Holland Hundred 2015-07-18

[JOSEPHWEISSERT]

I just finished the Holland Hundred in Holland, Michigan. I'm still using my heavy tires and tubes (28 mm Conti GatorSkins and thick tubes on bullet-proof Ksyrium wheels). They have terrible rolling resistance and are heavy. I was thinking about putting on the new tires and tubes, but decided to wait until after this ride (because I thought it would be easy!).

I did about 104 miles with a 19.7 mph average. 149 bpm average HR. 3, 788 calories according to my cyclocomputer. No video of this one. I'm so exhausted. I thought it was going to be all flat, but there was a significant amount of climbing involved. I also thought it would just be another easy 100 miles. Wrong! It was about 88 degrees out there. I spent a lot of the time being chased. So I was working hard for most of the ride. At one point, there was a big group chasing me for miles and miles. They finally caught me - but it took them quite a while. There were about a dozen riders, many with matching team jerseys. So I drafted off them for a while. Then I got bored and blew by them at close to 40 mph on a slight downhill. Then they chased and chased and chased some more. There were two really strong riders in the group who used to be on my racing team. Those two used to be much stronger than I was - years ago, that is. They're still really strong now, but so am I. They put the hammer down in the group and finally (after working their butts off) caught me. I'm such a wuss - a group of 12 strong DF riders kicked my butt after probably 10 miles. Just goes to show you that the number of average "A" DF riders equivalent to one strong Vendetta is somewhere between 4 and 12.

And then on the last 20 miles or so there was some red jersey chasing me. He chased and chased and chased all by himself. I dropped him a little on a long climb. Then I pulled away more on the downhill. I had to be really quick at the intersections because one traffic stop would give him enough of an edge to make a significant leap. After a long while, I slowed just a bit and he started to sprint up to me. So I pushed it up to 31 mph. He was able to sprint up to me, but then dropped off - he couldn't maintain 31 mph very long. Then he chased and chased and joined some other riders and chased some more. But never was he able to catch me again or pass me. I have to give him credit - there aren't many DF riders who could put out an effort like that.

So I spent most of the ride chasing or being chased right from the beginning. That was one hard century. It was great training though. After drinking liquids on the way home, I'm still 6 pounds dehydrated. Time to recover. I'm exhausted, but I'm really happy. You fellow Vendetta riders know what I mean.

 

[BentAero]

Joseph, congrats on another strong ride.
Could you tell us what you drank, how much, what you ate, and how much, did you stop at all, etc, etc.

 

[Cruzbike Chris]

Another great report, wish I had that much fun every time I rode. Congrats Joe.

 

[JOSEPHWEISSERT]

Joseph, congrats on another strong ride.
Could you tell us what you drank, how much, what you ate, and how much, did you stop at all, etc, etc.

Normally, I just drink distilled water and dextrose (glucose) for liquids in my bottles. I just eat Clif Bars when I get hungry - I only ate one Clif Bar during that ride and it was at about 46 miles - and I drank a bunch of water then also. At around 80 miles, I stopped at a rest stop and ate a bunch of cookies and some peanut butter and jelly sandwich squares and I drank a lot of cold Gatorade. That pretty much held me to the end. I tried to get enough to drink from the two rest stops so that I wouldn't run out of water in my two bottles - the FLEXR bottles are hard to fill because they have liners, which are needed to make them function correctly with the two hoses, the Y connector, and the bite valve. So I only stopped twice for any length of time - once at around 46 miles and then again at around 80 miles.

Keep in mind that the glucose solution is great before about 8 to 12 hours. At the N24HC, I could no longer stomach drink mix or Cliff Bars after that much time on the bike. Then I needed pure water, solid food, salt and other electrolytes, fat, protein, caffeine, etc. But it is fine for a century. Also, if the dextrose is too sweet, you can use maltodextrin instead - it is less sweet. It is a glucose chain that gets absorbed as fast as dextrose (or so my Biochemist cyclist friend told me). The nice thing about glucose (dextrose) is that it does not require digestion and goes straight into the bloodstream. Other sugars have a delayed effect. Maltodextrin breaks down fast allowing it to be absorbed as fast as glucose. If you require flavoring, you can get fruit flavorings from a cake shop or online. I used to do that, but I get along fine without the flavors now.

Preparation in the morning is very important for me. I need a few hundred calories early. So when I get up, I make some real coffee (I normally don't drink much caffeine), and drink two measuring cups worth of coffee with creamer and sweetener added. I also drink a big glass of a protein shake. And I eat a banana and a Cliff Bar. The caffeine is a proven ergogenic aid, meaning that it makes muscles stronger. It also helps to wake me up. But it loses the effect if you consume caffeine on a regular basis, or so I'm told. It can also be dangerous if it is consumed in too large a quantity. But two cups of coffee is not a big problem.

When I train in the sub-50-mile range, I rarely even drink, unless it's really hot out. I carry a half-full water bottle with me in case I need to drink. I stay hydrated normally and my blood volume is high from training. And I also drink before I ride. So dehydration is not a problem for short rides. When it's hot on a long ride, drinking is important, but the body will become dehydrated even if drinking enough - all you can do is slow down the dehydration, not stop it. And it takes from 24 to 48 hours to fully rehydrate depending on how dehydrated you are. So it is important to drink regularly on a long ride to prevent as much dehydration as possible.

 

[battleaxe0]

Rule of thumb down here is one bottle of water per 10 miles.

 

[Cruzbike Chris]

Ditto here too with electrolytes all the time. 99 when I left yesterday whith feels like 104 with the humidity and full sun to boot. You will plan routes with shade if possible.

 

[jond]

Normally, I just drink distilled water and dextrose (glucose) for liquids in my bottles. I just eat Clif Bars when I get hungry - I only ate one Clif Bar during that ride and it was at about 46 miles - and I drank a bunch of water then also. At around 80 miles, I stopped at a rest stop and ate a bunch of cookies and some peanut butter and jelly sandwich squares and I drank a lot of cold Gatorade. That pretty much held me to the end. I tried to get enough to drink from the two rest stops so that I wouldn't run out of water in my two bottles - the FLEXR bottles are hard to fill because they have liners, which are needed to make them function correctly with the two hoses, the Y connector, and the bite valve. So I only stopped twice for any length of time - once at around 46 miles and then again at around 80 miles.

Keep in mind that the glucose solution is great before about 8 to 12 hours. At the N24HC, I could no longer stomach drink mix or Cliff Bars after that much time on the bike. Then I needed pure water, solid food, salt and other electrolytes, fat, protein, caffeine, etc. But it is fine for a century. Also, if the dextrose is too sweet, you can use maltodextrin instead - it is less sweet. It is a glucose chain that gets absorbed as fast as dextrose (or so my Biochemist cyclist friend told me). The nice thing about glucose (dextrose) is that it does not require digestion and goes straight into the bloodstream. Other sugars have a delayed effect. Maltodextrin breaks down fast allowing it to be absorbed as fast as glucose. If you require flavoring, you can get fruit flavorings from a cake shop or online. I used to do that, but I get along fine without the flavors now.

Preparation in the morning is very important for me. I need a few hundred calories early. So when I get up, I make some real coffee (I normally don't drink much caffeine), and drink two measuring cups worth of coffee with creamer and sweetener added. I also drink a big glass of a protein shake. And I eat a banana and a Cliff Bar. The caffeine is a proven ergogenic aid, meaning that it makes muscles stronger. It also helps to wake me up. But it loses the effect if you consume caffeine on a regular basis, or so I'm told. It can also be dangerous if it is consumed in too large a quantity. But two cups of coffee is not a big problem.

When I train in the sub-50-mile range, I rarely even drink, unless it's really hot out. I carry a half-full water bottle with me in case I need to drink. I stay hydrated normally and my blood volume is high from training. And I also drink before I ride. So dehydration is not a problem for short rides. When it's hot on a long ride, drinking is important, but the body will become dehydrated even if drinking enough - all you can do is slow down the dehydration, not stop it. And it takes from 24 to 48 hours to fully rehydrate depending on how dehydrated you are. So it is important to drink regularly on a long ride to prevent as much dehydration as possible.

maltodextrin exists as various short to long chains with short chain simple being the sweetest in taste. long chain complex such as that found in "hammer's perpetuem" burns far longer as a complex sugar and is easily digestable without the massive hit bounce bonk cycle.

you can to some degree control your sweat rate by controlling your effort on a hot day but any ride over an hour requires hydration. weigh yourself before and after to get an idea. on a hot day you can dehydrate very quickly. ride on a trainer for an hour without hydration and weigh yourself. how does losing 3-4 kilos sound. scary but it happens over 90 minutes strenuous heavy sweating to me. we all have different sweat rates. we all need varying degrees of layering on a cold day too. we are all different so what works for one does not work for another in terms of hydration/ electrolyte replacement / and fueling rate. you have to work out your own body under varying conditions. finally with exertion it is impossible to replace 1 to 1 and you would be lucky to replace 1/3. i found it useful to plot my functional threshold power and then for longer rides maintain a fixed % of that figure with adjustment once temperatures exceed 30 deg c. typically for me around 60%. i choose solid fuel but understand for race days this is not practical or desirable. so yet another excuse to go and ride so you can plot your needs lets ride.

 

[JOSEPHWEISSERT]

weigh yourself before and after to get an idea.

Yes, I agree, and I weigh myself before and after every ride - either inside or outside - to monitor my hydration. I find it very useful.

 

[tiltmaniac]

Nice!

 

[LarryOz]

Hey Joe, do yo have power numbers for this Century? That would be interesting.
I hope that you are considering riding the Mid-Atlantic Century in Washington, NC.
It is the UMCA "National Championship" for the Century this year, and flat as a pancake!
We could have an awesome Cruzbike Vendetta team:
Jim & Maria Parker, Ben Tomlin, myself, possibly Kevin Gambill . We could definitely break the 4 hour Century mark and probably sweep the podium!
Email me if you are interested and we can talk more.

 

[JOSEPHWEISSERT]

do yo have power numbers for this Century?

Sorry, no power numbers.

I hope that you are considering riding the Mid-Atlantic Century in Washington, NC.

That would be nice, but it's too soon and too far away. Maybe next year though. It sure would be fun.