Churches are good idea. I think there are a few on the route. I haven’t worked out the pre-ride fuelling yet only the on ride part.
It’s not an actual race apart from the bit in my brain that keeps telling me to go faster. I’ve lowered the climbing on the route I’ve chosen so that it’s about 3,300 ft.
I’m the same and I do 100% liquid nutrition for everything no matter the duration. For rides under 2 hours I consume 100g an hour and over 2 hours 90g an hour. I’ve had success with this during my normal weekend 4 hour rides as well as some MTB 100s that have lasted 9:00 hours and even up to 17:30 hours, ugh.
I just prefer liquid nutrition and never want solids, YMMV.
If you stop you’re only inside for 3 minutes or less even at a leisurely pace. Park your bike by the door where its visible, get your stuff, pay for it, then back outside to sit on the curb next to your bike.
As for stops, its fairly rare for someone to ride 100 miles with literally 0 stops. And there is really no reason to. Even if you don’t want to do a full blown lunch stop, one or two 5 minute stops to refill bottles is completely normal and won’t mess up your training. We’re talking stoppage time equal to a couple traffic lights over several hours.
The solo winner in the men’s masters category in Race Across America (RAAM) stayed in zone 2 even up hills. It’s a winning strategy over distance.
Every time you go harder you significantly increase the amount of glycogen your leg muscles are converting into energy. You’ll burn through it quicker and end up needing to get it from your blood far earlier. This isn’t as efficient as getting it directly from the muscle and you’ll hit that wall like you did on your 64 miler.
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Thanks, that bike lock could be what I’m after when stopping for a short time. I haven’t looked at hydration tablets as I going to use SiS Go Energy - it’s what I’m using with my indoor training.
I’m on 90g an hour indoors. First time was a bit interesting later in the day but after that it has been fine.
Why did you chose SiS Beta Fuel over the Go Energy? I chose the other way round but didn’t really research it.
5 hours that’s way out of my league… 
Solo does also have the advantage that you can always go slower! You’re never chasing faster riders, just eat little and often and chill if you need to.
I’d start slowly, if you’re 20 miles from home and bonking by yourself it is really going to suck, so start slow and get faster if you want (and are confident you’ve still got enough in the tank to get home).
Also if you’re riding somewhere nice plan to sit down and eat when it’s pretty.
The quickest and cheapest way to fill bottles is to buy a gallon container of water.
Plan your stops in advance. Every single time I have done a long ride and decided to wing it on stops, I ended up going longer than I wanted to without water. It’s amazing how many hours you can ride even in the middle of civilization without passing a gas station or Store. There might be dozens of them a mile away, but if they are not on your route, they might as well be on the moon.
Thanks that’s really interesting. I’m using Coggan and all my outside rides have really high HR as I just push myself as hard as possible. At the moment, I haven’t really looked at pacing. Also, riding with my friend who was fitter at the time didn’t help.
Thanks. I got the bike on 0% APR and am still paying so do feel a bit nervous about leaving unlocked.
Yep, I’m in Kent. If I was born the other side of the river Medway then I would have a slightly different name 
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For some strange reason stopping to refuel doesn’t seem right. Although, I did like the idea of emergency refuelling at a village church or perhaps meeting my family half way. I think I’ve got this notion of being self-sufficient.
I definitely don’t check how my body is feeling at a moment in time. I just go as hard as I can. So far that has worked up to 50 miles but bonked on my first metric century.
I’m doing 90g an hour on my indoor training but 90 mins is the maximum time at the moment. I think I’ll do a longer outside ride next month - maybe 3 hours. That should tell me if I need real food or not.
It’s probably the way that my brain is wired but I don’t want to stop. A number of people have mentioned cafes but that would just take my focus out and interfere with the ride. It’s a bit hard to explain.
Don’t go solo. It’s more fun with company and won’t have to leave your bike outside anywhere unguarded.
Going slower is something I need to do and am going to have to practice it. Unfortunately, the faster rider is the one in my head so I’m going to need a fair bit of practice.
I was hoping to go with a friend but he seems to be going off the idea of long bike rides. I may look at local clubs later in the year.