Subject: RE: 50 mile bike ride FAIL!Fitness, pacing and fueling. Some combination of those three things is making it difficult for you to go for your long rides. Fitness is just the result of steady work and effort. Take it one day at a time. Pacing is tricky if you're not using HR or Power to gauge your effort. Speed can be a very poor indicator for your effort/pacing. When you're feeling fresh at the beginning of a ride, it's easy to push a little too hard, which will make your life more difficult later in the ride. Keep that in mind, but with time you'll get a better feel for your body and what proper pacing feels like. Fueling is tricky as well. You mentioned that you "had all my nutrition", but are you sure it was enough calories? Did you start fueling well before you started the ride? For my longer rides, I take in 250-300 calories/hr. It's normal to feel frustrated and disappointed, this is part of the learning process. As you get fitter you also learn more about your body and how to properly execute the rides. As long as you keep going out there, you'll get where you want to be eventually! |