Stationary Trainers:Yes, you are that crazy!

In this blog I've talked a lot about endurance rides, bouncing back from extended time off the bike, and my personal accomplishments.  I've touched on the importance of my stationary trainer in several different entries, but I have not really done an entry dedicated completely to the dreaded stationary trainer.  With Fall here, and cooler weather just around the corner, it is time to start thinking about your riding options.  If you happen to live in NC, we have now been a rainy mess for a solid week, with no real break in sight.  Since I am a self proclaimed weather weenie, that means that I have not been riding outside for that whole week.  However, I have been riding...just on a stationary trainer in my home office.  I have also been noticing that many folks have been starting to think about pulling theirs out as well, or going to buy one.  I've fielded questions and concerns about stationary trainers in bits and pieces, but realize that most of the basic concerns are pretty much the same.  I figure that I might as well put together a dedicated entry that addresses some of the most common questions about riding your bike indoors.

The first question that everyone is thinking, but nobody really asks is..."Why in the hell would you subject yourself to an endless barrage of pedal strokes inside, while not actually going anywhere?"  OK, that is a valid question, and one that I still ask myself to this day.  Yes, it sucks, especially when you are doing an intensive workout.  There is no scenery to watch, usually very little company to be had, and you sweat....a lot!  In general, it is not fun.  That is why so many riders decide to dress up in cold weather gear and go outside to continue riding their road bikes.  A good share also move into cyclocross and mountain bike disciplines.  This latter option may very well be the best one as it will confuse your muscles and force you to ride in different ways than you have for the warmer months.  For me though, I have little to no interest in mountain bike trails, and cyclocross holds an equal place for me.  I am a true roadie.  For me, nothing compares to the speed and grace of a road bike as it glides across the asphalt, or grinds up an incline to a distant summit.  This is where my passion is, and what I enjoy about cycling.

For those like me, you have two options....well three, I guess.  The first is to layer up and head out into the cold.  In some areas of the globe, this isn't that bad as winter temperatures don't dip below 50.  In other areas, the eight feet of snow makes winter cycling difficult at best.  Here in NC, we fall somewhere in the middle.  Our days are are typically in the 30's during the winter, and there are times we see them climb into the 50's.  I can ride in that, but freezing isn't that much fun for me.  The other option is to mount a bike up to an indoor trainer, or rollers, which will allow you to pedal in the warmth of your home, basement, shed, whatever.  There are advantages and disadvantages to this plan as we will get into shortly.  The third option, is to tuck your bike in for the winter, and do another activity, like running (not unless somebody is chasing me).  You could also catch up on all that high quality television you missed while achieving your current level of fitness. Yeah, I didn't think that sounded like a good plan either.

What Will a Stationary Trainer Do For Me?

Lets talk about that indoor cycling option.  What can it do for you?  Well, the

possibilities are endless, but simply put, you can build fitness where there was none, you can maintain your fitness, or you can actually improve it.  It all comes down to how much effort you want to put into your time indoors.  Over the years, I have used an indoor trainer for each of these functions with great success.  I don't, however, recommend doing sprints down the hall.

If you are starting from square one, using an indoor trainer is a great way to get conditioned in order to start out strong when Spring hits.  If you are new to clipless pedals, you can use the trainer to get used to the motions associated with clipping in and out without fear of falling.  Speaking of clipless pedals, you can learn a whole new method of pedaling which is specific to having your feet surgically attached to your cranks.  By pulling up on the pedal in addition to the standard pushing down, you can engage your hamstrings in order to assist, and take the load off of your quads.  You can also engage the glutes more effectively with this type of pedaling.  Essentially, you can learn to pedal in circles rather than in straight lines, or boxes.  To do this on a trainer is simple, and safe.  Start easy, by unclipping on foot and pedaling for 30 seconds at a moderate tension with the remaining foot.  Pay attention to your pedal stroke, you should be able to pedal at a smooth rate all the way around the stroke.  At the end of that 30 seconds, swap feet and repeat.  Do this for about 5 minutes or so total and then pedal easy to recover. Repeat as you deem necessary to train the muscles.  When you master the 30 second repeats, move it up to a minute on each side for a total of 6 minutes.  The more you do it, the better you will get at it.

As you are mastering the pedal stroke, you will be becoming more and more efficient with your pedaling as a whole.  This will help you be able to increase your cadence.  Some might not need to worry about increasing their cadence, but I would suspect that most cyclists start out pedaling way too slow.  By too slow, I mean below 70rpms.  I was guilty of that for a very long time, and I've seen it with many other newbie cyclists...and some seasoned ones as well.  It might feel good to push the big gears and feel the muscles in your legs swell with power.  It won't feel good for long though.  Your muscles are what burns the calories, and create heat.  This means that you aren't going to be able to ride for a long period of time before getting fatigued, and slowing down substantially.  With a higher cadence, you are actually doing the same amount of work, but taxing the muscles only a fraction as much.  Power is just work over time.  By increasing the pedal strokes, you are reducing the work per stroke while achieving the same power.  The faster you pedal, the less fatigued you get over the course of a ride.  Ideally, the average cyclist will want to maintain an average cadence between 85-95 rpms for the course of a "normal" ride.

In addition to getting some of the basics down, an indoor trainer can also be used to maintain your fitness in the "off season."  This might be the most useful function for this piece of equipment.  The time that you can ride outside in the Winter might be limited due to weather and shorter days, so you can easily supplement those rides with a few rides indoors each week.  Depending on what you are able to do outside, you might just need to get on the trainer and spin for a bit to keep the legs fresh, or to recover from an all out effort on the road the day before.  If your outdoor rides are limited to a few per month, you will need to add some higher intensity workouts to your plan indoors.

Don't let the term "high intensity" scare you.  It is just a natural replacement for volume.  Trust me, you don't want to sit on a trainer for 50-60 miles...well, you might, I have, but I can't recommend it.  For those of you who are still sane, the replacement for volume of workouts is the intensity of the workout.  A good rule of thumb for an indoor trainer is that every hour spent on a trainer is equal to approximately 1.5 hours on the road.  That makes complete sense when you think about it.  There is no coasting, no stop signs, no traffic, just no interruptions.  Once you start, you will pedal at your target until it is time to change it up.  That means right off the bat, you are getting more bang for your buck.  Now, lets add in what is known as High Intensity Interval Training.  That will step things up quite a bit.

HIIT is where the love/hate relationship with a trainer is rooted.  Again, you are trying to replace volume of your rides (workouts) with intensity.  When I go out for a road ride, I am typically out for over an hour, up to 6 hours.  I'm not going to dedicate that kind of time to riding indoors, and that is fine. Using intervals, I can hit all my target zones in a shorter amount of time, and get my metabolism racing.  I can also keep my muscles active at a level that will keep me from losing my fitness from the previous season.

So what exactly are intervals?  This is a form of workout that includes segments of intense riding, followed by active recovery periods.  They are repeated throughout the workout.  For example, a simple interval workout would include a warm up phase at the start that is pretty much easy pedaling for 10 minutes or so.  Then you would step into three sets of max efforts that last one minute each, followed by a one minute easy pedal to catch your breath.  Then you move into three more sets of threshold output (anaerobic level) for eight minutes each followed by a four minute recovery period between each set.  The end of the workout is a cool down segment to bring your heart rate back to normal.  This workout would last an hour, and in that hour, your body has done an incredible amount of work.

A graph of my heart rate for the above interval workout

There are many different types of interval programs out there.  This is only a basic one.  There are ones that simulate hill climbs, work on sprinting, and others that can help train for the fast changes of a criterium race.  Whatever you are wanting to focus on, there are interval programs for you.  If you don't have an hour, there are even shorter ones out there. The simplest is called pyramids.  Essentially, you can do a single repeat of this, or as many as your time allows. You would start out with a warm up, of at least five minutes.  After that warm up, you would do this workout.

3 minutes zone 3 (aerobic)
3 minutes easy spin
2 minutes zone 4 (anaerobic/threshold)
2 minutes easy spin
1 minute zone 5 (max effort)
1 minute easy spin
2 minutes zone 4 (anaerobic/threshold)
2 minutes easy spin
3 minutes zone 3 (aerobic)
3 minutes easy spin
repeat or cool down for 5 minutes

This interval set could be done in a lunch hour at the office, or at home after work.  It doesn't have to take long, but you can go until you have had enough, and make it as long as you would like.  It is very effective, and simple to execute.

