# Advice on 300mi in 3 days.



## wannaberoadie

I am doing the Wish a Mile ride this summer. It is 3 back to back to back centuries. I've never ridden one century, let alone 3. At this point I'm averaging around 100 miles/ week. Sometimes more, sometimes less, just whatever work allows me to ride. It usually consists of 2 sets of intervals, some speed drills, cadence drills etc with a long ride of 2-3 hours at this point at the end of the week. The last long ride I did was 50 miles and I pretty well bonked at the end of it. Now part of that was my fault because I didn't do a very good job with nutrition prior to the ride, but none the less.
The other thing I'm wondering about is nutrition during the ride. I can eat all the GU, gatorade etc in the world, but I still feel hungry and then nauseous. Any tips or ideas? Add protein to a flask of hammergel in it?
Any and all advice or w/e would be very much appreciated. I don't just want to "survive" this, I want to feel good a the end of it!


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## mtnroadie

I have never done a century and honestly dont want to. 

If you are bonked at 50, what makes you think you can do 1 let alone 3 centuries?

I say try to get one done and survive it. Attempting to do three back to back is dangerous to say the least. If you do try and do it i doubt you will ever get on a bike again.


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## wannaberoadie

mtnroadie said:


> I have never done a century and honestly dont want to.
> 
> If you are bonked at 50, what makes you think you can do 1 let alone 3 centuries?
> 
> I say try to get one done and survive it. Attempting to do three back to back is dangerous to say the least. If you do try and do it i doubt you will ever get on a bike again.


Wow, that was so helpful. Thanks.


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## Guod

I dunno calling it dangerous is accurate. There's a local guy near me that does randos constantly. If I didn't know better, I'd say he lived on his bike. That being said, it depends on how consistently you can train to improve your fitness level by this summer. Going long distances can easily be done with the right approach to training and keeping yourself on track. Three back to back is alot, I'd start by doing 50-75 on Sat and Sun every weekend (for example) and building from there. I'm no expert in training though but, base building seems to be what you should be doing right now vs intervals, etc. As far as eating goes, try to be consistent. Make sure you've eaten enough before the ride too. Also, if you're feeling hungry it's probably too late and you're running on fumes. At that point slamming down a bunch of gels or bars is probably whats causing the discomfort. Personally I eat a good bit of food the night before, then a banana right before the ride, after that I'll maintain with a bar or two and some hammer gel mixed in with my water (this is for a 60-70mi ride). For shorter (20-30mi) I don't eat that much, most of the time just water or gel/water mix.


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## Cyclin Dan

When is your ride? You can do that, you just need to get your nutrition dialed in. In the summer time I usually ride 200-250 miles weekly. I will ride 3-4 times during the week in the morning, between 30 & 50 miles. Then I do an 80-120 mile ride on the weekend 3 out of every 4 weekends. 

I had done some double centuries, and a couple back to back centuries (double triple bypass is 120 each day for two days), but never 3 in a row. I then rode 588 miles in 5 days. I had no problem, other than at the end my butt was a little saddle sore. 

Your nutrition will make you or break you. You need to figure it out too...everyone is different. I try to consume around 300-350 calories per hour. That is about all my body can process...any more just sits in my gut. That its mostly liquid nutrition and clif shot blocks. On some rides (LOTOJA for example) I will mix in some solid foods. I like those uncrustable sandwiches they make for kids once in a whole on a long ride. I'll also cut small red potatoes into quarters and boil them in chicken broth...nice and salty. Those work great! Just don't eat so much that you have to poop during the ride. 

I'd make sure and do at least one or two centuries prior to the event. Eat a good breakfast and a good recovery meal after each day...you'll be fine.


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## mtnroadie

wannaberoadie said:


> Wow, that was so helpful. Thanks.


Anytime wannabe, good luck...


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## Stumpjumper FSR

wannaberoadie said:


> I am doing the Wish a Mile ride this summer. It is 3 back to back to back centuries. I've never ridden one century, let alone 3. At this point I'm averaging around 100 miles/ week. Sometimes more, sometimes less, just whatever work allows me to ride. It usually consists of 2 sets of intervals, some speed drills, cadence drills etc with a long ride of 2-3 hours at this point at the end of the week. The last long ride I did was 50 miles and I pretty well bonked at the end of it. Now part of that was my fault because I didn't do a very good job with nutrition prior to the ride, but none the less.
> The other thing I'm wondering about is nutrition during the ride. I can eat all the GU, gatorade etc in the world, but I still feel hungry and then nauseous. Any tips or ideas? Add protein to a flask of hammergel in it?
> Any and all advice or w/e would be very much appreciated. I don't just want to "survive" this, I want to feel good a the end of it!


