What to bring on a Century ride?

After riding my third century ride for the season this past weekend, I realized  that there is a lot that goes into riding that many miles in day. It takes a lot of emotional and physical energy to psyche yourself up to do the ride. If you are unprepared with your nutrition and equipment you can be faced with a more difficult and challenging ride.  Here are a few things to think about and prepare yourself for before you embark on your first century ride of the season.

Check the weather forecast - depending on the temperature, you will probably need a rain jacket in case it rains this will come in handy if the temperature drops and help significantly to avoid hyporthermia.  Lather yourself in sunscreen, even if it not sunny outside.

Dress Code -  Wear a jersey that has 3 pockets, one large enough for a rain jacket, another for food that travels in pockets easily, money, cell phone, & identification.

Shoes - Have shoes that have a cleat system that does not bother your feet.  A shoe with a wide base can spread out the pressure of one’s feet .   A small base can cause pressure points and lead to severe pain.  During long rides some people’s feet may swell and get numb from the heat and cause circulation problems from drinking too many fluids. Make sure your cleat system works for long rides. I recommend Look pedals or Dura Ace.

Hydration & Salt Intake - this is very important, you will be sweating out alot of salt. You need to replace this with either a hydration drink that has a lot of salt or with pretzels or potato chips. A favorite of mine is V8 juice, it has 720 mg of sodium and makes you feel replenished after your drink one. It really works! Nuun tablets, are a great new product I just learned about and are easy to transport on long rides. One tablet takes care of a 16 0z bottle of water and gives you calories, sodium and potassium.  For very hot days, some athletes take salt tablets, because some electrolyte drinks do not supply enough sodium. I have used these on long rides that were very hot and proved to be very helpful.  Lava salt tablets are an example of a product that is geared to endurance athletes.

Be cognizant of taking at least 2 - 3 breaks to rehydrate, you will not be able to carry enough hydration to finish a century so you have to stop to get more water.  Fill up your water bottles, and stretch out your legs. This is well needed to help get you through the ride.

Fuel - Eat  lots of calories during your ride so you don’t “bonk” (hitting the wall, or depleting your glycogen reserves).  This should be experimented on your rides leading up to your century ride. Not only are you hydrating you also need to refuel yourself.  If you feel like you are losing energy on hills and your pace is slowing down then it might be too late, the “bonk”   has already hit. You will want to eat before the bonk !

Many cyclists eat while on the ride if they are comfortable with their bike handling skills and have fuel that is easy to access.  Powerbars, Gu Chomps, or Cliff Shot Blocks are now packaged well to eat while riding.  Bananas are also easy to carry and eat.

Pace yourself - Go easy at the beginning, follow someone else’s wheel to start, and then help share the work.  100 plus miles is a long way. If you feel good and have lots of energy  by mile 90, then you can takeover leading, and are justified in pulling and letting others draft behind you.

Find  riders you feel comfortable pacing with for 100 miles.  Eventually groups will weed out and you will be riding with those that are just your pace.  Let the process take its course and you can all pace line together and help one another in the miles that really start to hurt.

Try to have fun and enjoy the scenery, and realize each long ride is a learning experience which helps prepare you  for upcoming century rides.

Let me know what has worked for you, and happy training…