 mins easy day before. Helps get some jitters out.

[HankScorpio]

I’m diggin this thread. Pickle juice seems to be the magic elixir; I’m gonna give that a go. Also getting a good ideas what to eat beforehand and during. I’m on the same page as buttah - it’s the last 1-2 hours I’m going to have to push hardest through and that’s key.

It’ll be a total sufferfest but I’m stoked to do it. Bring on the pain.


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[Flyoverland Captive]

In my experience, a big breakfast pre-ride backfires. I like to eat a calorie-dense, small breakfast, then gels and water all day. Keep a steady stream of energy coming in, rather than big blasts every couple of hours. My stomach and bowels rebel if I eat too much all at once, and there’s no worse feeling on a long ride that having to shit.

[bean]

high protein like a BIG Quinoa dish

Huh?

Per 100g (cooked) quinoa:
120 Calories
21.3g carbohydrate
4.4g protein
1.9g fat

Quinoa is rice with a manbun.

To Mr. Scorpio's question: don't overcomplicate it. It's a long ride, take it easy the couple days prior, go at an easy/moderate effort, eat and drink enough of whatever makes you happy, enjoy the ride.

[The Suit]

It looks like you did a pretty big mostly off-road ride about a week ago. If I were you, I'd try to do another one that big or bigger this week.

When I was regaining fitness after a broken collarbone, I found my 'no food range' increased pretty significantly with each long-ish ride that I did. You should definitely eat and drink steadily throughout the ride, but having that extra capacity can only help.

Assuming I eat enough and don't bonk, the thing I usually run into when I go longer/harder than usual is leg cramps. I might get them in my feet, my calves, my quads, my hamstrings or some new muscle I didn't know I had. I've never tried pickle juice, but a lot of people swear by it. I've been trying to remember to drop a nuun® tablet into one of my water bottles before every big ride.

For me, pacing is hard. I always tell myself I'm going to start out easy, but then someone else ups the pace on a climb and I can't stop myself from following them. Don't do that. Start out at a pace you think you can keep up all day, and then slow down.

I think a mellow ride the day before is a good idea, mostly because it should help you get a good night's sleep.

[plugboots]

Lots of good advice, most things have been covered, I think suit’s advice for a ride is good, but the key is the word mellow. I would wear a heart rate monitor just for the purpose to make sure I don’t go over whatever beats per minute. Also for food, along with all these ideas, I like dried fruit mixed in with the other stuff because it helps my digestive track. I love dried apricots.

[satori]

I have a harder time running 25-30K than riding 100K. With riding it's much easier to eat and drink than when running. As others have said, I wouldn't change anything in your normal riding routine other than make sure that 3 days out you don't do any intervals/hard sessions so you're not depleted and go in fresh. I would ride the day before to spin the legs out. No athlete that I know takes a day off before a big ride/run/etc. Additionally you can also draft off other riders and relax a bit more on the bike by coasting some. You said you're in good shape so it won't be a problem, but don't forget hydration. Drink before you're thirsty.

[Laps]

Scorpio, Is it the Cabot ride? I just signed up. Maybe see you there!

[HankScorpio]

Scorpio, Is it the Cabot ride? I just signed up. Maybe see you there!

Yes sir! I’ll be the guy in baggie shorts on the bright blue bike.


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[buttahflake]

Yes sir! I’ll be the guy in baggie shorts on the bright blue bike.


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No baggies with drop bars! Get some fresh bibs from Velocio!