The last scenario I want to talk about is improving your fitness levels.  Yes, you can grow as a cyclist in the off season if you so wish to do so. Whether you are at the top of your game, or have lost a lot of your previous fitness due to a crash, or just time away from riding, you can actually increase your base fitness on a trainer.  This is exactly where I fell last winter after 10 months off of the bike.

Using those same HIIT workouts, but at a higher volume, you can improve your fitness from whatever level you started from.  Personally, I was going from a condition that took 10 months away from riding to achieve.  I was overweight and out of shape.  By sticking to a program that had me on the bike between 30 minutes and 2.5 hours at a time for six days a week, I had both the intensity and the volume needed to not only achieve my previous level of fitness, but to exceed it before the next cycling season.  I credit most of my success with following a plan I found through Bicycling Magazine called Fat Frying Intervals.  This is a five week long program that is an adaptation from a nine week program created by James Hererra.  It is too involved to list it here, but I can say it will kick your butt, and bring quick results.  In just a matter of months, I was near to my former performance, and my body was getting back to its riding weight.  I can only imagine what would have happened if I had put this much energy into the trainer sessions at a top level of fitness.  This is where riders come back after the winter stronger and faster than they were before.  Even if you can ride outside in your neck of the woods, it is a great idea to incorporate some HIIT sessions into your weeks for this very reason.

This is also a time when you can work on your riding weaknesses.  Everyone has their niche on a bike.  Some are sprinters, some love the climbs, some go that extra mile, but it is rare to find a cyclist that can do it all well.  Using a trainer, you can pick and choose your interval program (a Google search away) to address your weaknesses.  For instance, I have never been a great climber, and have always felt very uncomfortable standing out of the saddle.  I was able to locate two different hill workouts that incorporated standing intervals, as well as a lot of tempo work.  True, I wasn't actually climbing, but I was stressing my muscles as if I were.  I learned to stand more confidently, as well as put power down for longer periods of time under strain.  Doing these workouts once a week each, for a month really made a difference in my climbing times.  I was actually able to sprint up hills that I had formally had to drop into the little ring to climb up.  That is a huge difference!


What do you need?

Well, you need a bike obviously.  Ideally, you don't want to put a carbon fiber bike on a trainer because it is just a little too rigid for the fibers. But there are times you have to do what you have to do.  I've put thousands of miles on carbon bikes mounted to trainers with no ill effects.  Your experience might be different though.

OK, you have the bike.  You also need a trainer.  There are many different types of trainers available out there.  Some are even computer based and hook up to a laptop.  The basic types are wind, magnetic, and fluid.  They each have their pros and cons.  The wind and magnetic are the cheaper options, but they lack a road feel, and are very noisy.  The fluid ones are much quieter, have a progressive resistance, and feel very close to the road.  The computer based ones are the most expensive and can either be fluid or magnetic based. The program will adjust the resistance in most cases to match the workout.  Of course, for these, you will pay a premium.  They are usually used by pros.  For the average rider, magnetic or fluid will be the way to go.

I am currently using a Cycleops Fluid II stationary trainer, which is a fluid based trainer.  As you can see from the picture above, it has a nice footprint, and attaches to the bike by way of a skewer through the rear hub that mounts to clamps on either side.  This is a very secure way to attach the bike.  There is a flywheel that is then pressed up against the rear wheel which turns the impeller through the viscous fluid.  The faster you pedal, the more resistance it gives, just like pedaling on the road.  This is essentially all you need, but there are quite a few accessories that will make this trainer more functional and dare I say...fun.

Here you see some triangle shaped blocks under the front wheel.  These are riser blocks and come in some different styles. I like the Cycleops versions the best because you can stack them to simulate climbing (engages muscles differently).  Typically, you would just use one of these blocks.  It is designed to get the bike level since the rear wheel is lifted while attached to the trainer.  There are three different degrees of lift you can choose from.  I prefer the biggest lift because it tends to take some of the pressure off of the soft tissue that you are sitting on, as well as reducing the strain on your hands.

The mat under the bike is also a nice bit of equipment, especially for those working out inside the living area of your home.  This mat keeps some of the noise down, but more importantly, it helps to collect the sweat that pours off of you while doing your HIIT workouts.  You will be sweating...A LOT!  If not, you are doing it wrong.  The mat will also help to save your carpet, or hard wood floors from the constant movement of the trainer and riser blocks due to the force you are applying.

Speaking of sweat....if you are like me and find that you are actually raining on the floor after about 20 minutes, you should invest in a sweat shield like this one.  It is also a Cyclops product, but similar ones can be found by other companies and are just as effective.  They are designed to stay out of the way of you working the bike, but don't try to use it while riding outside as it does attach to the handlebars and restricts the movement.  For inside, however, it is nearly perfect.  It will protect the frame from your salty drips, and will keep a large portion of your sweat from getting into the bearings, but you should still wipe the bike down after your rides if you see that your sweat has made it near those sensitive areas.

You will also need a fan.  It is very easy to get overheated while doing intervals.  You don't have the advantage of the breeze drying your wicking clothing off, so you should manufacture your own breeze.  It isn't as effective, but it does help. Keep the fan close and don't skimp on the speed.  It will be chilly to start with, but after about 15 minutes it will feel great.  By the end, you will want to be immersed in ice.

Something else you might be noticing in this picture is the red tire on the rear wheel.  This is not a fashion statement by any stretch.  Actually, it looks a little tacky.  That is a good thing because this tire is not meant for road use, and the color is a readily identifiable warning to that fact.  This is a trainer tire and it is specifically designed for use on a stationary trainer.  It is a much harder compound than a road tire, and there is a tread pattern on it that is designed to dissipate the heat buildup that is caused from the tire rolling on the drum of the trainer.  In many cases, they are also quieter than a road tire would be.  This one is a Vittoria tire, but most tire manufacturers make their own version of a trainer tire.  Pick the one at the price point you can afford.  Since the compound is harder on these tires, they will last a nice long time.  A road tire will be torn to shreds long before it would wear out being used on the road.  This tire will save your expensive road tires for your road rides.

Garmin Edge 500 Computer mounted in front of the bars

Garmin GSC-10 Speed/Cadence Sensor mounted to the chain stay

Cycleops Powercal heart rate monitor mounted to me

I've been doing a lot of talking about measuring cadence and heart rate while on the trainer.  These are the hard training numbers that you need when working on an interval plan. Sure, you can get on the bike and spin for a certain amount of time, and just "wing it," but that really won't cut it if you are serious enough to own a trainer.  You need a way of keeping track of what your body is doing in order to make the most of your time.  Pictured above are some examples of what you should be considering.  I am a fan of the Garmin electronics, but there are other options out there, and many are at a lower price point.  You will need a head unit, the cyclometer.  This will display and record the metrics that you produce.  When on the road, a GPS enabled unit, like the Garmin ones will track distance and speed based on the satellite signal.  When indoors on a trainer, or rollers, this obviously won't work.  You aren't moving, and the computer will see no activity unless you add some sensors in.

At the very minimum, you will need a speed and cadence sensor.  What typically comes bundled with the Garmin units is their GSC-10 all in one unit.  It works off of magnets which are mounted to both the rear wheel (the only one rotating when on a trainer), and the crank arm.  This allows the head unit to see how fast the rear wheel is moving which gives you speed and distance.  It also allows you to see exactly what your cadence (pedal stroke) is at any time.  Garmin has recently come out with a magnetless set that I think works much better overall, and is easier to switch between bikes.  The speed sensor mounts to the rear hub with a rubber strap.  The cadence sensor mounts to the crank arm with another rubber strap.  There is no receiver unit with this and that cleans up the chain stay quite nicely.  Either way, you will have the same information going to the head unit.  Any sensor will work as long as they are Ant+ compatible.  Other units use Bluetooth, or other connectivity.  Just check to make sure that all of your equipment will talk to each other before deciding to purchase.