I've never ridden the Wish A Mile but I've done the Dalmac Quad more than once, If I were you I'd try to get a century or two in before the big ride in July. Cyclin Dan is correct, you just need to get your nutrition dialed in. I've done many century's drinking gatorade, using powerbar gels and eating powerbars but I had always "bonked". I use hammer products now and have had great success ...check them out The Top 10 - The biggest mistakes endurance athletes make | Hammer Nutrition


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## wannaberoadie

Cyclin Dan: The ride is the last few days of July. Lots of time to train, just a bit nervous I guess. I do intend to do a couple of centuries prior to the actual ride. Friends and riding buddies seem to think I'll have no trouble doing the ride, but I don't know how many of them have ever done a ride this long.

SJFSR: That article was fantastic, thanks for sharing. On the 50 miler I did on Sunday I had 2 bottles of weak gatorade and a gel. I had a chicken club from McD's. Normally I'm a lot more intelligent about what I eat, usually eggs, toast, peanut butter, OJ 2 hours before a ride and I'm all set. I was in a rush that morning and wasn't expecting a "hill ride" with a bunch of Cat 2 guys who were getting all competitive. I also wasn't expecting a 50 mile ride. I just started road riding in December.

I realize how ridiculous this sounds for a complete newb to try this, but hell why not. Thanks for all the GREAT posts, I do appreciate your experience.


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## Tonyc9075

I have done rides like this. 5 days 450 miles.
Just take your time each day, You don't need to finish fast just finish a little fresh.
Eat on the ride. I stoped for a lunch break and ate real food.
Drink lots of water.
Do a leg message on your legs at the end of the day.

The second day you will be a little stiff but after 30 minutes you should be fine. Same on day 3.
Most of all enjoy what you are doing.

Tony


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## wannaberoadie

Tonyc9075 said:


> I have done rides like this. 5 days 450 miles.
> Just take your time each day, You don't need to finish fast just finish a little fresh.
> Eat on the ride. I stoped for a lunch break and ate real food.
> Drink lots of water.
> Do a leg message on your legs at the end of the day.
> 
> The second day you will be a little stiff but after 30 minutes you should be fine. Same on day 3.
> Most of all enjoy what you are doing.
> 
> Tony


That seems to be what this ride is about. Just getting it done and having fun while doing it. Thanks.


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## mpre53

If this is some kind of organized charity ride, I'd say, go ahead and do it.

You won't be the weakest rider in it, by a long shot.

You'll find a group to ride with at the pace you're comfortable with.

The other riders will help pull you along.

You'll have frequent rest/nutrition/hydration stops along the routes.

You'll have support vehicles to grab onto you if you falter.


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## MTBMaven

I second the advice to read the 10 tips from Hammer. This is a great place to start and where I started 5 or 6 years ago. There are several other documents worth read on the Hammer site. Take the Hammer information with a bit of grain of salt as they are trying to sell Hammer products. If you can read through the 'Hammer is the only product you should consider' language you will be fine.

Hammer products are a great place to start as you work out your nutrition. They should be readily available at your LBS and now REI. Also available online. Start with some single servings before you buy the large tubs. _Some_ people have digestion issues with Hammer product, so you will want to find this out early on. NEVER try new stuff the day of an event! I would start with Sustained Energy or Perpeteum. Read up on dosage and how to make a multi hour bottle. When I used Hammer stuff I would make a bottle that was like Bisquick. 

I would also recommend reading stuff on the Ultramarathon Cycling Association page.

For nutrition you will need to think about three things: water, electrolytes, and calories. Water: plan for 1 large bottle every 60-90 minutes. Electrolytes: go with what is recommended by the manufacture of your chosen electrolyte product and adjust according to your personal needs and temp as you become familiar with your body. (this takes time so start working on this now) Calories: your body cannot consume much more than 300 calories per hour. This is harder than is sounds so you will need to work out a strategy. Hammer goes into detailed information on how the body can absorb more calories if they are complex carbs versus simple sugars, etc. 

As you get started go into longer events with a plan. I used to calculate all this stuff out in advance when getting started. I am less rigorous now mostly because I have a basic on bike nutrition plan that works so I don't have to think about it. A key part of my plan now is to have a 15-20 minute repeating count down timer on my watch throughout the event. You can use the one on a Garmin but it isn't loud enough for me and I tend to miss the Garmin but not the watch. 

