Eighth Century

This picture is from a different ride but I liked it because I took it myself with a moving train in the background.

Two days ago I went on my eighth century bike ride. When I say 'century bike ride' I am referring to any bike ride 100 miles or longer. In the case of the ride I did two days ago, I biked 113 miles. This was by far, hands-down, the most difficult bike ride I have ever done; I will actually go one step further and say that it was the most physically challenging and grueling thing I have ever done. I believe that I was suffering from heat stroke or possibly heat exhaustion and was not far from being in very serious medical trouble. The heat and humidity were unlike anything I had ever faced. I also encountered severe cramping in both legs. I experimented with a lot of different things while still on my bike that helped them go away and astonishingly I only had to stop once when the pain was unbearable. What made this ride so much more difficult than anything I have ever done was a combination of several factors, and I learned several extremely valuable lessons from these events.

First off, I have to find a way to maintain nutrition on these long hauls. My GPS watch (which monitors distance, time, speed, my weight, the weight of my bike, elevation change, etc.) said I burned 7,000 calories. The body burns way more calories in the heat though to keep your body cool so I think I may have easily actually burned closer to 10,000 calories. I have started to research the matter but must learn more how to keep my body fueled. I must also take electrolyte replenishing much more seriously -- water is not enough on these long hauls. I don't think I was ever dehydrated, but had lost too many electrolytes. I believe that if I drink as much Gatorade as I do water and eat more potassium (bananas) it will be a step in the right direction to making sure this never happens again.

When I got home I sprawled out on the floor and Michelle massaged my legs and gave me ice and wet wash cloths to help cool me down. I had a really bad headache the rest of the day no matter what I ate, drank, did, or took to alleviate the pain. Luckily a good night's rest was all I needed to be back feeling well, after a day of rest and massive nutritional re-uptake.

Above all else, I learned many valuable lessons about how seriously to treat the threats of heat exhaustion, dehydration, and lack of proper caloric intake and nutrition on these ultra long distance workouts as I am preparing for my first Ironman distance Traithlon in just over two months.