Another piece that comes bundled with the Garmin units is a heart rate strap.  This is a great way to keep track of what your heart is doing while working out.  It also gives you a very good target to set for your intervals.  There are many straps out there that will work, again, just make sure that they are compatible with your head unit.  I have replaced the standard Garmin strap with a new Cycleops Powercal monitor that not only monitors my heart rate, but also gives an estimate of my power output.  This is reportedly fairly accurate over a long ride, but is not of much use for short, hard efforts.  However, for about $60.00, I can live with that versus $500+ for a dedicated power meter.  That would be a much better option honestly, but I haven't made the plunge just yet.

That should be pretty much everything that you need to get the bike set up for your indoor trainer workouts.  The nice thing about the Garmin units is that if you get the bundles, you have all the sensors included to make the unit effective for indoor training.  Of course, all of the sensors are still very useful for road riding too, so don't think that that extra money is just for trainer season.

Setting Up Your Training Environment

Short of actually doing the intervals, this might be the most complex part of getting things ready.  You have to set up your training zones, or the environment that you are going to be working in.  Well, you don't really have to, but in order to actually reap the benefits from doing intervals, this is the best way to make it happen.  Essentially, you are setting your personal zones based on your own level of fitness, and needs.  Most websites that are designed around the hardware (bike computers) have their own zone maps available during the initial setup.

Since I have only used Garmin equipment, what I will be talking about directly applies to them.  I would assume that other websites would be about the same.  When you purchase your Garmin device and set it up through the Garmin website www.connect.garmin.com, you are asked several biographical questions.  Based on the answers to your age, weight, height, and activity level, Garmin assigns a max heart rate which is an average for your group.  Averages are only right occasionally, and more often wrong.  I think that based on my age, my max heart rate should be 184 bpm.  Well, my own testing has put it 199 bpm, which is significantly different.  On the other hand, I've seen the Garmin data way over the max heart rate of others.  While this won't affect your riding, and you can still look at the numbers after a ride, if you are targeting a certain training zone, this will cause you to either not push enough, or push too hard.  Your best bet is to establish your own training zones.

It is easier than it sounds, but will take a bit of effort in the saddle.  You can Google "setting training zones" for different methods of getting the right numbers.  Most are based on FTP, which is your functional threshold power.  What I have done is to do my own field test on the trainer.  After a brief warm up, I will have three different max intervals of 2 minutes each.  I don't expect to stay in that max effort for all of that time, but I do want to go as hard as I can until I start to get dizzy and loose the ability to see clearly.  Obviously, this is best done on the trainer.  Out of the three intervals, I should be able to get to that point at least once, and that should be my max heart rate.  When I start to get dizzy, that means that I am no longer able to pump enough blood to keep my brain fueled.  I don't need to go any harder than that.  After a brief recovery period, I will then do a 30 minute interval as hard as I can go for that time period.  Essentially, this is a time trial pace for 30 minutes.  The idea is to have a constant output for the entire 30 minutes.  After the first 10 minutes, my body should have calmed down and settled into a steady rhythm.  That is when I press the lap button resulting in a 20 minute segment that I can record an average heart rate.  That is the number that I am interested in.  I want to see that number equal to zone 4.4 or 4.5 when I get my zone map created.  That is my threshold power, right between aerobic and anaerobic.

Once I have these numbers, I will input my max heart rate into the grid (pictured above, from Garmin's website).  It will automatically fill in the remainder of the zones based on Garmin's percentages.  Since I was setting up my heart rate map for use with the James Herrera interval sessions I had mentioned before, I decided to go with his percentages instead of Garmin's.  Essentially, I can set the percentages to what I want them to be and Garmin will fill in the actual heart rate numbers in the left column.  I've found that they work perfectly, not only for the intervals, but also on the road.  It's nice to keep an accurate idea of how hard I'm working on the bike.

Once you have your heart rate map completed, you are all set to create your interval workouts with target heart rate zones.  You will know exactly where you need to be for each workout, and if you have it programmed into your Garmin, it will alert you if you are outside of your intended zone.

For those training with power, you can also do similar things with the power map (pictured above).  It is a little more intensive to get the zones created, and you have to adjust it regularly through the season as your fitness changes.  While I have a power map completed, I use it primarily for intensity and training stress of my workouts.  For these to be as accurate as possible, I do have to keep my functional threshold power (FTP) updated.  For simplicity, not accuracy, I pay attention to my max average power over 20 minutes which is a metric available when recording power through the Garmin head unit.  This will fluctuate according to my effort on a ride.  When I know I've had a hard ride, and have pushed myself to the breaking point, I will see what that number is.  That becomes my new FTP number.

Since I am using a heart rate based power meter and not a dedicated power meter, I don't put a lot of weight on these numbers, but they are good for comparison.  With a dedicated power meter, you could be doing intervals based on power instead of heart rate.  That is the most accurate way of doing intervals because it takes the variable of how you are feeling out of the equation.  300 watts is 300 watts no matter what you feel like.  Heart rate can fluctuate with stress and illness, and is not always the best indicator of the work you are actually doing.


Conclusion

As the saying goes, "I'm not Willy Wonka, I don't sugar coat shit!"  What I have outlined here is going to hurt.  You are going to say all sorts of words that will make your loved ones think you need an exorcism.  You will hate your bike, you will want to quit.  You will feel beat down, no matter how far you can ride on the road.  You will be bored, your butt will hurt, and you will question why you have decided to embark on this self imposed torture.  If done right though, you will have your answer in the Spring when all of your friend's bikes are being dusted off and put back on the road.  You will already be in much better shape than you finished the season in.  You will be ready to accomplish bigger and better goals than ever before.  You will be more confident on the bike, and you will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that limitations are in your mind, not in your body.  You will have learned how to push your body well past its comfort zone, and know that your body thrives on that feeling.  It is only your mind that balks at the concept.

You can opt to spin on your trainer, and you will still burn calories, but you will be missing out on all the benefits from intervals.  Plus, by doing intervals, you will be burning those calories much faster than by just spinning, so even if that is your only goal, you have the option of spending less time on the trainer with the same benefits.  If you are not fond of just listening to music and letting a workout program guide you in your intervals, you do have other options.  There are spin classes out there where you can do a veritable group ride indoors.  You can also buy videos, much like any workout video, but directed at cyclists on their bikes.  There are Internet subscriptions to web based workouts you can do.  There is also an interactive "game" that can be played with virtual or real opponents called Zwift.  All of these are designed to make the time pass quicker, and guide you through a workout in a pleasant way.  Personally, I tend to lose my focus and can't hit my zones when I am watching a video.  I like to embrace the suck and wait for the Garmin to beep at me and tell me what to do next for the workout.  But then again, I am a glutton for punishment.  However you make it work, if you can stick with an interval plan, you will be much stronger, or at the very least won't have lost any fitness from the previous year.

One last thought....if you are crazy enough to have read all of this, then you are crazy enough to create your own pain cave and suffer.  ENJOY!!!

So, It Has Been a Year

September 4th....why does that sound so familiar to me?  It's not my anniversary, not a birthday, Close to a holiday, but not quite.  Hmmm, why does that date stick out in my head?  Oh yeah, I remember.  It was the first day that I got back on a bike after ten months away from cycling.  Now that I remember the significance of that date, I can remember that day so clearly now.  Man, it sucked!!!  I thought I was going to die....but I had survived and figured that was a good sign of things to come.  I had a lot of questions back then, and I really wondered what kind of progress I would be making on the bike over time.  Looking back over the last 31,536,000 seconds, I have most, if not all of those answers.

This part of my life journey began with a bang.  Go big or go home as they say.  Having sold everything cycling related at the end of 2013, I had to start anew.  So I hocked the house, and sold my first born (just kidding, I would never sell my first born.  I just rented with the option to buy) to buy a bicycle and some cough....cough necessary items to go along with it.  Why did I go all out you ask?  Toni made me.  That's right, you heard me.  My wife kidnapped me, and took me to the bike shop, forced me to fill out a credit application, and made me sign my name on the dotted line. Seriously.....ask her!!  Looking back on that day, she might be reconsidering her position on things though.  Oh well, whether she liked the outcome or not, I was back into cycling again.  Whether or not I would be a "cyclist" again was yet to be determined.

