500KM on an indoor trainer...
We recently had a new customer getting our chamois cream specifically for the purpose of tackling Zwift for 500km...you read that right; 500km!
Fred Houinato bought from us promptly and then only a week or so later he was on his Smart Trainer setting off to complete 500KM in aid of Movember, a very worthy cause indeed.
Over to Fred...
Veloskin Chamois cream: Embarking on this journey of doing a 500km ride on a turbo trainer, I was really unsure I would be able to take the 16 hours in the saddle, luckily Veloskin came into my life at the right time, a week before my event, and as soon as I tried it in one of my ride I knew it would help greatly. For this ride I changed my cycling short exactly after 200km and 400km, and use the Chamois cream every time, it did the job, I highly recommend the product, and I won’t ride anywhere without it going forward!
What an experience! I thought I’d share a few things about my first attempt at an endurance ride, prior to this 500km ride, my longest ride had been a double imperial in April (200 miles).
Although I bought my first road bike 10 years ago, I did not use it much but then Zwift (virtual cycling game) came along a year ago! and it’s been so much fun! And also great training. And you know how it goes, first you do a 60 minutes D ride, then before you know you are doing 100km rides, and VOLT intervals, then 160km rides, and before long you show up at work on Mondays and complain you’ve only done 200km this week end…
And so comes the challenge for Movember, and because I can’t really grow a moustache, I decided I would do a physical activity, not sure why I picked 500km as a distance, but it felt like the right thing to do! It’s been a strange experience between being afraid to tell people you are doing it, because you don’t know if you can actually do it… Thankfully with great inspirations in my virtual cycling club I had great advice like, “stick to your bike, and cycle until you get there” And I do like a simple plan!
My master plan was to take advantage of the family being out of town, take over the entire house and do a once in a lifetime setup, stream on Twitch. Start would be one of my regular 100km Saturday morning rides, and take it from there. Unfortunately, it did not go according to plan, during the ride effort levels felt off, harder than it should have, the trainer was playing up, I had sudden increases in resistance, and a power drop… The equivalent of a flat tyre if you will. Managed to fix it all and never looked back!
The rest of the ride is a bit of a blur I must admit, I settled in a rhythm, relied on my schedule of taking a 5 minute break every 100km, and I took opportunities when they presented themselves for draft.
That really brings me to the best part of that ride, and that’s the amount of goodwill you receive from other riders, I did change my name in game to include Movember 500km, and that certainly helped with awareness, I received over 400 Thumbs up in game. People would ask me if I was doing 500km for real, and they would help and stick around, it becomes obvious in game when people are waiting for you when gap form etc… I wish I had taken notes of names during the ride as I only remember the people like Team portal that committed to support ahead of the race! A very special thank you to my team mates who rode the last 100km with me, it’s a ridiculous amount of support!
Now that it’s done, I am not sure what I am going to do with my life, but I think I may start planning for a 24h ride at some point in 2020, and before that probably a vEveresting. (A virtual Everest, is climbing the elevation of mount Everest in a single ride)
I will leave you with my top 5 Learnings:
1) Stick to the setup you are used to bike/trainer, standing desk, everything you change potentially makes it harder! Take it from the guy that decided to use a new computer, desk, paint it’s trainer, and stream the event!
2) Stick to the plan, even when it goes south, not having to make any decisions throughout your event is the best thing going for you
3) People will go extraordinary length to help you, enjoy it!
4) Streaming the event was probably the best thing I did, it mentally helps a lot, to engage, but also being held accountable
5) Soft, very soft sweat towels, or you will literally lose the skin on your face!!
References
I am adding in the notes some of the boring details for those interested:
Movember donation: https://mobro.co/frederichouinato?mc=1
Twitch channel (I will post highlights on it) https://www.twitch.tv/altaris_mckent
Strava activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/2902754644
Equipment:
Trainer: Tacx Neo V1 Thunder Child
Bike: Giant SCR2 (2006)
Saddle: Specialized Power Expert
Nutrition:
Food (intake every hour 130-150 cal)
1/3 Huel
1/3 Pasta/rice
1/3 Sis Go energy bars
Drinks:
1 bottle per hour on a rotation of Sis Go Hydro / Sis Electrolyte / Resync recovery (berry type drink)
