Tom Roberts
Active Member
Hello All,
I completed my first century ride (100 miles) yesterday. There were only two recumbent bikes in the ride. I of course, (on my Silvio) was one and the other was a fellow who rides in the recumbent group that gets together once a month. We started in Norwalk and rode in a northeasterly direction on city streets until we reached the Santa Ana River Trail (about 50 miles). From there we rode until we reached the ocean (about 20 miles). Then we headed up the Pacific Coast Hwy through Huntington Beach, Long Beach and Seal Beach (about 15 miles). At this point we headed inland up the San Gabriel River Trail for the last 15 miles to the finish line.
My goal was to average between 15 and 16 mph. I crossed the finish line with an average of 16.1 mph with a time of a little over 6 hours. My bike computer said I burned 4999 calories.
The only problem I had was cramps (which turned out to be fairly major). At about 30 miles I got a minor cramp in my right calf while climbing a hill. It went away when I topped the hill, but from that point on for the next 70 miles every time I was climbing and sometimes even unannounced on the flats my legs and hands were cramping on and off. I have two possible explanations for this. One is that I did not hydrate adequately prior to the start of the ride. The other is that because my blood pressure wants to be a little high I try to keep my salt intake to minimum. At any rate they made riding quite difficult. The next time I will do whatever it takes in advance to avoid this situation.
All that said I'm glad did it.
Tom
I completed my first century ride (100 miles) yesterday. There were only two recumbent bikes in the ride. I of course, (on my Silvio) was one and the other was a fellow who rides in the recumbent group that gets together once a month. We started in Norwalk and rode in a northeasterly direction on city streets until we reached the Santa Ana River Trail (about 50 miles). From there we rode until we reached the ocean (about 20 miles). Then we headed up the Pacific Coast Hwy through Huntington Beach, Long Beach and Seal Beach (about 15 miles). At this point we headed inland up the San Gabriel River Trail for the last 15 miles to the finish line.
My goal was to average between 15 and 16 mph. I crossed the finish line with an average of 16.1 mph with a time of a little over 6 hours. My bike computer said I burned 4999 calories.
The only problem I had was cramps (which turned out to be fairly major). At about 30 miles I got a minor cramp in my right calf while climbing a hill. It went away when I topped the hill, but from that point on for the next 70 miles every time I was climbing and sometimes even unannounced on the flats my legs and hands were cramping on and off. I have two possible explanations for this. One is that I did not hydrate adequately prior to the start of the ride. The other is that because my blood pressure wants to be a little high I try to keep my salt intake to minimum. At any rate they made riding quite difficult. The next time I will do whatever it takes in advance to avoid this situation.
All that said I'm glad did it.
Tom
