First "Long Distance" Bike Ride

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So I'm gonna be doing my first long distance bike ride. its only 25 miles but its long distance to me 'cause I've never ridden that far. It'll be on Sunday and I have no idea what to expect.

I run my bike regularly but no more than 10 miles... what should I expect? I'm taking a couple bottles of 'rade and some protein bars.. and of course comfortable sneaks! Any other suggestions?

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nothing huh... do any of you even have a bike? :confused:

[bluelightzgrl]

I'm assuming you're talkin about a road ride/race?

I'm not a roadie, I'm a trail rider. However...
I'd ditch the Gatorade unless it's massively watered down or the new stuff (G2). I go with the good ‘ol fashion stuff –water. Which speaking of, if you're wearin a Camelbak, you can pack a few extra things in there. On the hotter summer days, I freeze some of my protein bars the night before an epic ride. That way, by the time I want them they are not mush in my Camelbak.

Of course, not too many roadies wear Camelbaks. I think it's because it distracts from all that flashy lycra. :rolleyes:

[normal1]

I'm assuming you're talkin about a road ride/race?

I'm not a roadie, I'm a trail rider. However...
I'd ditch the Gatorade unless it's massively watered down or the new stuff (G2). I go with the good ‘ol fashion stuff –water. Which speaking of, if you're wearin a Camelbak, you can pack a few extra things in there. On the hotter summer days, I freeze some of my protein bars the night before an epic ride. That way, by the time I want them they are not mush in my Camelbak.

Of course, not too many roadies wear Camelbaks. I think it's because it distracts from all that flashy lycra. :rolleyes:

Yep, it'll be road... I usually have water but I thought since it was a longer distance I'd need the calories in gatorade. Good idea on freezing the protein bars. I dont have or want a camelbak and I don't wear lycra lol I guess I'm not a typical roadie :P

It should be fun, I'm looking forward to it.

[bluelightzgrl]

Roadies, ick! j/k ;) :p

You're out there turning the crank and that's what counts! :D But I do not blame you on the lycra, I keep to baggies. No lycra for me!

I'd save the Gatorade for afterwards, maybe. I usually stick to water while riding and for a bit afterwards. Mind you, that doesn't count when I go on a group ride and we hit a local pub afterwards.

Which thanks! :p I haven't had a ride in a week and I was already startin to twitch, I'm aiming to get one in this weekend provided the sever thunderstorms clear up. Every try mountain biking?

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Roadies, ick! j/k ;) :p

You're out there turning the crank and that's what counts! :D But I do not blame you on the lycra, I keep to baggies. No lycra for me!

I'd save the Gatorade for afterwards, maybe. I usually stick to water while riding and for a bit afterwards. Mind you, that doesn't count when I go on a group ride and we hit a local pub afterwards.

Which thanks! :p I haven't had a ride in a week and I was already startin to twitch, I'm aiming to get one in this weekend provided the sever thunderstorms clear up. Every try mountain biking?

I haven't had the chance to go Mountain Biking mainly 'cause the trails that are within reach are few and far between. I'm hoping that when I move to Cali there will be more available.

You should get out there! I've been waiting all winter to get back to this and now I have no excuse, it's been steadily in the high 60s and mid 70s lately.

[bluelightzgrl]

It was 75 yesterday and 80 today. I've been riding some-what regularly since mid April when the weather finally broke. It's just being on mids, I tote my bike to work with me. Which can be a moderate pain in the arse...

There are a ton of trails in New England! I use to live in CT, rode a few of them. As for Cali, oh yea... tons and tons of stuff out there. If your intersted, pm me and I'll send you a few things.

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PM'ing you

[MrTee805]

I've done one hundred mile bike tours through NY city and the five boroughs. Mix the Gatorade with water. It has A LOT of sugar that might make you cramp up. Also, invest 30 bucks in padded bike shorts. Your rump will thank you after.:D

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I've done one hundred mile bike tours through NY city and the five boroughs. Mix the Gatorade with water. It has A LOT of sugar that might make you cramp up. Also, invest 30 bucks in padded bike shorts. Your rump will thank you after.:D

I'd do the padded shorts if I could wear them under normal shorts and if the didnt make it seem like I was wearing diapers :p

So I think I'll have my water and an 'ade and will just add water.

[MrTee805]

lol You can do that with the shorts. Or you could get a gel pad for the seat.

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lol You can do that with the shorts. Or you could get a gel pad for the seat.

I actually have a pretty good seat, but sometimes it just doesnt do its job. I'll have to check but I'm pretty sure that it has some sort of gel in it.. the seat that is.

[bluelightzgrl]

I'd do the padded shorts if I could wear them under normal shorts and if the didnt make it seem like I was wearing diapers :p

I agree with MrTee805. The padded shorts will save your rump. Since you don't like lycra (like me) you might want to check out the mountain biker shorts, aka baggies. They look for the most part like swim trunks but have a pair of chamois inside. Most are removable; some are only attached by two pieces of string. If you are willing to spend a pretty penny Fox Racing has some killer lookin ones. Other wise, I just bought a pair of Trek (men's baggies) and I love them.

[greenlead]

Great, now I feel the urge to buy a mountain bike and start exploring my city's trail system.

Let's see, I need a bike, helmet, an Amateur Radio HT with headset, antenna, GPS (via cell phone?), bags, bottle basket, holster for my Kel-Tec (SmartCarry?), OC canister... :eek:

[Drummadude]

Just drink water continuously the day or a few days before hand. My first mistake when I got into serious biking was dehydration. I thought if I just drank water while riding I would be fine, but I started feeling very tired and slow and had to quit.

Water is the best thing for dehydration. If you want to recharge yourself after, then you can have some Gatorade after. I would hydrate a few days or a day before with water and hydrate with water during the ride.

Oh and I would suggest bike shorts with built in cushions and padded half finger bike gloves.

Most of my long distance biking so far has been on trails with the police department. So I'm technically only patrolling like a 10 mile trail with some detours around neighborhoods and private trails, but after about four hours I go about 30 miles total.

The longest I've been on a bike was for 6 hours. It was the last day of the bike patrol "season". The lots of water, bike shorts, padded gloves, and the gel seat really helped a lot.

Oh and one last thing, wear a helmet!