You never forget how to ride a bike they say.  I guess that is right, but when you rode at the level that I had, you really question if you can come back at a similar level.  What I mean is, when I stopped riding in 2013, I had become an ultra endurance cyclist with a double century under my belt, and a total of 11 century (100 mile +) routes over the year.  I had climbed a category 1 mountain, and ridden the Blue Ridge Parkway.  In the calendar year, I had logged almost 6,000 miles!  My average speed was in the high 18's and I was into the 19's for shorter routes regularly.  This was after only two years of cycling, and I was 39 years old.  As I was returning to cycling, I was nearing the end of my 40th year.  I was feeling old, and just didn't think that I had it in my body to repeat that kind of performance on a bike.

That was probably my biggest question as I gave in to Toni's wishes (demands) to get back on the bike.  What would be reasonable to expect?  I knew that I would be slow, and would not have the endurance that I once had.  That was a no brainer.  But, would I be able to improve enough to match what I had once been able to do?  I doubted it actually.  I had promised myself that I would be happy just being able to ride, even if my rides were between 25-50 miles each, and my speeds stayed in the 17-18 mph range.  At least I would be able to get exercise which was a very big factor in my wanting to ride.

I started to make goals for myself and tried to set reasonable expectations.  First among my goals was to get rid of the extra weight I had packed on which was making me feel very uncomfortable.  I had grown to a solid 205lbs, roughly 20lbs in 10 months.  This played a large part in making me feel like crud.  I also knew that when I was riding, I had no problems with acid reflux, which had worked its way back into my world.  This added to me feeling like crap, and was just no fun at all.  Lastly, I was feeling a little less mentally balanced than I had when I was riding.  I wasn't sure exactly why, but would soon figure that out.  I found that for some reason, cycling really helped me deal with my PTSD, and the stress from being a police officer.  I wanted all of these issues to be addressed by riding, and felt pretty sure that they would be.

The next part to think about was my aspirations.  What would I reasonably be able to do on the bike this time?  I had all but given up on endurance riding, and was looking at just fitness riding.  I wasn't going to really know what kind of expectations I would have until I actually got on a bike and rode it.  That's right, you heard me.  I had just paid a stupid amount of money to get back into riding, and hadn't even been on a bike in close to a year.  I'm impulsive like that.

The smile is just there because I was finished!

September 4th, was that first ride on the new bike.  It was an interesting ride.  It felt familiar and comfortable, yet terrifying and exhausting all at the same time.  Yes I could still ride a bike, but about 30 miles was all I had in my legs.  After that, I was struggling.  I was slow too, slower than I had ever been on a road bike.  But I now had my starting point, and could start with the aspirations.  I felt confident that I could get at least a portion of the endurance back since I had ridden 50 miles on my first ride (20 of that was just no fun at all).  I was sure that my speed would increase...I mean I didn't even shift out of the little ring for the entire ride.  I saw potential though, and figured it would be possible to build my speed back to close to where it once was.

For some odd reason, I got in my mind that I was going to actually think about doing the Double Down to the Beach ride again in 2015.  I must have been crazy, that is 200 miles in one day...FOUR TIMES what I had just ridden.  I guess that is just the kind of guy I am though.  I go big or go home.  The more I rode, the more I started to plan out my coming year.  Not only did I want to do Double Down, I also wanted to do the Assault on the Carolinas.  I had done both of these in 2013, and figured that they would be an excellent litmus test to see how I was comparing with my return.  To those, I added A Ride to Remember, a three day 252 mile ride across South Carolina, and finally the Carolina Century, which I had done in 2013.  For training purposes, I decided that I was going to aim for 12 century routes (one more than 2013), which was one per month.

I was aiming big, and I knew that I might not be able to accomplish these aspirations.  Honestly, I was OK with that.  I just needed something to motivate me to get out and "train" when I was in such bad shape.  While I was formulating all of these hopes and dreams for the coming year, I ended up in a crash with a car.  While this should have put the brakes on all that I was planning, it actually fueled my desires for some odd reason.  While my bike was in the shop to be evaluated, I tried running so I didn't loose the momentum I had started.  What I found out was I'm not a runner.  I don't even think I could run away from something.  Maybe my feet are too big and cause too much wind resistance.  Maybe its because I have the form and flow of an electrified basset hound trying to run with two legs tied together.  Either way, I ran for about a week and that was all I could manage without needing to be hospitalized.

To make a long story short, I ended up with a new bike, and my damaged one back in my possession for use on a trainer.  This was just in time for the "off season" and I was able to take my riding indoors with interval sessions.  Despite this self imposed hell (still better than running), I found that my fitness was increasing by leaps and bounds.  Hey, I might actually be able to participate in the different events that I was hoping for!  Recalling the correlation between speeds on the trainer and speeds on the road, I was starting to see that not only was I going to be able to match my average speeds from 2013, but was actually getting faster.  The weight was coming off as well, which was making me feel much better overall.  This was really working out for me.

Looking a little more comfortable in the saddle in November

By November, I had my new bike, and I was able to get out on the road again.  It was on this ride I saw the results of the time on the trainer.  I was back, and pretty close to where I had left off a year previous.  I was well ahead of schedule in my training, and that fueled me to go at it harder than ever.  As the warmer days came, I tried to get out and ride for as much time as I could.  Exactly a week after my first ride (a metric century), I actually rode a full 100 mile century on November 12th!  This was about 5 months ahead of my expectations.  It was really looking like I would be able to tackle the double century, as well as the three day stage ride across SC.

Goals and Aspirations Realized

A healthier me!

Lets start with the most important part of this...my health.  Mentally, I was much more balanced.  My PTSD was very much under control after getting back on the bike.  I was no longer having irrational panic attacks before going to work, and while at work.  I was sleeping better, thanks to a calmer mind, and the lack of acid reflux.  I swear, it was like magic once I started riding again.  I had only one attack of acid reflux shortly after I started riding, but after that, it was gone for good.  A full year later and I haven't had a single attack, not even a light one.  That alone was worth the price of admission to ride again!  I was feeling better about my body as well, having dropped down to a pretty steady weight of 165-170 lbs which was a bit lighter than I had been before.  This made my clothes fit better, made me feel better in my own skin, and made me feel younger to boot.  I felt like a 20 year old kid again, and that was pretty cool!  I'm pretty sure I have found the fountain of youth, and it is called a bicycle.  My knees no longer creek, I don't get out of breath near as easy doing simple things like climbing stairs, or pushing cars out of the road.  I'm just generally in much better shape than I have ever been in before.

As before, I became addicted to speed on the bike.  I am always wanting to go faster, not necessarily talking about bombing downhill sprints (actually, I don't care for fast descents at all), but average speed over the course of a ride.  My one and only goal of 2013 that I didn't accomplish was to achieve a 20 mph average over the course of a 50 mile route.  Well, I missed that mark by a wide enough margin in 2013, that I couldn't even say I was close.  Now, a year after having my slowest ever 50 mile route, I have seen metric century routes in excess of 20 mph regularly!  In fact, I consider my training speed to be 20 mph now, and I have done 25 mile routes well over 21 mph as an average speed.  I would have never considered that a possibility before.  For my training rides around home, I was seeing on average a 2 mph increase in my average speeds from 2013.  I was still able to do the distances as well.  As of the writing of this blog article, I have completed a total of 11 century (100 mile +) routes so far.  I'm planning on another century tomorrow, to celebrate my first full year back in the saddle which will give me a total of 12.  Hey, that was my goal for 2015!  Counting the November one from 2014, I'm looking at 13 centuries in a year's time.  Another record broken!

2015 Assault on the Carolinas

So, my health and fitness levels were surpassing where I was at my peak in 2013.  How did that translate into the real world of cycling?  Well, my first test came early in the season with the Assault on the Carolinas.  This 100K route though North and South Carolina would test my climbing ability more than my endurance ability.  There were two significant climbs on that course.  The first one was Walnut Hollow, a short, but intense climb pictured above.  On that climb in 2013, I had almost cracked and I barely made it over.  This year, I had no problem, and actually passed a bunch of riders as I made my way up spinning relatively easily.  The second climb was the category 1 Caesar's Head which was about 7 miles of climbing totaling 2000 feet.  It was still a hard climb, but I averaged about 2 mph better than I had before, and didn't need to take a break at the top as I had before.  While my average speed was about the same at 17 mph, I actually did much better on the climbs than I had done before.  It was an outstanding experience, and it proved to me once and for all that the stationary trainer is worth its weight in gold!

