I think I am prepared

So I made plans to go on a 120 mile bike ride.  When it's completed I could take that off my list.

I guess my preparations would be slightly different for these 120 miles if I was racing these 120 miles, which technically I am not.

However, I will say that if I am on my bike, competitive juices will be flowing.  I will try not to race.  Inevitably I will get impatient and go. 

This is supposed to happen in about three weeks as long as the weather cooperates, which it better. 

Now how should I train for this? 

Thankfully I am in really good shape, and from the feedback I have gotten from a local bike mechanic, my aunt (who has done these and is going too), and my own self confidence, I should be fine for riding 120 miles.

I am confident my legs can handle it. Confident my lungs can as well.

I am not worried about my legs, I am worried about my neck, my a$$ hurting, and my back and my stomach. 

Tylenol could very well become a friend of mine.

Sitting on a bike seat for 6+ hours is probably going to be painful.  It's especially painful the first time you ride for the season.  It's the definition of pain in the ass. 

My neck can sometimes bother me as well on long rides, as can my back occasionally.  I won't let that bother me, I will finish 120 miles, I just don't know what it will feel like in the process and how much those things could take away from the enjoyment of it.  Although truthfully the real enjoyment will be getting off the bike and seeing the computer say, 120 miles.  How many people can say they have gone on a 120 mile bike ride?  Just accomplishing this is what is motivating me, plus I want to go 120 miles and see what it is like.

I might really enjoy 120 mile bike rides.  That's a scary thought.  Centuries are the ultimate accomplishment for a cyclist too.

Now for me the part of the bike ride that I really find interesting is the bathroom and eating situation.  This event is not a race, it's just being able to say you went on this absurdly long ride.   
There will be places to stop and eat, which is different from racing, when you have to eat and ride at the same time.  Eating and riding a bike at the same time is a skill I need to learn. 

For the first time I tried to eat on my bike yesterday.  I chose one thing to bring and stick in my pocket.  It was not exactly healthy, but the point of bringing the York Peppermint Patty was to determine how I could unwrap and eat something while going at a moderately easy pace.  (The eating slowed me down in other words) 

I decided that I should eat when I was on a flat part of the road, and when I could comfortably take a hand off the handlebars (aka not when an 18 wheeler passes you by, or in the middle of a turn).  My initial thought was that I would use both my hands quickly to open the wrapper.  I didn't love the feeling of that.  Maybe more seasoned cyclists who go on really long rides and are used to eating can do that.  I would say I cycle a lot but since I go on relatively short 20-30 mile rides I don't usually need to eat in the middle of the ride, so I am a rookie at eating.

So I tried to figure out the best way to have this candy.  I decided that I would just use my teeth to break open the wrapper and I just popped the peppermint patty into my mouth.  I really didn't savor the taste either.  It just went in my mouth and I swallowed it and kept on going.

I don't think that really gave me an energy boost, but to be fair, in case you want an excuse to eat a peppermint patty while riding, I did have the quickest ride on this terrain ever. I went 17.3 MPH (don't let gym bikes fool you by the way.  While they are good for tracking progress, I have not found their miles to be accurate) which included having to stop in the middle of a hill because the chain came off the bike, is apparently "really moving" according to the bike mechanic because of the hills and because I was riding by myself. 

Riding by yourself makes a big difference as well.  You can go much faster if someone is in front of you poking a hole in the air in front of you, especially when it's windy.  Wind, not surprisingly, makes it hard.

So eating and riding is something I need to practice for long rides, especially if I decide to do a long ride that is also a race.  Who wouldn't want to have to incorporate eating into a practice session?

Maybe cross country runners and gymnasts wouldn't like that, but I do.

Now, for the bathroom part, I thankfully won't need to worry at all.  It's not a race, just a long ride that I will probably make into a race. 

I know NASCAR drivers employ that strategy of just going in their clothes, as must other auto racers. 

I found an article on this in the New York Times, and I guess there are methods for cyclists to use the bathroom that are different from just going in their shorts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/sports/sportsspecial1/22bike.html

Now if these 120 miles were a race, I'd also need to train more.  I would need to be doing rides that are approaching that 120 mile mark, at decent speeds.

To summarize all of this drivel, if you go biking, or workout/exert yourself for a while you can bring a peppermint patty and see if it works makes you do better.