# Rode My First 200 Yesterday



## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

5 of us rode 200+ miles yesterday in and around Phoenix, AZ. 9 hours 36 minutes. Basically we set out with the sun at 7am and rode in with the sunset around 5pm. Super windy (by cycling standards) with a north wind blowing a steady 15mph and gusting to maybe 25mph with some drainage and venturi effect out to the west of town near Wickenburg.

We had a support car manned with two guys stocked with plenty of fluid and food which made the ride flow really well. As such, we didn't stop as a group. If one guy had to pee they would get motor paced back to the group by the support van sort of like what you see pro teams do on TV. 

The ride went really smoothly with zero mechanicals of any kind. I mean we just put our heads down and tapped it out! All 5 guys were experienced riders and we echeloned and rotated well with out a hitch. Each guy just knew where to be and when to be there. Also, we were all disciplined enough to not surge etc...we kept the efforts super metered and relatively equal in length. 

As far as food goes we had bananas, various bars, rice (actual rice) mixed in with scrambled egg, bacon, some maple syrup and sugar, small PP&J's. For liquid it was straight water, bottles mixed with GQ.6 and some coke. I think the rice cakes were what got me through! Amazing. Easy to eat and a welcome change of taste after too much sweet of the bars. These played a huge part of my nutrition from mile 100-170.

First time using GQ.6 and very impressed. I've used many different additives but, this stuff was way less sugary, much saltier (sound bad but it's good) and some BCAA's etc...thrown in. Anyways, no cramp issues but, I do think cramping is a result of more than just hydration/or lack thereof.

Equipment wise the only surprise was the heel of my right foot got super sore from 170-180 miles on home. I wear the Specialized S-Works shoe with the same foot beds for years. Just one of those things I suppose you never know will be an issue until you do it. 

Here is a picture somewhere out west of Phoenix on Vulture Mine Rd south of a town called Wickenburg.

STRAVA: https://www.strava.com/activities/792813034


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

Nice! 200 is a loooong ride. Well done.

i saw a presentation on randoneuring last week. You might be a candidate. I'm not tempted.


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## J.R. (Sep 14, 2009)

Nice riding, 

I did my first 200 in May. At a much slower pace than your ride. Started at 3:00am with a friend and rode 75 miles before joining a larger group for the next 100 and then rode the last 25 with a group of 5. Finished around 4:00pm with a number of food/water stops throughout the day. I was surprised at how well it went. 

Thoughts of a 400k now flit through my head


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## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

I was surprised how well it went as well. No one had any issues which was sort of amazing rolling through that much city (debris). As far as the effort it was taxing but not as hard as I anticipated it would be. I think we did a good job starting out metering efforts and continued that to the end. I was worried about my butt getting sore or my neck and back but those were fine. Used a lot of chamois cream which really helps me. Just the heal thing. Man was that painful at the end!


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## duriel (Oct 10, 2013)

Congrads on the mileage, way too far for me.
That road seems pretty busy with high speed traffic & minimal shoulder, how did that work out.


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## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

duriel said:


> Congrads on the mileage, way too far for me.
> That road seems pretty busy with high speed traffic & minimal shoulder, how did that work out.


If you mean the road in the picture...that was 355th Ave which turns into Aguila Rd. The traffic was sparse on that section. You can see we had to use a bit of the lane to echelon. We had a Sprinter van following and what we did was when a few cars backed up our driver would give us a double honk and we'd move over on the white line. The Sprinter would put over half way into the shoulder and let the cars pass. Worked flawlessly. 

The only 2 sections of road that had a bit of traffic at high speed were: US 60 from Wickenburg to Carefree Hwy but it was 2 lanes so the Sprinter blocked for us...and Carefree Hwy around Lake Pleasant if you know the area. We did the same thing but, luckily the cross wind was more of a tail and we could straddle the white line much closer and still draft. There was a shoulder so the van could sort of protect us but, not block the lane. The shoulder had rumble strips and lots of FOD in it so we had to use the lane. Again it worked really well. No close calls. No reeeaally pissed drivers (a few honks and 1 shout). No incidents.


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## duriel (Oct 10, 2013)

I was think of the 2 lane on 60 towards Wickenburg, but maybe my memory is not so good & I'm thinking of N of Wick towards Prescott. I don't go that way often.


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## Trek_5200 (Apr 21, 2013)

Congrats! I rode 150 miles last year on relatively flat terrain through the rain. I was pretty tired at the end of it. I can't contemplate 200 and since then haven't gone past 115 miles. Sounds like you ride considerably faster than me though, so maybe that makes it easier. 9 hours in the saddle is the most I can tolerate.


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## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

Trek_5200 said:


> Congrats! I rode 150 miles last year on relatively flat terrain through the rain. I was pretty tired at the end of it. I can't contemplate 200 and since then haven't gone past 115 miles. Sounds like you ride considerably faster than me though, so maybe that makes it easier. 9 hours in the saddle is the most I can tolerate.


You can. I think anyone can now that I did it especially on flat terrain. How strong you finish depends on how you meter your efforts and staying on top of nutrition and hydration.

Just an update...a few of us just did Dawn to Dusk which is an endurance mountain bike event here in PHX this past week end. I did a team thing so only an hour at a time followed by a teammate going for an hour from about 7am to 5pm. The guy second from the left did it solo. 10 hours and 19 minutes IIRC and 150 miles. 9.5 hours and 200miles with 5 guys on smooth roads is one thing but, 10+ hours on a mountain bike is really insane! He won it btw. Animal! My point is at some point it is overwhelmingly a mental thing to press on. That what he said anyways and I agree...so press on. You can.


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## ridesmasterx (Aug 3, 2013)

You could have thrown Yarnell in just for fun😬 Nice ride guys!!


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## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

ridesmasterx said:


> You could have thrown Yarnell in just for fun😬 Nice ride guys!!


Thanks! Love riding up to Yarnell and both ways into Prescott!


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## n2deep (Mar 23, 2014)

Congrats!!!! Nice ride and excellent speed/time!!! I grew up on the west side of the valley and love the desert in that area, it's truly specular this time of the year, makes me home sick!!!!


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## FasterStronger (Jun 6, 2014)

Excellent ride and time and just what I need to read about with our frigid winter in full swing. 2 out of 3 cars would not start in our driveway yesterday it was -30 (Celsius)plus with wind. I like how you guys handled traffic with your support vehicle too - keeps pissing off motorists and hassles on th road to a minimum.
congrats and thanks for posting.


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