I now use a custom endurance blend from Infinit Nutrition that I've honed over several iterations. My blend is perfectly tailored to my personal needs. You likely will not need to go this route but know the option exists. 

There are some real food options as well. Fig Newtons, dates, raisins, mashed potatoes in a zip lock bag, PB&Js, V8 are all great products. Honestly nothing beats a small can of V8 every few hours.

As for fitness nothing beats long hours on the bike. If you cannot regularly get long ride in your schedule focus on strength building and cardio like you seem to already be doing. I find that climbing is some of the most valuable training I can do if I cannot get in longer rides. You will need to get in at least several centuries before the event. You will only discover certain things about your fitness, bike fit, nutrition, etc. when you are on these longer rides. There is just no way to simulate the way you will react to being on the bike for 5, 6, 7, 8 hours.

Unlike what mtnroadie seems to be indicating you can very easily work into doing centuries and even three back to back centuries. You can also work into the point where you could wake up any day of the week and go bang out a century without hesitating. Heck after you get the century thing down you might even graduate to doing double centuries. My first double of the year is the 18th. The goal is to get at least three double in this year.

Feel free to write back. I will check in on the thread for a few days. Also feel free to PM me, which will send me an email. Good luck with your training!


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## pigpen

Bike fit and real food are the keys to completing such rides.
Take your time and have fun. 

Me, I am a big guy that has done several centuries. None back to back. Two years ago I did 6 Gap century. The next week I rode three straight days of 75+ miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Lots of climbing that week. I actually got stronger as the days went by. My buddies got weaker as they went out way too hard the first couple of days and paid for it on the third.

Be sure you saddle fits your bum. That might be the biggest hurdle. It is for me. The first day, no issues, the second day, some discomfort, the third I was wearing two pair of shorts.

All that with no rides over 75 miles with little climbing leading up to big days.


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## pmf

I used to do one back to back century every fall before kids. I have also done some fairly challenging bike tours that have involved 6-7 days of riding everyday, but only 60-80 miles per day. Some of these tours (e.g., PA and CO) involved considerable climbing.

Given that your ride is in the summer and it's early February now, I'd say you're in good shape. Keep riding more. Do some back to back long rides on the weekends. Can you commute to work on a bike? When I was at my cycling peak (before the kids came along), any week less than 200 miles was wimpy. If you can get it up to that level, you should be fine. 

Some things that always helped me on tours -- 

When you're done for the day, get out of the cycling clothes and take a shower ASAP. Rinse out your water bottles, fill them with water and lay on your bed drinking both bottles. Try to drink a lot of fluids. Dehydration will ruin things quicker than anything else. 

Eat real food. Gels and bars are OK, but when you're out all day, nothing beats a real lunch, even if you have to stop and buy it yourself somewhere. You can get by for a day or two on gels and bars, but there's no substitute for real food. 

If you have a drink that works well for you bring some along. I'm a real Cytomax fan. I usually bring an entire can of powder and have a couple doses in plastic baggie in my jersey pocket. 

Wear clean shorts everyday. 

Don't experiment with anything new. No new saddle, shorts, sports dring, etc. 

You can do this.


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## mpre53

I just googled this. It's a 3 day charity ride in Michigan to benefit the Make-A-Wish foundation. You shouldn't have any reservations about entering it. All of what I said in my first post is what you can expect. Take advantage of the rest stops. Replenish your water bottle, and take nutrition there. Stick with a group that rides at a pace within your limits, and you should be able to finish. And the fact of the matter is, if you have to accept a ride from a SAG vehicle, no one is going to judge you. Your entry and fund raising is what's important. Go for it.


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## wannaberoadie

Thanks for the advice all, it's great to get tips from people who have done these longer rides. I'm going to start experimenting now with different electrolyte drinks to decide what works best for me so I can pick something and stick with it.


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## MTBMaven

Make sure you get something more than electrolyte replenishment after two hours. Be it from real foot like fig newtons, bars, or powders. After you burn of the stored reserves in your muscles you will need more than electrolytes. If you don't provide a good bit of complex carbs and a small amount of protein you will begin to metabolize lean muscle and you will actually be doing more harm to your training than good. Unfortunately you burn lean muscle before fat.  You will also run out of energy at best and bonk at worse. Remember what I wrote before you can only consume 200-300 calories per hour. I will add to that statement that you are burning between 600-1000 per hour, so this is really a means of fighting off lean muscle metabolism. 

Bottom line if riding over 2 hours don't rely solely on electrolytes, eat complex carbs too!


