Welcome! I’m Caroline
follow me
Subscribe By Email
Search The Little Things Blog
Follow Me On Bloglovin’
Categories
Archives
Last Wednesday I headed out for a long bike ride. After my last 50 mile ride, I really wanted to hit that mileage again, but I knew I needed to start early since I had work from 2 pm on that day. I had loaded The Help onto my Ipod, and was looking forward to listening to a few hours of the book. I’ve seen the movie, and had been wanting to read the book. This book on tape is the unabridged version, and is about eighteen and a half hours, so I figured this would be a great way to get through the book!
I went on the same route as last time, but I added a few miles to each of the ends of the ride, so I explored about 12 miles of new territory. About half the time was spent on the trail, and the other half was spent on beautiful country roads.
I’ve loved getting to watch the corn grow.
To me, being out in nature and getting to really experience it is one of the fantastic little things we get to experience in life. I passed fields of flowers, corn, and soybeans. Butterflies and birds flew around me, and chipmunks, squirrels, muskrats, and dogs ran around on the sides of the road. The air was crisp, clean, and sweet smelling, and the sun beat down, but not too intensely. I wish I could’ve captured that morning and that ride in a bottle and experience throughout the year. It was beautiful. Miles 26-40 were actually my fastest, which I felt was interesting. It also showed me that I’m getting my nutrition down better, figuring out more of what I need. I did feel shaky from miles 47-51, and I would’ve had something else to eat if I had brought something with me. I bought a 30 ounce water bottle at Dick’s over July 4th weekend because the Freedom Run gave a coupon in the race packet, and it was really nice to be able to bring more fluid with me!
Seriously. This thing is huge!
For breakfast I had half a cup of dry oats with 1 cup of almond milk- topped with half a cup of sliced almonds and 1/3 cup of blueberries. 10 ounces of OJ to drink. While riding:
- mile 6: 2 margarita flavored shot bloks
- mile 14.75: 1 honey stinger chocolate waffle (delicious!)
- mile 25: 2 margarita flavored shot bloks
- mile 34: Clif Gel (in tri berry- my first time trying it and I liked the taste!)
- To drink: 30 ounces water with 1 camelbak elixir electrolyte tab (in orange- has caffeine in it), 20 ounces of water with half a nuun tab in it.
Lesson learned- this still isn’t quite enough nutrition for me, so I definitely need to bring something else. I loved having something that wasn’t gel like to eat, and I felt like the waffle gave me a definite energy boost.
This is the first season that I’ve biked on country roads, and I have to say that it’s one of my favorite things right now. Oh country roads… take me home.
Nice work! As you continue to do longer rides and more frequently, it will be easier to know exactly what you will need and what fuels you best. I have done enough rides now that I know exactly what keeps me energized from start to finish. The learning process of it all is really fun and you get to know your body well. How was this long ride compared to your last ride? Any other long rides scheduled in the near future?
yeah- it definitely is a fun process, and I’m getting closer and closer each ride to knowing what I need. I’m hoping to get in another long ride this week– I’m thinking about doing potentially doing an 80 miler right before my birthday with some co-workers. We’ll see. This long ride was much better nutrition wise, and honestly, I can’t really imagine a better ride than this one. It was beautiful!
It is so important to listen to our bodies, they tell us what they need! Good for you for getting out there and knowing what you need to hit your goals!
Thanks so much! I’m trying to be in tune with mine so I can give myself exactly what I need to get through my rides well!