Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This
I rode a 200Km brevet out of Hyattstown, MD on Saturday. I rode to the ride start from Herndon by way of White's Ferry which added 36 miles to the ride's 125 "official" miles. I guess I should have known it was going to be a rough day when I leaned my bike against a trailer to sign in and my water bottle cage snapped. How often does that happen? I had left the house at 4 am and it was nice and warm out, but once I hit the ferry, it got noticeably colder all the way to Hyattstown. Standing around in Hyattstown it felt even colder. I had meant to do the ride in Zone 2, and I was able to do most of the ride in that zone, but there was a short steep climb on Mountville Rd, the climb over South Mountain, then the climb to get over the Catoctin Mountains into Thurmont with lots of rollers between. I hoped to stay in my aerobic zone to burn fat for fuel.
I was fueling and hydrating properly, but because I was going so slow, I ran out of Powerbars, and I ended up mixing my last two bottles of Perpetuem right before the climb over the Catoctin Mountains (about 47 miles to the finish).
I think most of the people I ride with know that I try to avoid "real" food on long rides. At the 68 mile mark, people were eating subs at All American Subs. I ate a small bag of chips there, but that was it. I ran out of food and Perpetuem with about 15 miles left in the ride. I stopped at a store and downed 2 packs of peanuts and a pack of granola bars. I spent about 20 or 30 minutes letting the food digest and then jumped on the bike. This section of the route was relatively flat, so I was able to make good time despite the fact that I felt like hurling at any moment. For the next hour and a half that it took me to get to the finish, I couldn't eat or drink because of the mess in my stomach. That's why I try to avoid "real" food. Powerbars and Perpetuem just seem to go down easier and they don't restrict my effort level.
Regardless, I was a lot slower than I felt I should have been and I was incredibly sore at the finish. This doesn't look good for somebody competing in Team RAAM. I guess its more recovery rides for me in the near future. It doesn't feel good to be the last person to show up at the end of the ride and have people ask me how the RAAM training is going.