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## wannaberoadie

Well, I've experienced a good old fashioned "bonk" I think. So now I need to start figuring out what to do to avoid that in future... Thanks for all the advice MTBMaven and everyone else!


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## MerlinAma

I'm becoming a much bigger fan of "real food" versus bars and gels. I can actually look forward to PB&J sandwiches instead of another dry energy bar.
The Feedzone Cookbook has some interesting recipes and ideas. They have a website you should look at too.
You really need to get one long ride each week as you train. Basically I try to get one long, one very intense (climbs included) and at least a couple of medium rides. To me that's a good approach short of a regimented training plan that could take the fun out of riding, or at least make it difficult to ride with other people not having the same daily objective.


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## davidka

Nutrition is a small part, just eat and drink more than you think you need. There is no magic bullet that will increase your endurance from where it is now. 

You need to increase your weekly mileage. A century is not terribly hard to finish for a decently fit rider. Getting up and riding the next day is. Spend a few months bringing your distances up and after a while try a couple of back to back 80+ mile days. Make sure you do some group riding (if you don't already). Riding in big groups make big distances much easier but only if you know how to draft and read the wind direction.

Your body will not feel good at the end of this but the rest of you will.


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## SOME_1_ELSE_1999

I am NOT a expert on this but i did do 900 miles in 11 days on a trip from florida to texas. While what every one is telling you about nutrition is good and necessary, I am really going to recommend getting out on you bike and riding. There is no substitute for that. You can eat all you want but if all you have rode is 50 miles as a training run all you can expect is 50 miles a day. I really regretted not doing more before i went on my trip but time didnt allow for it. I recommend starting of small and working your way up. As in do 50 miles one week then add 10 each following week till your doing 100. Then work on your time. You will figure out what works and what doesnt pretty quick. I also recommend bike shorts, i didnt have them when i was training and my arse paid the price for it too. Thankfully before i left town i bought a pair. Looking back idk how i did it with out them. PB and honey in tortillas fit great in a jersey pocket arent messy and give great energy.


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## MTBMaven

Agree strongly with advice from Some 1 Else 1999 and davidka, nutrition is not everything by any means. I think nutrition is very important and if you don't fuel you will not finish this event. That said if you don't put in the miles and train well you will not finish either. 

Thinking back I think the keys for me were figuring out nutrition, bike fit, and pacing. I've written about nutrition already. Bike fit was key for me after about 5 hours. After two professional bike fits and moving my saddle back 1 CM or less my problems went away. Before that I would get this terrible pain in my Achilles, basically an over use injury from my knee extending too far forward. Proper bike fit is key for me and I am very sensitive to any small misalignment. 

Pacing was another thing that took me a while to figure out. Over time I've figured out to take it easy for the first 10 or so miles. One can build up a lot of lactic acid in those early miles and pay the price later in the day. During long event I found it key not push it harder than conversation pace for too long at any given time (>20 minutes or so). Once I figured out my lactate threshold I began using this value to judge when I'm digging too deep, which happens to be 170 bmp for me. If you are curious do some searching on performing a self test lactate threshold test. If you have a heart rate monitor that will calculate your average heart rate you can perform this test on your own. I did the shorter version of the test.

For me training was less important for doing centuries, YRMV. I was a weekend warrior mountain biker before getting a road bike. I got the bike in early December and by February I did my first century. I followed that up with 11 more centuries that year, one each month. The best part about it was I went from 195# to 175# and from a 36" waist to 32" and have kept it off for the last 5 years.


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## theBreeze

I have ridden several multiday tours (up to 14 days) averaging 100 miles a day. There is one element to doing this successfully that hasn't been mentioned, and that's what do do AFTER you get off the bike. Recovery is key to making it through several days in a row. Sure, eating properly on the bike will help you finish the day, but you need to replenish once you are off.

1) Begin re-hydrating as soon as you are done. fill up a water bottle and keep it with you. drink often. some carbohydrate and protein in a 4:1 ratio consumed in the first 2-3 hours helps with muscle glycogen replacement. You can get all high tech about it with recovery drinks, or get yourself a chilled chocolate skim milk at a grocery or convenience store.

2) Is the organization providing meals or do you have to find your own dinner? No matter how tired you may be eat a good meal in the evening. and not just "carbo load" on pasta either. good quality protein is a must. chicken, beef or whatever is your fancy as long as it's not fried or too greasy.

3) Eat a little protein and fat for breakfast. Boiled or scrambled eggs are good if you can get them. Have some peanut butter on toast or bagel if you can't. It's going to put some long burning fuel on your system.