2015 Double Down to the Beach

My second aspiration of the year came in June, and it was another repeat from 2013.  This was the Double Down to the Beach ride, the double century from Alamance Regional Hospital to New Bern.  I had really set my sights high for this ride, thinking that I would make it at an average speed of 20 mph.  With record heat that day, (my Garmin recorded a high of 113*F) I had to slow it down, and even then I was showing signs of heat stroke at the finish.  But finish I did, for a total ride of 201.62 miles at an average speed of 19.4 mph!  Even though I missed my 20 mph mark, I still blasted my 2013 pace of only 18.1 mph, so I consider that a win of the largest magnitude!  With the completion of this ride, I was comfortable calling myself an ultra endurance athlete once again.  I had proven to myself that I was still capable of riding that kind of distance in one day, and that had been very important to me.  To have done it at the pace that I did, in the heat I dealt with, was just amazing to me.  I love this picture because it shows so much in the expression of my face.  I was so close to passing out here, and I was in tears for having finished the ride with absolutely nothing left in the tank.  I had given it my all, and pushed myself to the breaking point which I had never done up to that point.  I knew exactly what I was made of, and what I was capable of.  It was much more than I had ever imagined.  There is something very emotional that happens when you reach that point, and quite literally meet a "you," that you have never known before.  I found out I'm a badass by the way!

Day 3, 2015 Ride to Remember

The next item on my bucket list was the Ride to Remember in South Carolina.  This three day stage ride across the state totaled 252 miles, with the 100 mile ride on the last day.  To be honest, this ride had me worried.  Not so much because of the distance, because I knew I could do the distance.  What worried me was the demands I would put on myself to ride hard each day, knowing that if I pushed too hard, I would have a miserable time in the latter segments.  This was a new ride for me, but an important one that I really wanted to do well with.  You see, it benefits the Alzheimer's Association, and Toni has a family history of this disease.  I was fortunate to be able to raise over $2500.00 throughout the year for this cause.  The ride itself is more or less the party at the end of the fundraiser, but I was going to make it into a personal challenge to push myself through.  The first day was pretty spectacular, not so much in distance (only 65.38 miles), but in my average speed.  I finished the day with a 20.9 mph average which was extremely strong for a metric century, with a fair amount of it done solo.  The second day was a longer day, at 88.49 miles and it was a bit hillier.  I made some bad decisions that left me out in the wind for pretty much the whole day as I refused to ride with any of the groups.  My average speed dropped to a moderate 18.9 mph largely due to me cracking in the last 20 miles or so.  I had been around 22 mph for most of the first half.  I regrouped, and returned for the last day which was just over 100 miles in length.  I rode like a man possessed that day, and had an average speed of 22.3 mph!  Not only that, but I ticked off my fastest 40K time ever at 59:46, an even 25 mph!!!  Only in my dreams would I have been able to accomplish that in 2013.

While training for these different events, I started to realize something.  Each month, since April, I had been riding over 800 miles a month. This was further than my longest month ever before, and I was doing it monthly now.  From April to July, I had ridden over 800 miles each month, and had done at least one century each of those months.  August started out as a recreational/fitness riding month and I concentrated on riding shorter, more fun routes mainly.  That was until I decided to start training for the Tour to Tanglewood in September.  Then I started adding distance routes again.  By the third week, I had set yet another goal for myself.  I was going to ride over 1000 miles in the month of August.  With a day to spare, I had logged a total of 1,004.02 miles in a single month with only one century ridden!

I don't know where I am going from here, but I can say that I'm now almost 42 years old, and I'm in the best shape of my life, and feel better than I have in my entire adult life.  Cycling has given me so much, and has introduced me to the coolest version of myself I have ever had the privilege of knowing.  I can't say enough positive things about cycling.  It is my fountain of youth, my therapist, my doctor, my church, my sensory deprivation chamber, and my safe place to blow off steam.  How something so simple can do all those things is beyond me, but there is no reason to try and figure out the why behind it.  I just bask in the results.

A year ago today, I had no idea where buying a bike would lead to.  Now that a year has passed, I can't imagine where I would have been without it in my life.  I am truly a cyclist in all respects.  I knew it would be a lifestyle change, but I never knew how much it could change my life until I saw both sides of the coin.

Now I have to get to sleep because I have an anniversary century to ride tomorrow!

Intro to the 2015 Tour to Tanglewood

Part 1: Intro to the Tour to Tanglewood

Part 2: The Rides

2013 Start Line

The annual NMSS Tour to Tanglewood has become a bit of a standard here in the Kiser household.  I started riding in 2011 and remember my Mom mentioning this ride to me around July.  Since she has MS (you can read about her diagnosis here), this was obviously a special ride for her.  By August, I had purchased my first road bike in preparation for riding in that year's Tour.  Since that year, I have ramped up the miles and the fundraising.  I started doing the century route on Saturday and the metric route on Sunday in 2012, and followed suit the next year as well.  These were the maximum distance routes for those years and it left me wanting more.  The following year, 2014, was the first year of the double century option with a full 100 miles on both Saturday and on Sunday.  As luck would have it, I had just gotten back into cycling at the beginning of September.  That was just enough time to work up to doing the 50 mile routes on both days, but I knew that the 100's would be out of reach.  My luck wasn't that good though, and I was quite literally knocked back off the bike in a crash just 5 days after I starting riding again.  This would be my first missed year of the Tour.

By the time 2015 rolled around, I had a pretty full plate ahead of me with scheduled rides.  I started in April with the Assault on the Carolinas.  A couple of months later I was riding a single day double century to the coast in Double Down to the Beach in June.  July marked what I thought was going to be my one big charity event, and that was A Ride to Remember in South Carolina.  This was a three day stage ride totaling 252 miles.  My plan was to have this ride be the fundraising focus of the year and skip the Tour to Tanglewood in favor of the lower key Carolina Century in October.  That was the plan at least...

I was happy after my participation in the Ride to Remember.  I had ridden 65 miles, followed by 88 miles, followed by 100 miles with some of my best times ever.  I had raised over my goal for a total of $2,550.00.  The rest of the year was all set to be quite with no more major events to train for, and nothing to raise money for.  This is a pretty big deal considering I had been raising money for the Alzheimer's Association since November, 2014!  The Carolina Century benefits the National MS Society, but there is no fundraising minimum which makes this appealing to me.  Having that one more century for the year was also a big plus.  You see, as of the end of Ride to Remember, I have completed a total of 10 centuries (100-201 miles) for the year.  My goal at the beginning of 2015 was to have 12 centuries done, representing one per month.  I was two shy of that goal.  With one more training century, and the Carolina Century, that would be my 12!

Well, things don't always work out for me in these respects.  As it turned out, after they posted the event date for the Carolina Century, I realized that it fell on the same weekend as NCA&T's Homecoming.  That is a mandatory call out for my department and I knew that at least, I would be working Saturday night.  There was no way I could ride 100 miles in the morning, and get back home in time to shower and get dressed to go sit in a police car until 6 am.  The Carolina Century was out of the question.  I was left with riding two more centuries on my own to achieve my goal.  While I do like riding alone, my two century routes were getting a bit long in the tooth for as many times as I had ridden them.

Consider donating to the NMSS!

As August approached, I started seeing more and more mentions about the Tour to Tanglewood on Facebook, and heard more about it on club rides with the Kernersville Cycling Club.  A funny thing started to happen.  I started to feel left out.  This has always been my big ride of the year, and the one that I put the most energy into.  Now, I wasn't taking part in it at all.  Unlike last year, I was in top physical shape, I had the legs to do the century routes once again, and I still do have a deep connection with the NMSS.  I tossed the idea around about what to do.

