Nurtition Talk - a simple bike ride can be harder than a 50 miles run

65 miles bike. 30 miles of it sucks.

Nutrition is can make your break your race.  I always tell people to nutrition properly for any race other than a 10K run.  I don't care how fast you are.  If you don't consume enough calories, you will not make good time, or even finish the race!  During my 50 miles trail race, I followed my nutrition plan and I felt good during the whole race.  On April 1st, I discovered that a simple bike ride can be tougher than a 50 miles run if you don't nutrition well (in this case hardly).

So on Sunday I decided to bike to give my leg a rest from running.  I was thinking to go from Cerritos down to the Cemetery (to pay my respect to Renee, a girl that battered cancer and lost the battle right before she turned 30) and back, a route that I ride often.  If I feel like it, I can ride to Angel Stadium as like a bonus.

As I was preparing my bike in Cerritos, I thought it was a good idea to take in less nutrition because I figured I have been eating a lot... if I only drink water, I'll be burning extra calories.  The kicker is that I have everything in the car. I have Carbo Pro, Powerbar Endurance mix, and endless supply of rice krispie treats.  I did carried 1 rice krispie (cause it was in my bento box) and I picked up a box of Hello Panda just because I saw it in my trunk... for a grand total of 50 grams of carbohydrate.  To give you a comparison, I consume around 95grams of carbohydrate on the bike... PER HOUR!  I don't remember the last time I carry just water on a bike ride that's longer than 6 miles.

Anyway, the first 20 miles or so was uneventful.  I have tail wind so I was making good progress.  I bought Renee flowers (there is this guy that sell it a block away from the cemetery, I think I am the only one that get flower from him on a bicycle) and stayed at the cemetery for around 20 minutes.  I decided to ride to Angel Stadium for a longer workout.  I know I will hit the headwind on my way back but I didn't really care cause I know I'll burn more calories!

After 45 minutes or so I made it to Angel Stadium.  I was at around mile 32 and I did not consume a single calorie.  I figured it was a good time to eat my Hello Panda.  I put them in my bento box and started riding.  I even managed to drop a few while I was eating them.

Things would of be fine if there is no head wind, but what's life without drama?  Biking against a strong headwind is like biking on a hill. It sucks on a good day. It's totally suck when you didn't eat anything for the last few hours.  I was running low of water (I bought 3 bottles... but I had like 5 in the car), I didn't eat, there was a headwind, my arm and my butt hurt because I haven't been riding, and I was chafing (of course I have a lot of one time used chamois butter in my car)!  I pulled over and look for the one that I have in my bike bag. Nope, I guessed I must of used it during Ironman Canada... *_*

If you look at the map (my route is a 'V'), I could of easily cut across without going back down to Huntington Beach. But no, I want to finish the ride... all 60 something miles of it.  So paddle I go.  Sometime I go around 14mph, sometime I go around 12mph. At times I go around 10mph.  But after a long time I got back to PCH.  I was hoping a change of direction will make the bike easily. No, not really. In fact the wind picked up *_*. I now go from 12 to 10.  By then I was very low on water, and I was hungry so I decided to bike along the beach so I can buy something off the beach stand... I would of... if they were open!  I did eventually found a water fountain so I was able to fill out my bottles.  I knew if I continue to ride I can get to downtown Huntington Beach and I am sure something is opened.  I decided to just suck it up and bike back.  I got back on PCH and continue inching my way back to my car... 10-12mph.

After an eternity I made it back to the San Gabriel River bike path. 7 more miles to go.  I was making good time for like 1 1/2 mi averaging 23 miles per hour. Then the head wind hit again and I slow down to 12 mph.

Finally, finally, I made it.  I was so done with the ride.  I was kind of cold because of the wind chill. I packed my bike, drunk my recovery drink (laugh all you want), and drove to family dinner.

I felt worst in this bike ride than my 50 miles run. Like I told you guys previously, I actually felt awesome during my run LOL! Never again riding with no calories!