In my experience it's the third day of a multiday event that is the make or break day. If you haven't been paying attention and taking care of yourself, it's going to be a tough one.


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## MerlinAma

theBreeze said:


> ..........or get yourself a chilled chocolate skim milk .....


That works for ordinary 75 mile weekend rides.

For multi-day tours I've found a full on milkshake or malt to be essential.

Not only for recovery, but highly motivational for me!


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## MTBMaven

Good stuff theBreeze. 

We never put in 100 miles days but we did put in 60-80 mile days on a 9 day 500 mile fully loaded tour from the CA/OR border to SF. We ate damn near everything once off the bike. Hydration was bit harder with a few beers in camp.


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## bob.satan

I doing a London to Liverpool ride in May (in 2.5 days) and my biggest concern is the cold. I am coming from Singapore where is is 32degrees (90 degrees the old way) every day

I am assuming layering will be the way to go and i am thinking windstopper is the other good thing

My plan is, for the month leading up to it (April) i want to be riding a minimum of 50km a day, with 100km on saturdays and 130km on sundays, which puts me at 400-500km a week

at the moment i am doing about 200km a week, but finding the time to do it is the hard bit!


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## orange_julius

wannaberoadie said:


> I am doing the Wish a Mile ride this summer. It is 3 back to back to back centuries. I've never ridden one century, let alone 3. At this point I'm averaging around 100 miles/ week. Sometimes more, sometimes less, just whatever work allows me to ride. It usually consists of 2 sets of intervals, some speed drills, cadence drills etc with a long ride of 2-3 hours at this point at the end of the week. The last long ride I did was 50 miles and I pretty well bonked at the end of it. Now part of that was my fault because I didn't do a very good job with nutrition prior to the ride, but none the less.
> The other thing I'm wondering about is nutrition during the ride. I can eat all the GU, gatorade etc in the world, but I still feel hungry and then nauseous. Any tips or ideas? Add protein to a flask of hammergel in it?
> Any and all advice or w/e would be very much appreciated. I don't just want to "survive" this, I want to feel good a the end of it!


There are lots of good advice here, but let me offer this: 

* To do 3 back-to-back-to-back centuries, you have to be able to do one and finish in good shape. 

* All the advice are good, but they will be more meaningful once you actually attempt one century. So go out and do one, and tell us how you feel at the end of it. And tell us how you feel the following day. We'll try to help you calibrate and troubleshoot. Right now we are discussing in the abstract, except for the fact that you could barely finish a 50-mile ride. 

* "Finding a group that you are comfortable with" is a fine theoretical concept, but in reality most riders new to large group riders almost always select their riding group poorly. The best is to do one century with an HRM, so that you can estimate at what HRM you are comfortable to ride. Then while doing the ride, be disciplined in checking your HRM to ensure you are within limits. 

Finally, there is still time to train, but there isn't much time left. So if I were you I'd attempt a very slow 50-miler again in 2 weeks, report back here and calibrate, and plan to do a solo 75-miler and 100-miler in the near future.


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## wannaberoadie

orange_julius said:


> There are lots of good advice here, but let me offer this:
> 
> * To do 3 back-to-back-to-back centuries, you have to be able to do one and finish in good shape.
> 
> * All the advice are good, but they will be more meaningful once you actually attempt one century. So go out and do one, and tell us how you feel at the end of it. And tell us how you feel the following day. We'll try to help you calibrate and troubleshoot. Right now we are discussing in the abstract, except for the fact that you could barely finish a 50-mile ride.
> 
> * "Finding a group that you are comfortable with" is a fine theoretical concept, but in reality most riders new to large group riders almost always select their riding group poorly. The best is to do one century with an HRM, so that you can estimate at what HRM you are comfortable to ride. Then while doing the ride, be disciplined in checking your HRM to ensure you are within limits.
> 
> Finally, there is still time to train, but there isn't much time left. So if I were you I'd attempt a very slow 50-miler again in 2 weeks, report back here and calibrate, and plan to do a solo 75-miler and 100-miler in the near future.


Advice noted and will be followed. I'll post back (hopefully this Sunday) if the weather's okay, I'm going after a 50 or 60 miler solo. Low aerobic HR threshold. I do appreciate the advice.


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## Tonyc9075

orange-julius,
makes a good point. Some people have a max limit to how far they can ride in one day. I have gone on a 3 person ride where one of the group just didn't have it and could not finish the days ride. They ended up getting a ride in a pick up truck.

