Tips for a newbie cyclist?

[black2002ls]

For anyone interested and hasn't seen it, I stated a GTG thread for the cotton patch challenge. I am definitely riding the 21 mile. Depending on rest stop spread and my rides over the next month, the 31 and 41 aren't out of the question yet

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[HarrisonTX]

That could be a very tough first century ride. They will have a cut-off time for the 100 milers. If you don't reach a certain point in the course, they will force you to do the 100k. Century rides "start" at the 80-mile mark because of "bonk" and dehydration (especially in this particular ride). Just be prepared.
That being said, I've done the HHH when it was 85 degree's with little or no wind, and I've done it when it was 105 degree's and a 20mph head wind (heading back). The difference meant almost 90 minutes in my time, but everyone's different.

I don't know half of what you're talking about. Force me to do 100? I want to do 100.
Bonk? I think it'll be a challenge but Im pretty confident I could grind it out

you shouldn't have a problem. It is flat as a pancake out there. Just have to manage your time and stay hydrated. The key to HHH is to get done before it really gets hot, Find a good group of guys or girls to ride with so you are not doing it alone, and stay hydrated.

There will be 19k riders at hhh so there will always be someone to ride with.


It is hard to say how many were in the 70. Several hundred I bet. I left with the lead pack that had about 30. I stayed with that group for about 15 miles. our average was 26.5. I was not going to be able to keep that pace for 70 so I dropped back and picked up the next group of about 20-30 guys and we kept a 23.5 average till about 55 where I had to fill up on water so I stopped. I had to solo the rest and with tired legs and no pack I finished up about 20.5 average.

19,000 riders? My God I was thinking like 10k and that would be huge! You made it to 55 without stopping? Damn man. We only skipped the 2nd and 4th stop. It's hard not to stop when they put the rest stop at the top of a massive hill.

[Vertnut]

How about jersey sizing, do they run pretty normal? I wear small t-shirts in most instances.

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They intentionally run small. No flapping material causing drag.

[black2002ls]

How about jersey sizing, do they run pretty normal? I wear small t-shirts in most instances.

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[no4njnk]

Did your friend do the Chianti ride (his shirt)? Thing sounds like it would kill me, riding up those hills/mountains on older bikes? Yeah that's a big fat glass of nope for me.

[Vertnut]

Did a 70 miler yesterday. My first "metric Century" (100km) as well as my first ever organized ride. Tour de Goatneck in Cleburne. Had about 2,500 riders.

My longest ride prior was 30 miles about 3 weeks ago. I haven't been on my bike since then. You could say I didn't train at all. The Goatneck is known for it's constant hills. They were fucking brutal.

With rest stops ever 10 miles, it's not bad at all. I promise you guys can go farther than you think. I more than doubled my damn personal record.
I did it all on my $80 craigslist bike. Passing guys on $3,000 bikes is pretty damn fun.

I plan on tackling the Hotter 'n Hell 100 in 4 weeks.

[IMG][/IMG]

That could be a very tough first century ride. They will have a cut-off time for the 100 milers. If you don't reach a certain point in the course, they will force you to do the 100k. Century rides "start" at the 80-mile mark because of "bonk" and dehydration (especially in this particular ride). Just be prepared.
That being said, I've done the HHH when it was 85 degree's with little or no wind, and I've done it when it was 105 degree's and a 20mph head wind (heading back). The difference meant almost 90 minutes in my time, but everyone's different.

[Beej]

you shouldn't have a problem. It is flat as a pancake out there. Just have to manage your time and stay hydrated. The key to HHH is to get done before it really gets hot, Find a good group of guys or girls to ride with so you are not doing it alone, and stay hydrated.

There will be 19k riders at hhh so there will always be someone to ride with.


