The Event
Ride Your Own Ride
You want to ride the event at a speed that you know you can sustain to the finish. Start the event at the pace you expect to be riding during the second half. For example, for a double metric (200-km or 125 mile) event, ride the first 100 km (62.5 miles) at the pace you expect to be riding after lunch. On the event if you feel fresh after lunch then ride faster and do a negative split. Here are some ways to gauge your level of effort:
- Talk test: You should be able to talk in complete sentences the entire ride. You may not be verbose climbing a hill, but you shouldn't be out of breath.
- Heart rate: With a heart rate monitor stay below 95% of your lactate threshold.
- Power: With a power meter, stay below 90% of your functional threshold power.
- Hydrate: During an event, heart rate can be affected by dehydration, excitement and other factors, so one of the other gauges may be more useful.
- Bottom line: You know the speed at which you rode your training rides—stay there. If you have trouble with this, set an alarm or tape a note to your handlebars to remind you.
More: How to Prepare for an Ultra-distance Event
Maintain Your Momentum
The longer the event, the more important time management becomes so that you finish before the cut-off time, or before dark or maybe just to set a personal best. Time management doesn't mean minimizing off-the-bike time. It means making conscious decisions about how best to use your time.
You can maintain your momentum by managing your time at aid stations and by learning to do more on the bike.
- Resupply: don't rest. Aid stations are places to take care of necessary business and grab more nutrition, not places to rest.
- Multi-task: As you move through your checklist at an aid station, multi-task. Eat while changing your layers. Put on sunscreen while waiting in line.
- Eat while riding: Eat some of what you grabbed at the aid station as you pedal away. You may need to pedal slowly for a while, but you're making more progress than if you were sitting at the aid station.
- On the bike: As long as you keep one hand on the bars and both eyes on the road, you can take off arm and leg warmers as well as a windbreaker using one hand and your teeth, if necessary. Once you've removed your warmers, you can put on sunscreen. Since these maneuvers require riding a straight line with just one hand on the bars, practice them alone in a parking lot before trying them on the road. When riding in a group, always drop to the back before doing any of these.
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