In too deep: event strategy help, please!

13

Ride report!

GFNY on Sunday was a good test of my endurance and a good learning experience. Planned for 140W NP (66%), and managed 135W NP (yielding ~15.5kph/9.6mph) for the first 3.8 hours. Huge win on that front, considering I’ve only done five four(ish)-hour rides EVER and the last one was January 2021.

  • All-time longest ride: 7:11
  • All-time most climbing: Garmin says 1425m, RideWithGPS says 1162m (why???)
  • All-time most work: 2690 kcal

Four good hours and 59km/+780m was all the body had, though, and it took about 3.3 more hours of real suffering (part riding, part walking, part resting) to travel the last 16km/+420 required to my goal point. Made it, though: second big win.

The sweep car had no mercy: they passed me just 30km into the race. :joy: And because I was well slower than the cutoff, I was barely able to make a quick stop at Aid Station #2 before they packed up and went home. So my fueling strategy was well-thought-out, taking the CrankTank was a good move, and the only note is that I drank less than I should (therefore fueled less than I should) and I’ll need to improve on that.

All told, a VERY solid performance and one with which I’m happy. Looking forward:

  1. I’m more interested in better power/speed over a medium duration than in greater endurance. So for next year, I’m going to target a little more distance (100km), but at a much faster speed (20kph).

  2. I need to drink more (just 650ml/hr average this ride, should have been 900ml/hr). Drinking less also meant I fueled less, getting just 175g of carbs (44g/hr) in the first four hours. I’ll add in some chews and things for now, but over time I just need to drink more.

  3. I think the healthiest plan for the next 12 months is to increase FTP 10% or so (ideally 13% to 240W), lose about 40 of the ~70 extra pounds I’m carrying (the most important part), drink/fuel more, and gradually extend my long weekend ride to four hours, so I can then put in 5-6 hours of work during an event like this one.

Thanks for all your help and discussion during the planning for this… it certainly helped make the ride a success. :pray:t2: