Surviving the Pelofondo

This weekend is the Pelofondo, a challenge for Peloton riders that pushes you to achieve great distances over the course of two days. The minimum mileage for the weekend is 35, and the website says the max is 120, but I know quite a few people who pushed to beat 200 miles! Craziness!

I did my first Pelofondo in July, and completed the minimum 35 miles in 2 hours and 35 minutes. I made my goal 50 miles this time. I thought it would take me about 3 hours, but I have no idea where I got that number from. 

When I saw my nutritionist this week, I asked hot to handle it. Normally I would carb load, but my diet is pretty much carb free, so I wasn't sure how to handle it. She suggested 80 calories of carbs that morning. Um. No. I decided to splurge and had steel cut oatmeal for breakfast, and some protein an hour before the ride, which started at noon.

After "lunch", I prepped my nutrition for the ride. Peanut butter and apples, cashews, a protein bar, and a few pieces of licorice type candy. I had an apple piece with peanut butter after each ride.

 

Once my food was prepped, I got ready for the ride. I broke my own hard and fast rule, and wore a new tank and pants on race day. Luckily, I didn't regret it, but it easily could have gone the other way. I got my official The Tour Does Pelofondo pants, and the tank was from the last Peloton website sale. So comfy! The pants are a littler longer than I like, but they were soft as butter!

   

Time to begin! The Pelofondo is run through a Facebook Messenger Bot, so after every ride, you submit your distance and the length of you ride.  The Bot then tells you how far you've gone, how far you have to go, and the percentage completed. 

I started out doing a Tour. This is a stack of rides compiled by one of the admins from the Facebook Group and they must be done in order, without stopping, and no substitutions. This was a special edition Tour, which meant you also had to do it at the same time as everyone else. The Tour was 2.5 hours long, and when it was done, I only had 30ish miles done. I could have gotten off of the bike and finished the next day, but I was worried that my knees would swell up and I wouldn't be able to finish!

Amy "called me" during the ride and we talked a bit!

I decided to pull up my all time favorite Dolly Parton ride with Robin Arzon, and then take it ride by ride. This ride has Jolene in it twice, and if you follow along, you know that my bike is called Jolene! I was riding a flat road the whole day, which for me was a 33 resistance and between 70 and 80 cadence. This was getting me roughly 1 mile for every 5 minutes. The 30 minute rides were getting me roughly 6.25 miles per ride. After the Dolly ride, I did CDE's latest low impact ride. I had heard that it was super zen. What I didn't anticipate was that it would have me bawling like a baby throughout. I highly recommend this ride!

Still not done!

I needed one more ride, a 30 minute ride. I had 5.47 miles to go. I chose Sam's New Year's Recovery ride. He had Elton John music, and some older songs that had me singing along. It was just what I needed, and when I hit 5.48 miles, I jumped off with 4 minutes to go (not reflected in my finish time below.)

Whew! I was done! I told the Bot, and then promptly ordered a personalized tank. I hadn't even stretched yet!

Once I stretched, I ran a hot bath and soaked for awhile.

What I did right:

I was ready with proper nutrition

I paced myself, and didn't go out too fast

I did the front half with a group, with lots of motivation

I stretched when I was done

I stood up and stretched between rides

I ate between rides and never let myself get hungry

I did not quit

What I did wrong:

I did not have enough hydration and ran out during my final ride

I should have done some solo miles when I was fresh 

All in all a success! My goal for my next Pelofondo will be to follow minimum cues from the instructors for as long as I can, although I won't ride out of the saddle. I will aim for the same 50  miles, with a faster finishing time. I hope to increase my goal to 75 before the year ends. 

Have you ever done a half century ride?