You will not know if you have a limit untill you do a century.

Get at least one under your belt before you do a triple.


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## orange_julius

wannaberoadie said:


> Advice noted and will be followed. I'll post back (hopefully this Sunday) if the weather's okay, I'm going after a 50 or 60 miler solo. Low aerobic HR threshold. I do appreciate the advice.


Also take note of the timing of feeds and drinks. Take note of how many bars/gels you consume and when. Take note of how many bottles of water you end up drinking, and at what consumption rate approximately. 

Most people need one "proper" meal during a century. It will be good to figure out: 

* What you can eat, and more importantly what you cannot/should not eat during this "proper" meal. 
* How much water and food you go through, so that you can be prepared in terms of how much to bring between feed stations. 

Same applies for the end-of-day meal(s). 

If all this makes it sound as if your body were an engine for converting food and drinks into pedaling motion, well, roughly speaking it is. Let's figure out the maintenance requirement for that engine, and also the input/output delays. Worst is to forget to eat until the end, by which point your muscles are starved. That will make a miserable next day. 

Don't forget that one important aspect of training for long rides is that you are teaching your body to store energy efficiently. This takes some time and some strategy.


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## KenSmithMT

*My two bits*

All of this is good advice. My two bits...or more...

#1. You did not sign up for a race so relax. It's a ride and it should be fun.
#2. Real food is better than race food. Granola bars, PBnJ (lunchables are awesome) and fruit or fruit snacks. It's much less expensive than race food and will sit better in your stomach. Your body is used to eating it every day, so why change? Whole grain breads and granola will provide a much more even fuel than sweet shots. For convenience you can add in some gu or shots, but don’t rely on them. 250-300 cals/hr. In the hours before and during the ride try to keep the complex carbs at 70-80% of your intake with fats and proteins making up the balance. After the ride shift to ~60% carbs, 30% protein and 10% fat. 
#3. Get a simple heart rate monitor (HRM). The best way I found to train for and succeed on sustained rides was to train properly and make sure I did not go out to hard on ride day. A lot of training articles and videos talk about training at perceived exertion levels. I found that I was not anywhere close to what I should have been doing. For endurance events, most of your training should have your heart rate near 70% of its maximum. Intervals mixed in pushing it up to 90% will help in many ways. Without an HRM I found what I thought was 70% was really 50% and what should have been 90% was about 70%. Long training rides mixed with short hard rides with intervals are very effective and the short hard rides help on the days when hours are limited. Try something like this. Monday-Off. Tues 60 min with 50%/90% intervals. Wed [email protected]%. Thurs Off. Friday 60 min with 50%/90% intervals. Saturday Off. Sunday [email protected]%. Repeat. Make sure you take some days off so your body can recover. 4 days of good riding per week is more than enough to get you there. Focus on the time and effort of the ride, not the distance. You’ll find that the distances will increase quickly and you won’t stress about the miles ahead, you’ll look forward to them. 
4. Warm Up slowly. Allow 20 minutes to gradually warm up for each ride. Start out at 50% for 10 minutes and then 10 min at 60%. In my non-technical terms, this will get any easy carbs and oxygen burnt out of your muscles and get them looking for real fuel. If you are riding with other people, show up early and take a few laps around the block so you are not pressured to start out too fast. On the century days, stretch it out to 30 minutes. It’s not a race. Enjoy it.
5. On the century ride days, use the monitor to make sure you don’t go out too hard. Try to set your pace at around 65-70% of your max heart rate. This way your body can keep up with it’s fuel and oxygen needs. If you do the training above you’ll feel like you can go faster, but at the end of the day, you’ll feel like you can go farther, and that’s what it’s all about. End the ride each day with a smile on your face, ready to do the next day.
6. Use Google and search out lots of articles on Cycling Endurance Training. Read up and decide what fits you. I’ve done a lot of research and ridding and would be happy to give you any other advice if you e-mail me.
Good luck and have fun !


