A Cotswold Adventure 200km

[nomeansno]

After taking up cycling a couple of months ago and managing to complete two 100km plus rides in May I thought I would push the boat out a bit and give my first 200km ride a go. It wasn't my original intention to ride 200km this year but the 100km rides had gone much better than expected so I was feeling fairly confident - how wrong I was !!

The ride set out from Solihull at 8am in the pouring rain and the first section went fairly well. Most of the riders bunched together but I'm not yet comfortable with riding in a group so I hung behind the group for a while then went past a few riders as it started to break up. Very quick control at Cropredy and then this is where it started to get tough, the next two sections were through the Cotswolds and the hills, in comparison to anything I've done before, were relentless. There were no big climbs which would cause problems in isolation but they just kept coming, one after another. By the time I got to half way I was exhausted, the second control was at a small cafe in Chadlington. I got there just before a big group so got served pretty quickly, however I was so tired my brain was totally frazzled -  I ordered a chicken, sliced egg and mayo sandwich, not normally my first choice and I still don't really understand why  I ordered it !

Third section was the hardest of all, I was crawling up every climb and my legs felt shot. It didn't help the the sandwich wasn't sitting very well and threatened to re-appear on several occasions, I also started to get quite a lot of pain in my left wrist. The only upside was that the rain had stopped by this point so I had dried out. The final section was actually not too hilly but by this point I was physically and mentally done, I was just turning pedals to try and get to the end.

Finished the 209km in 10 and a half hours which I was reasonably happy with considering how slow I was getting towards the end. The step up from 100km to 200km really shocked me and I'm not to proud to admit that this ride absolutely destroyed me but I'm glad I did it and was quite proud of myself when I got to the end. It's left me with a bit of a dilemma regarding future rides though, if it had gone really well then I may have tried to get in another 200km fairly soon but I found it so difficult that it has put me off slightly and made me think about dropping down to 100-150km for a while.

[Clemo]

You did well, it was tough but that's a quick time for a hilly 200km ride, don't let it put you off 

You should be rightly proud of your achievement you went outside of your comfort zone and succeeded, give it a week or so and you'll probably feel a little differently about the whole experience.

[tonyh]

Congrats, that's fabulous progress in only a couple of months!

What Clemo said.

[nomeansno]

I was fine with the time but I don't think it's a reflection of how hard I found the ride. I was a complete gibbering wreck by the time I finished, definitely a massive step up from the 100km rides which, though definitely not easy, I at least felt human at the finish.

[matthew]

It's true that the 200km is a big step up from the 100km, but it sounds like your main issue was one of pacing and eating. You describe getting to the lunch control ahead of a large group and you finished faster than most will ride a hilly 200.

I suspect that if you were to ride another and just take the first half 5% slower and be a little more aware of your lunch selection you would finish in 11 hours and be a lot more comfortable.

[Clemo]

I was fine with the time but I don't think it's a reflection of how hard I found the ride. I was a complete gibbering wreck by the time I finished, definitely a massive step up from the 100km rides which, though definitely not easy, I at least felt human at the finish.

It's par for the course when you increase the distance, today you'll be tired both physically and mentally but you'll recover and forget the hard bits in the next few days.

Anyway well done. 

[nomeansno]

It's true that the 200km is a big step up from the 100km, but it sounds like your main issue was one of pacing and eating. You describe getting to the lunch control ahead of a large group and you finished faster than most will ride a hilly 200.

I suspect that if you were to ride another and just take the first half 5% slower and be a little more aware of your lunch selection you would finish in 11 hours and be a lot more comfortable.

I think you are completely right here. In the cold light of day I'm starting to realise that a bit of over-confidence may have made me set out faster than I really needed to and I paid for it later. And yes, the sandwich was definitely a bad idea but I'm still getting used to how much / what to eat.