It is hard to say how many were in the 70. Several hundred I bet. I left with the lead pack that had about 30. I stayed with that group for about 15 miles. our average was 26.5. I was not going to be able to keep that pace for 70 so I dropped back and picked up the next group of about 20-30 guys and we kept a 23.5 average till about 55 where I had to fill up on water so I stopped. I had to solo the rest and with tired legs and no pack I finished up about 20.5 average.

[HarrisonTX]

Good job. Goatneck is one of my favorites. I had a great time Saturday. The mild temps and cloud cover was nice but the head wind on the way back sucked.

I finished pretty strong, all prep work for HHH road race in a few weeks.

I was planning on HHH next. If I finished the 70 mole goatneck do you think I could do HHH? I imagine with the lack or hills its fairly comparable.

Out of the 2500 how many do you think registered for the 70? We fucked up and left with the 40mile group which put us way behind right off the bat.

[Beej]

Good job. Goatneck is one of my favorites. I had a great time Saturday. The mild temps and cloud cover was nice but the head wind on the way back sucked.

I finished pretty strong, all prep work for HHH road race in a few weeks.

Did a 70 miler yesterday. My first "metric Century" (100km) as well as my first ever organized ride. Tour de Goatneck in Cleburne. Had about 2,500 riders.

My longest ride prior was 30 miles about 3 weeks ago. I haven't been on my bike since then. You could say I didn't train at all. The Goatneck is known for it's constant hills. They were fucking brutal.

With rest stops ever 10 miles, it's not bad at all. I promise you guys can go farther than you think. I more than doubled my damn personal record.
I did it all on my $80 craigslist bike. Passing guys on $3,000 bikes is pretty damn fun.

I plan on tackling the Hotter 'n Hell 100 in 4 weeks.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Shorty]

Topeak road morph. My two priorities were a pump with high pressure capabilities and an integrated psi gauge. I have a cheap mini pump that I keep in my mountain bike bag. When I got my road bike the first time I had to change a tube I realized it was near impossible to get >50 psi out of it. Knock on wood I haven't had to change a tube on the road since I bought the Topeak but I've topped off the tires with it a few times just to test it out and it works great. It's a true frame pump, not a mini pump so it takes less pumps.

[black2002ls]

Any recommendations for a frame pump?

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[no4njnk]

I hate playing with gels or food bags on the bike, I take all my nutrition in the bottles. First Endurance EFS is my preferred choice. Any training rides shorter than 90 minutes I only take water or Nuun/saltstick. Longer rides I would recommend starting off with 200-250 calories an hour. I have built myself up to 350-400 calories an hour.

[black2002ls]

I went 11 miles today, averaged 12.1 mph. Max speed was 20.1 I am still getting comfortable pushing speeds above about 15 mph.

I kept my cadence between 85 and 95 for most of the ride, I definitely felt the burn in my quads over a large part of the ride.

I need to look into the click in my crank today. I think it got a bit louder today

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[HarrisonTX]

Did a 70 miler yesterday. My first "metric Century" (100km) as well as my first ever organized ride. Tour de Goatneck in Cleburne. Had about 2,500 riders.

My longest ride prior was 30 miles about 3 weeks ago. I haven't been on my bike since then. You could say I didn't train at all. The Goatneck is known for it's constant hills. They were fucking brutal.

With rest stops ever 10 miles, it's not bad at all. I promise you guys can go farther than you think. I more than doubled my damn personal record.
I did it all on my $80 craigslist bike. Passing guys on $3,000 bikes is pretty damn fun.

I plan on tackling the Hotter 'n Hell 100 in 4 weeks.

[IMG][/IMG]

[black2002ls]

10.44 miles this morning. Time: 56 min. Average speed: 11.1 mph per strava. The route was a noce mix of hills, flats, and downhills. The hills were spaced out enough to get my quads burning good but give enough relief between them to rejuvenate. I feel great and could probably ride a while longer, but I have errands to run.

I did develop a click in the right crank. It happens about midway through the up stroke. It happens in the same spot every cycle.

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