If you have already watched the above video then you don't need to read the below writing as I just repeat in the first 4 minutes of the video.
So tomorrow I'm going to ride 200km non-stop. I'm doing this for two reasons. One, I’m training for the race around Ireland ultra challenge and second, here in Ireland we are just coming out of lockdown so I don’t want to have to rely on shops to refuel as the less contact I have with other people the less likely I have of getting or spreading covid. And this being a 12th of December ride, I really don’t want covid for Christmas.
So!, 200km non stop. That should take me about 8 – 9 hours at my current fitness level. Just to give you a brief background of myself. I have done many audax rides before ranging from 200km all the way up to 1200km. However, it has been a full 12months since I rode anything longer than 100km. So although I‘m confident I can do it, I know it won't be easy. I’m also trying to mimic what it will be like while doing the Race Around Ireland ultra challenge. For audax rides I wouldn’t have much of a feeding strategy. I would just stop every 4 – 5 hours for a meal and eat bars in between whenever I felt hungry.
For something like the Race around Ireland ultra challenge where I'll be racing for 1100km my nutrition must be spot on. I’ll burn about 500 calories per hour but our bodies aren’t able to process that much. I am going to try to eat 250 - 300 calories every hour which is just about the max you body can process. Any more than that and you’re risking gastric distress. So that's roughly 2000 - 2500 calories for my 200km ride. So let's have a look at what that looks like.
I'm going to take 6 bars at about 250 calories each. That's 1500 cals. I’m also going to take a pack of oreos which packs about 600 calories. So that's about within my calorie window but I'll also take two sandwiches (real food) that add up to about 500 calories. I'll take one at around the 80km mark and the second at around 160km.
I'll also have some extra calories in my drinks bottle.
And that leads me on to my biggest issue with going non-stop. I will have to carry all of my water from the start. Luckily, it's winter here so I won't be sweating as much but Ideally I should be drinking 1 liter per hour. I'm not going to carry 8 liters of water with me. Seeing as this is just a 200km ride I should be ok to restrict my water intake. Normally I have 1.5 liters with me for a 100km ride and I don’t normally finish it all, especially during the winter. I have capacity to carry 2.75 liters on the bike and I'll also take a can of coke which I will probably have towards the end of the ride, probably with my second sandwich. If I leave fully hydrated this should be enough until I get home. Worst case scenario I can always stop at a shop but I want to see can I do without. That reminds me, I better take a mask, just in case .Thank god I will have a team with me during the rai that will be able to keep me fully hydrated all the way round.
As you can see that this is quite a lot of food and to be honest I don’t know if I'll be able to consume it all without feel ill but that half the reason I'm doing this ride I want to see how my body reacts to this fueling strategy as I'll need something to keep my going during the 1100km rai ultra challenge.
So that’s me all packed up and ready to go. I'm up at 4.30 in the morning. I'll have porridge, honey and raisins for breakfast and I hope to be on the bike at 5am. Why so early? Well I'm married and have 3 small kids so I want to spend the other half of the day with them. It's all about balance. Here we go!
If you’ve already read the above then you can skip the first 4 minutes of the video and enjoy the rest.