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## KenSmithMT

A few more thoughts...on food.
Don't carbo-load the night before the ride and don't eat a huge breakfast. You'll just mess your system up. You need to train your body to use the fuels it has when you need them. Your body can store a few hours worth of carbs and can process 200-400 calories/hour, but that will not fuel you for 3 days of 100 mile rides. You need to tap into your stored fats for real fuel. Longer training rides and intervals will kick in the fat burning engine. Rides longer that 90 minutes, 2-3 hrs is best. Don't add fat to you diet though. It is slow to digest and makes a poor mid-ride fuel/food. Your body can make all the fat it needs. Just keep the carbs trickling in to fuel the fire. 
Recovery each day will be critical. The most important thing is to eat something around 400 calories that is easily digestible with a carb/protien ratio around 3/1 or 4/1 within 20-30 minutes of finishing your ride. This is when the muscles are more receptive to absorbing the nutrients for repairs and restoring glycogen for the next days ride. My favorites are greek yogurt, peanut butter and apples or Carnation Instant Breakfast drink.(think chocolate milk with added protien and vitamins) The key as always is "Don't try anything new on the day of the ride !! " Do this in training and figure out what works for you. Then eat a good healthy dinner but don't over do it. Think fresh vegtables, salad, fruit, whole grain bread and a little fish. Try to keep it nutritios and your body will reward you. Also figure out what plugs you up or gives you gas and stay away from them.
Alternate water and sports drinks as you ride. Two bottles works best so you can sip one, then sip the other. Too much sports drink is just as bad as none.
Other thoughts...
Fresh shorts every day.
Chamois Cream - at the beginning of each day and at the 50 mile mark.
Loose shorts immediately after the ride.
Have fun !


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## MTBMaven

Ken Smith brings up a good point, taint care both on and off bike. I like Bag Balm the best for on bike taint creme. The extra thick viscosity seems to hold up the best and is dirt cheap. After ride diaper creme will keep your nether reaches from getting a rash. Luckily I did not suffer from any issues on our 9 day tour. Clean shorts and a daily shower was key. 

I was in the green room after a Tour of CA stage a few years ago as volunteer doping control. All the pros wiped down to get the road grime off and then applied some form of diaper creme.


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## Blue CheeseHead

If the ride organizers have massages set up, get one after each day. 15 minutes on the legs will help recovery.


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## bjh1776

Check out the following training and nutrition advice from these sites: Training | Ride The Rockies and Nutrition | Ride The Rockies Ride the Rockies route is not exactly what you are doing, but I think there is some good info here that you could modify for your purposes.

I can't offer any technical advice for 3 centuries and the negativity of mtnroadie  above really surprises me. But last summer, me (52 years old) and my 11 year old son were typically riding 7-15 miles, 3-4 times a week on mountain bikes. One week prior, we found and signed up for an organized metric century even though our longest prior ride was 18 miles. During that ride the winds from Hurricane Irene arrived and right as we finished the rains hit. It was a stretch for us based on our riding skillset, and my son took a nasty spill, but we finished. And we had such a good time, a couple of weeks later we rode an organized half century. Now, I got the biking bug and am scoping out organized rides we will do this year.

Although 3 consecutive centuries sounds like a nice challenge, just go for it. You have plenty of time for training and to get in shape.


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## orange_julius

wannaberoadie said:


> Advice noted and will be followed. I'll post back (hopefully this Sunday) if the weather's okay, I'm going after a 50 or 60 miler solo. Low aerobic HR threshold. I do appreciate the advice.


How did your half/metric century go?


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## nightfend

Most important advice I can give. During the summer, you can never take in enough water during your ride to re-hydrate completely. So you are going to finish the ride each day dehydrated. Even if it is a pain, I'd carry a water bottle around with you everywhere you go after the ride each day and drink all night until you go to sleep. Hydration and getting the proper electrolytes will go a long way towards making your ride fun, and not a torture fest of sore muscles and cramps.


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## wannaberoadie

So for those of you who suggested I do another 50 miler to see how things went...I did. They went muuch better than the first one. I just got done with 62 mile ride today and even though I finished things up with a 10 mile ride back thru a 15 mph head wind, I felt great. Had gas left in the tank. It wasn't the fastest ever, but I did it in 4 hours with 2100' of climbing. I ate 2 gels and a stroopwaffel. I did order a thing of gu brew, perpetuem tabs and a jug of Hammergel to start experimenting with. I'm setting a goal to do a century by June. I think I'll be okay. Thanks for all of the advice, nightfend, you're point is a good one. Lots of rehydrating to do post ride.


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## antonlove

wannaberoadie said:


> So for those of you who suggested I do another 50 miler to see how things went...I did. They went muuch better than the first one. I just got done with 62 mile ride today and even though I finished things up with a 10 mile ride back thru a 15 mph head wind, I felt great. Had gas left in the tank. It wasn't the fastest ever, but I did it in 4 hours with 2100' of climbing. I ate 2 gels and a stroopwaffel. I did order a thing of gu brew, perpetuem tabs and a jug of Hammergel to start experimenting with. I'm setting a goal to do a century by June. I think I'll be okay. Thanks for all of the advice, nightfend, you're point is a good one. Lots of rehydrating to do post ride.