Crossing the finish line after 100 miles

I started to look at the Tour to Tanglewood site and realized that more than just the format had changed since I last participated.  In addition to the freshened look, the minimum donation had gone up from $200 to $300.  This had not been an issue except in the first year when I didn't have but about six weeks to raise the money.  I found myself in kind of the same situation this year as well.  Gone were the days of VIBE status.  I didn't have the time to raise that kind of money, and quite frankly, I had been asking for money all year from my friends and family.  I couldn't keep asking them.  Since I would be registering late in the year, the registration cost was higher than I was used to.  On the plus side, there was still a 100 mile route on Sunday which would give me two full centuries for the weekend.  That would ensure me getting my 12 centuries for the year, and with one more training century in August, that would make for 13!

It was a hard decision to make, but I felt that I had better skip this year's Tour and possibly return to it next year.  I had come to terms with that until my friend Mike Beane invited me to participate in his radio show on WQFS where we would talk about cycling as well as the Tour to Tanglewood and the Carolina Century.  I felt kind of odd talking about it when I didn't ride in it last year and wasn't going to this year either.  I'm odd like that...I feel more comfortable talking the talk when I'm walking the walk...or riding the ride as they say.

I reconsidered my plans once again.  I talked things over with Mom since this ride was a benefit ride for a disease that she has.  We came up with a plan to make sure that the money was in place for the registration and for the minimum donation level.  With only 40 days until I set off on September 19th, there was no time to aim high for donations.  This year would be about getting back into riding the Tour.

Crossing the finish line after 65 miles on the second day

This will represent my fourth event ride for 2015, totaling about 720 miles worth of riding.  This easily puts 2015 in the record books for miles logged for these events.  Not too bad for what was going to be a come back year on the bike.  In these miles, I've supported and raised money for the Pisgah Forest Rotary Club, a scholarship program through the Burlington Velo Club, the Alzheimer's Association, and the National MS Society.  I do enjoy riding with a purpose and helping others while doing it.  It will be a happy reunion with my MS family in September, and I'm really looking forward to the weekend.

A hug from Mom after my century route

If you would like to donate to sponsor me in the 2015 Tour to Tanglewood, you can click here for my donations page.  All donations will go to benefit the NC Chapter of the NMSS and people just like my Mom.

Fueling Your Ride

OK, so this video might be a little more based in humor than actuality, but it does illustrate a valid point...The more you ride, the more you should eat.  I was asked a question not that long ago dealing with what I ate on a century ride.  That really is a simple enough question, until I started thinking about all the variations of food that I have gone through over the years.  When I really sat down and started to think it through, I realized that the answer was rather lengthy, with lots of caveats thrown in for good measure.  I figured that simple question might just be a great jumping off point for this blog entry.

I have alluded to my eating plans occasionally in different entries here dealing with my century pointers, and training plans for various rides.  They all have said slightly different things based on what I was needing for specific rides, or what I was currently doing with my diet.  That is part of the confusion when trying to answer a simple question like "what do you eat on a ride?"  I would like to break things down into three stages for this entry.  The first stage is what to eat before a ride.  This is pretty straight forward and there is a lot of documentation to be found.  The second part will be some different approaches while on the bike.  This part will get a little involved.  The last part will be what to eat after a ride. Think of this as the dessert to your day, and it will be just about that simple to explain.

Pre Ride

Filling the tank

One of the things that cyclists often forget is the need build up your fuel reserves for your muscles before the morning of the ride.  By fuel sources, I mean your glycogen levels.  Glycogen is defined by Dictionary.com as: "A white, tasteless polysaccharide, molecularly similar to starch, constituting the principal carbohydrate storage material in animals and occurring chiefly in the liver and muscle."  Simply put, glycogen is how carbs are stored for later use as energy.  Before you embark on a ride that would be considered "long" for you, you should beef up these glycogen stores.  The easiest way to do this is by eating pasta.  There are so many ways to prepare pasta that you shouldn't have a bit of problem finding the one that works for you.  For me, what I have found is just simple Linguine pasta served nice a firm.  This gives me my base for carbohydrates.  Since the other two energy sources in your body come from fat and protein, I will add some grilled chicken on the bed of pasta and top with some shredded mozzarella cheese.

This dish has served me well every time I've needed to carb up before a big ride.  Typically, I'll eat this the day before the big ride, but in the event of a REALLY big ride, I'll double up, and eat it the two preceding days before the event.  When I've compared how I've felt on the bike between carbing up and just eating normal, I have always felt like fatigue has hit earlier without the fuel stores in my body.  I consider this stage to be of the utmost importance for a long ride!  Without it, you will be relying heavily on what you are able to consume during the ride, and you won't be able to keep up with your body's demands playing catch up all day.

When you are in a depleted state

To show you how serious I am about carbs and the role that they play in long rides, I'll borrow a story from my recent experience with the 2015 Ride to Remember in South Carolina.  This was a three day trip across the state with increasing distances.  The routes were 65 miles, 88 miles, and 100 miles.  The first day I had no problems because I was prepared for it.  That night, since I was away from home, we had to get creative for dinner.  I wasn't able to get my typical carbs in, but I felt that I would be OK without them.  Well, I was wrong!  I suffered for much of that 88 mile ride, and I knew that I was in a huge calorie deficit from the first two days leading into the longest ride.  I needed carbs, not only to prepare for the next day, but to replenish what I had burned in the first two days of riding.  We were close to a Cracker Barrel so I created a carb platter consisting of chicken and dumplings, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and okra to round things out.  Normally, this plate would turn my stomach with all the heavy foods, but I was so happy to see it sitting in front of me when we sat for dinner.  I have no idea how many carbohydrates were in this meal, but I'm pretty sure it was no longer measured in grams.  After eating this meal, I felt instantly better, and more ready for the next day.  The next day, I set a record speed for a century route, and still felt pretty good at the end.

I credit the glycogen stores for that performance more than anything else.  Like I said, I can tell when I have enough carb stores before a ride, and when I have a deficit.  If you are into riding long distances (typically measured at 62+ miles), this stage is going to set the tone for your whole ride.  It can also help on shorter rides, but keep in mind that you need to keep your carb intake reasonable to your ride distance.  If you overdo it, you won't burn all the carbs for energy, and they will be converted over to fat which is harder to burn.  This can result in actually gaining weight while riding during the season.

During the Ride

This is where things get a little wonky for me.  I have gone through many different stages of what I eat while riding.  I've tried to stick with the rule of thumb that after the first hour, you should be consuming about 300 calories per hour.  Now, this is not hard and fast, and depends on how fast your are traveling.  The faster you are going, the more calories you are burning per hour.  It has been said that an average sized rider, riding at 15 mph will burn approximately 500 calories per hour.  As the variables change, so does the caloric requirement.  Just for conversation sake, I am 5' 11" tall, 165 lbs, and I ride between 19-21mph for an average speed.  With those variables in place, I typically burn between 800-1100 calories per hour (based on Garmin's estimates).  Obviously, you can't replace all of those calories every hour.  There just isn't enough food out there to do that.  Plus, you would get so lethargic riding would become increasingly difficult.  What I've found is that you start with the 300 calories per hour and adjust for what works for you.  If you are burning 350 calories per hour based on your weight and speed, then you can probably look to replace 100-200 calories per hour.  If you are burning at the rate that I do, you will need a good bit more to keep your legs moving happily.

Something to keep in mind is how the body uses your food as fuel.  Intensity, and duration have a lot to do with what is burned and when.  Here is an article that explains this concept in detail.  Essentially, you start out using your glycogen stores.  This is why carb loading is so important before the ride.  What will fuel you at the beginning is what is already in your body.  This will last for 30 minutes, or more depending on how much is stored, and how your body metabolizes these stores.  After that, you will start burning fat which is a slower burn than the glycogen.  This will only last a certain amount of time before your body will then turn to protein, and ultimately, it will start feeding off of your own muscles for fuel.  Think about that for a minute.  You ride to get healthier and stronger, but if you don't eat properly while riding, you body will start to consume the muscles you are building.  That is rather self defeating wouldn't you say?

The first 30 minutes to an hour of a ride, you are going to operate off of your own stores, but after that time is done, you need to start to fuel your body and replace the carbohydrates which are the simplest form of lasting energy.  Since your body will burn different things at different intensities though, you also want to consider adding in some fats which are great fuel sources, as well as some protein.  Protein is an interesting thing though.  Some riders swear by it, and go with a protein rich diet while riding.  This is a fast burning fuel and gives a lot of bang for the buck, but because of that, it is depleted quickly while riding and must be replaced constantly.  This is why I shy away from the protein diet while riding.  I much prefer the slow burn of carbohydrates and fats to fuel my ride.

When I first started riding, my snack of choice was a crunch granola bar.  They are easy to find in the grocery store, cheap, and easy to pack in your jersey.  They made for a great snack and I was getting about 160 calories per package.  I was able to last on about one of these packs every 10-15 miles or so.  As I got faster, and my rides became more intense, I found that granola bars were not enough to keep me going.  I experimented with slim jims to add in protein, fat, and salt (you need electrolytes in the heat).  These seemed to work well.  They tasted wonderful when I was hot and losing salt through sweat.  The protein gave me energy, but I found that they made me thirsty, and the energy didn't last long at all.

In the Summer of 2013, I did my first Ultra Endurance ride.  This was a double century, in a single day.  I had been working very hard trying to fine tune my diet for this ride. This was what I packed for each of the rest stops along the way.  Each of these piles represents about 30 miles worth of riding.  As you can see, I have my standard granola bars (I was getting so sick of these things!) and slim jims.  I had also added some variety in the form of Honey Stinger cookies, Cliff Bars, and a couple of Bonk Breakers.  I think I was looking at between 300 and 700 calories per leg to consume.  On the last leg, you see a slightly different package labeled Perpetuem.  This was something that I had gotten from my bike shop to try out.  I wasn't sure how it would work since I had never tried it before, but I had it just in case.

When I posted this picture before starting the ride, I was met with a comment from one of the other riders I wasn't expecting.  He said something to the effect of "that sure is a lot of sugar!"  I didn't really think much about that then, but I've since given it more thought.  Before I did this double century, I pretty much thought that carbs were carbs, and sugar was just fine for a ride snack.  I was proven wrong on this ride though.  With sugar comes an eventual crash as we all remember from those Halloween nights as kids.  Sure, the sugar was giving me all sorts of energy at the beginning, but after around 130 miles, my body was starting to crash from the sugar highs, and no amount of sugar would bring me back.  It's pretty sad when you eat something called a "Bonk Breaker" and all it does is make you feel bloated and does nothing for your energy level. In fact, by this point in the ride, I was having a very hard time consuming solid foods at all.  In order to finish, I had to experiment with the sample package of Perpetuem which goes against everything I've always said....Never experiment with food on a long ride!

Well, it was experiment or abandon the ride, so I tossed all my hope into a water bottle mixed with the Perpetuem powder and water.  Combined with the caffeine from a can of Coke, I was able to complete the ride under my own steam.  When I unclipped, I had ridden a total of 212.24 miles.  I had eaten about 2/3 of the food that I had brought with me.  I had very little energy left in me.  I knew that I needed to work out a different eating plan because what I had wasn't working at all for long rides.

I started to do all sorts of research into different theories on eating.  One thing that kept coming up was references to Skratch Labs.  They not only make food to sell, they have recipes for making your own food at home.  What they stress is natural ingredients and less processed foods.  This made sense to me, but I really wasn't able to convince myself to order their foods online since I couldn't find them locally.  Without seeing the recipes, I didn't feel comfortable purchasing them either (yeah, I'm cheap sometimes).  But I did take the natural ingredients to heart, and focused my search in that direction.

I pretty much ditched my granola bars since they just didn't have the umph I was looking for any more.  They were replaced by the Cliff Bars which seemed to work pretty well.  I also decided to get rid of the slim jims and stocked up on Gatorade for electrolyte replacement.  The Honey Stinger cookies were ditched in favor of Fig Newtons which were supposed to be very good sources of fuel.  They had lots of carbs in the cookie part, and the figs inside were full energy packed nutrients.  They tasted pretty good on a ride as well, but they tended to get crushed easily in a jersey pocket.  I found that bananas were pretty good to take on a ride as well.  They are easy to store, loaded with potassium which is one of the electrolytes that gets depleted when you sweat.  For the rest of 2013, this made up my staple for solid foods on a ride.

By the end of the year, I had started a sabbatical from cycling after a crash.  It was nearly a year later before I returned.  One of the things that I thought about early on was what would I do for fuel on the bike this time.  I wasn't all that happy with my choices from earlier, and knowing that I would be participating in the double century ride again in 2015, I decided I would really look into sustainable energy sources that were mostly natural in ingredients, and designed to burn slowly over a long ride.

Food for 2015 Double Down to the Beach

What I came up with after a good bit of research was a pretty good mix of options.  I went back to the Hammer Perpetuem that I found to be so beneficial at the first Double Down.  This is actually marketed as "endurance fuel" and is designed to be easy to digest with no stomach problems, providing a nice mixture of slow burning fuel.  You can mix it with water in a bottle, or as a paste.  When mixed in a bottle, you can do it as an hour supply of fuel, or as a multi hour supply based on your weight and time needed.  It is very flexible, and I liked that about it.  The biggest, and only downfall for this product is once mixed, it has a short shelf life.  Ideally, it needs to be consumed in less than 2 hours before it starts to spoil.  In cold weather, that can be stretched out to about 4 hours, but not much longer.  Beyond that point, it will start to sour quickly and will smell very, very bad!  This makes the Perpetuem difficult to use on a self sustained distance ride.

I would typically mix up a 2 hour bottle, which is three scoops of powder in 25 oz of water.  This has about 400 calories, consisting of primarily carbohydrates, but adding in fats and proteins as well.  The hotter it is, the quicker I have to drink it so it doesn't sour.  When I ride a century, I'm gone well over 2 hours, usually about 6 hours total actually.  With that kind of time, I just can't live on the Perpetuem alone.  This is where my solids come in.

I've found that the Cliff Bars still work well for quick energy if I start to get into trouble with bonking on a ride, so I have kept those in place.  I don't rely on them as primary nutrition anymore though.  For my main caloric intake, I have adopted a sandwich that works out really well despite it sounding very nasty.  I take two waffles and spread Nutella between them.  Since the spread doesn't need to be refrigerated, it works well in a jersey pocket.  With the waffles toasted, they tend to hold up pretty well also.  It is very sweet, but for some reason, it just tastes right to me on a ride.  There are plenty of carbs as well as fat in these sandwiches, and they tend to last quite a while in terms of energy.  One of my other favorite ride snacks is an idea that I got from Bicycling Magazine.  They call these macaroons "Power Puffs" and indeed they are.  They are easy to make at home with all natural ingredients like coconut, honey, and eggs.  You can make them in a variety of shapes and sizes, but I've found that using a muffin tin works perfectly.  Toni has about perfected making these treats for me and has found that if you double the cook time, you will get them nice and firm which will maintain their shape in the back of a jersey.

I've come a long way since eating granola bars every 10-15 miles.  With this grouping of food, I was knocking out century rides early in the year with a two hour bottle of Perpetuem, two macaroons at the 30 mile mark, the waffle sandwich at the 60 mile mark, and two more macaroons at around 75-80 miles.  This was all that I would need over the course of a 100 mile ride.  In preparation for Double Down I had to consider my dietary failures from the first time though.  What worked well for 100 miles fell short after 130 miles.  I needed options.

Knowing that I stopped being able to eat solids in the last half of the double century, I had to consider that as a possibility once again this year.  I knew that the Perpetuem worked well for me, and caused no stomach issues at all.  I started to look into sustaining myself completely on Perpetuem bottles for the entire ride.  All my research said that it was possible, and that this product was designed for just that use.  Since Toni would be sagging me all the way down to the beach, and there would be water stops at every 30 or so miles, I felt that this was a strong possibility.  I could change my diet plan if needed because she would be right there at each stop, and I could make fresh Perpetuem at each stop which would be no longer than the 2 hours it would last.  For the first time, I packed two complete diet plans for a ride.  I had a full liquid diet with the Perpetuem, and then a full solid diet with the waffle sandwiches and macaroons.  I could live on either, or a combination of both.

