2007 BCLC Ramble

Another great ride at the Bike Club of Lake County's Ramble. This ride is always well organized, with especially good road markings. The 100 mile route takes you through many of the lake towns of southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. My wife completed her first organized ride, choosing to do the 30 mile route, in a faster time than she had planned. I finished in about 6 hours and 10 minutes...typical for
my centuries this year.

My big goal for this ride was to do my final nutrition test ahead of the National 24hr Challenge on June 16-17. I have just started using Hammer Nutrition products, in particular Hammer Gel, Perpetuem, and Endurolytes. In my first 100 mile test at the Kenosha Racine Bike Club Annual Ride I used a packet of Perpetuem in a 24 oz bottle mixed with one serving of Raspberry Gel. This seemed to provide too many calories, as I was feeling bloated by the fourth hour. I was also thirsty. Relying on one bottle for both hydration and nutrition has the flaw of not being able to drink without eating.

To remedy this, I decided to try a "multi-hour" bottle of Perpetuem. I now use a three-hour bottle (six scoops in a 24 oz bottle) of Perpetuem. I use electrolyte enhanced water, using either Elete or Nuun to add the salts. The first hour of my ride I use Hammer gel and water. The next two hours I consume 1/3 of my Perpetuem bottle and continue drinking water. I then repeat this for the next three hours. This has solved the bloating problem and I feel pretty good throughout my 100 mile rides. How well this will work over 24 hours? I guess I'll know this weekend.

BCLC Ramble on Sunday!

The Bike Club of Lake County hold their annual Ramble this Sunday, June 10th. I'll be using this as my final tune-up/nutrition test for the National 24 Hour Challenge in Middleville, MI the following weekend. The Ramble will also be my wife's very first organized bike ride!