Wannaberoadie, I'm glad your metric century went better than your 1st 50 mile ride. That's encouraging. With more training, it'll get a lot easier, you'll see. I've ridden back to back centuries before, and I think you'll be just fine by the summer. You've received a lot of great information so far. Here's my 2 cents:

1. As for nutrition, one of my training partners swears by Perpetuem. I've tried it as well. I recommend it, and I think that you are doing the right thing by experimenting with what will work best for you. 

2. Pacing...What MTBMaven said about pacing is spot on. I recommend finding out your threshold, and try not to go too hard. Just understand that your threshold will be different by the time the ride comes around. 

3. I don't know if you are well versed on drafting. That will probably help you get through the ride a lot easier. If you can find a group to train with that can show you drafting, you'll see what a difference it makes. However, because I try to do my back to back centuries in under 5 hours each, I try to accomplish that alone in training, then I'm confident I can do it in a ride. During the ride, if you can find a group that is riding at roughly your pace, you can draft each other. You'll save a lot of energy that way.

4. Recovery...I'm shocked no one has mentioned this yet, but try taking an ice bath. When I ride my back to backs, I take a 15-20 min ice bath at night. It does not feel good while I'm doing it, but it works wonders for me. I recommend that you try this when you have back to back training sessions. I think you'll find that it will help rejuvenate your legs. Then do it every night on the actual ride.


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## ZoSoSwiM

As long as you have decent fitness riding 3 back to back to back centuries if more about fueling and recovery. If you dig a hole on day one by day 3 you're cooked. Drink every 15 minutes.. eat regularly.. and rest as needed.


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## MTBMaven

Wannaberoadie,

Glad things went better for you this time. As you start to go beyond the 4 hour mark I would highly recommend you start adding something more endurance oriented to your nutrition, e.g. Sustained Energy, Perpetuem, etc. 

antonlove brought up recovery. This is an important element of training and one I am oft to forget. antonlove recommended an ice bath. This is a great way to recover, interesting theory behind it honestly. I almost never do it while cycling. The times I tend to do an ice bath is on backpacking/mountaineering trips in the Sierra in ice cold lakes. It's quite invigorating to say the least. Other forms or recovery include consuming the right types of food. Natural foods with a good mix of carbs and protein are key. For convenience I sometimes go for chocolate milk but these days am shamefully reaching for Walgreens brand Ensure (I know I hate myself for it honestly).


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## Ronann

That's a lot of miles in not a lot of days.


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## Scott B

Some of this has already been said, but my thoughts:

1) Don't think you have to do fast. These are 3 back to back 100 mile races. It's three rides. Going in with the mentality of "I'm going to ride for a while, for fun" seems like the proper framing to me.

2) You'll have all day to do these rides. Doesn't matter if it takes 10-12 hours door to door each day. Ride relaxed and you'll be better off for that day and next.

3) Don't think of it as "I'm going to do a 100 mile ride", it's more like "I'm headed out to do 30 and have a snack break, another 30 and lunch break, and a final 40 and lots of dinner". Taking breaks is fine, it's more like touring than racing.

4) Eat. Lots. Find delicious things. I recommend training with a picnic, seriously. Pack some lunch, or even meet friends/family, in the middle of a ride and get used to eating a real meal. Do it a few times and your body will figure it out.

5) Start to work in longer rides that are closer together. You might never do three big days in a row, but try working up to a 50 in the later afternoon and then do another 50 the next morning. 

6) Drink. Lots. I like adding Nunn tablets to water at least once or twice in a day of riding. They seem to help me stay feeling good.

Having done 400+ miles in 4 days while touring fully loaded I can say this is very doable if you work up to it and don't treat it like a race. Just relax, break it in to pieces and enjoy. How's the training going?


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## RanGer498

So glad I found this thread as it is helping me on my Police Unity Tour Challenge Ride training.


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## Cyclesingh

Some great information on this thread! Not sure if Wannaberoadie will get this notification but I just wondered if they got it done in the end!!?


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## pmf

I usually chastise people to responding to such old threads, but it was fun to read what I'd written way back when I was in my late 40's. Hopefully, he'll respond. Back then, my kids were 6 and 8. I was handing half my take home pay to a lazy nanny. Weekends were a blur. The only riding I got in was my 33 mile round trip commute to work. The kids are now grown up and almost in college. Its been a long 9 years. Were does your life go?


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