As it turned out, I was able to pretty much do the ride completely on the Perpetuem.  I used it on all but the last stop when I just went to plain water.  As far as solid foods, I ate two macaroons at the 60 mile mark at Toni's request but I didn't really need them.  I also ate a sub sandwich at the lunch stop which hit the spot for sure.  The rest of the ride, was all liquid in the form of water, Perpetuem, and GU Brew electrolyte tabs.  For the most part, I kept the Perpetuem bottle in the front cage and the electrolyte bottle in the back cage.  I would drink primarily from the front bottle so I would get my calories in, and do it gradually so I didn't experience the dreaded bonk from the previous time.  As I needed a different taste, or became thirsty, I would swig off of the rear bottle.

I'm happy to say that this worked flawlessly and I had no issues at all...well, other than the heat we were dealing with.  With my Garmin registering a high of 113 degrees, food wasn't the issue, it was heat stroke.  I didn't bonk, but I did about pass out from the heat.  Regardless, I consider this experiment to be a resounding success.

Food for 3 days of "A Ride to Remember"

A month later, I found myself in another endurance event, but this one would be slightly different.  Instead of 200 miles in one day, it was 252 miles over three days.  It was a stage ride, with no "home base" so the food that I took would have to be able to be transported across the state in hot conditions.  This effectively eliminated my macaroons from my choices.  Since they are supposed to be refrigerated, and are only good then for about a week, I didn't want to risk the egg ingredient in the heat for three days.  While training for "A Ride to Remember, I tried Hammer Gels for the first time.  I had gotten a sample at Double Down and figured I would give it a try.  I liked the peanut butter one, and it seemed to give me a decent amount of energy as well.  A caffeine content was a bonus in my book too!  I went ahead and stocked up on these gels, expecting to use them in place of the macaroons.

As with Double Down, this was going to be a supported ride with water stops along the way.  This meant that I could use my Hammer Perpetuem again like I had done with Double Down.  This would allow me to consume my fuel while riding since to eat solids, I have to stop the bike or risk crashing.  I planned on doing the liquid diet once again for all three days, but wanted to make sure that I had enough solid food available for variety, or if the Hammer didn't work out for me.

In the picture above, I have the food divided up into the three days, 65 miles, 88 miles, and 100 miles.  The first group had one bag of Perpetuem which should last the majority of the ride.  In my training, I have not been consuming many calories at all on rides of this distance, so I wasn't all that concerned with caloric intake, but I wanted to keep from going into too much of a calorie deficit with longer rides right around the corner.  I kept my emergency Cliff Bar at the ready as well.  The Builder's bar is a protein bar which was bought to replace my standard protein shake after the ride.  Without access to milk, I wasn't going to be able to make my shake, and I needed that boost of protein for recovery.  When I was done with the ride, I had finished the Perpetuem, and ate the protein bar afterwards.  I didn't need the Cliff Bar.

The second day, I have noticeably more prepared with two bags of Perpetuem which should last me about 60 miles of the 88.  My standard Cliff Bar is back, and I've added a waffle sandwich with a couple of gels.  When the second day was done, I had finished the Perpetuem, ate my sandwich, and one of the gels.  It wasn't enough food based on how I felt at the end though.  The protein bar helped my muscles recover right after the ride.

The last day was going to be the full century, and I pulled out all of the stops since I knew I would have a caloric deficit going into the day.  I had three bags of Perpetuem which should be good for 90 miles worth of riding.  Four gels, two Cliff Bars, and two sandwiches.  When I was loading up, I realized that this was more food than I could carry in my jersey so I ended up keeping the powder, and both sandwiches.  I stuck a couple of gels in my pocket as well.  Since Toni would be at the 75 mile rest stop, If I needed to add to my supplies I could do that then.  As it turned out, I made the 100 mile ride consuming only the Perpetuem, one gel, and a can of Coke at 75 miles.  Of course, I know that I was able to do this because of the large glycogen stores from the carb rich dinner the night before.  It was nice to think that I had done a full century without eating a bit of solid food for the entire ride.  I really do like the freedom of not having to stop to eat.  With the Perpetuem, I just reach down and grab my bottle and take a swig.

Something to keep in mind about fueling during the ride is everyone will be different in their needs and tastes.  I've been conditioning my body for years to do endurance rides.  My metabolism has been "trained" in a way to operate on much less caloric intake than it once needed.  The key is to spend time training for the distance rides and paying attention to what your body is doing and what it is craving.  Over the course of a season you will find that you can fine tune your nutrition to what tastes good, and keeps your energy level stable.  What you want to avoid is the ups and downs of sugar.  Each dip of the roller coaster will go further down, and you will need more sugar to bring it back up again.  Eventually, your body will crash as mine did on the first Double Down.  If you avoid sugar, and go for better carbs, you will find that your energy level is much more linear without the spikes and dips.  This will allow you to perform at a consistent level while not feeling overly taxed.

Post Ride (Recovery)

This is the part of the ride that people often forget about, but it can have one of the biggest impacts on the next day of riding.  In addition to stretching out the muscles while they are still warm and pliable from your workout, you will also need to consume about 24 grams of protein at a minimum to help rebuild your muscles.  All of this needs to be done within an hour of completing your ride while the benefits are still at their greatest.

Post ride stretch

My routine looks a little like this.  When I am done with a ride, I come in and start to stretch immediately.  I will stretch out my quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, and IT bands while my legs are still very loose.  When I neglect this routine, I can tell within a couple of hours that my legs are sore and stiff. The stretching keeps this from happening almost 100% of the time.  This makes it much easier to get back in the saddle the next day and ride again.  The stretching takes me around 20 minutes or so to complete.  After that is done, its time for the dessert segment of my food consumption for riding.

I look forward to my protein shake at the end of my rides.  It is cold, smooth, and creamy.  Everything about it is yummy to me when I'm hot and sweaty.  That being said, I don't always get my shake.  It is loaded with protein, and calories which is great when I need it, but over the top when I don't.  For those situations where my ride doesn't warrant that much, I rely on Greek Yogurt which gives me the perfect minimum protein (in two servings) without a heavy calorie intake.  So how do I determine what my effort warrants when it comes to recovery?  I read an article not that long ago from Bicycling Magazine which provided  a pretty good guide for that question.  In short, this is what they said about protein recovery needs:

2 hours or less with at least 20 minutes at maximum effort

2.5 hours with at least 30 minutes very hard

2.5-plus hours with at least 40 minutes hard

4-plus hours with at least 40 minutes moderately hard

Realistically, this translates to most of my rides under 50 miles just get yogurt, unless I have been hammering the pedals for the whole time in a time trial approach.  Most of my rides over 50 miles will have some very hard segments where I'm working my muscles, and on my long rides, I usually gauge my efforts as being consistently "moderately hard" for the duration of the ride.  For those 50+ rides, I get my shake at the end of the ride.  I have noticed over the years that when I started doing this recovery routine, my riding ability started to increase very quickly.  My legs got stronger quicker, and I was able to ride much more often.  When I started out, I would have to take several days off between long rides so my legs would quit being sore.  These days, I can effectively ride 65 miles, followed by 88 miles, and then 100 miles on day three without having any leg issues at all.

Conclusions

So, what does this mean for you?  Obviously, what I've written about here is what works for me.  Your needs are probably different in many respects.  I'm also not saying that my method is even the best for me, its just what I've found that works the way I want it to.  Take what you have read here, and try some things out.  There are a lot of sources on the Internet for cycling nutrition that will give you other options.  The main thing that you should take from this is the awareness of the three phases of nutrition.  The pre ride phase will have a huge impact on how well you will ride the following day.  What you consume while riding will dictate how far you can go, and how happy you will be at the end of the ride.  The post ride recovery, will help you gain the most benefit from your ride, and will determine how quickly you are ready for your next ride.  It all works together to keep you a happy cyclist and one who will be able to constantly improve their abilities.

While looking at your nutrition plan, keep in mind whether your ride will be supported or self sustained.  This can have the biggest impact on the foods that you choose.  As you have read, I'm a big fan of the Hammer Perpetuem, but it is just not practical on a self supported ride since I can't really ensure that I will have fresh, cool water available to make a new bottle every couple of hours.  Instead, I use an initial bottle for the first part of the ride, and then transition over to solid foods for the second part.  This allows me to keep three bottles of electrolyte water on the bike for pure hydration.  Supported rides make things much easier in all respects, and should allow you complete control over how you handle your nutrition.

Enjoy your ride!