Yesterday, I had a great private conversation with a very nice rider on ridecamp. She had been following the thread on 100s. She has a 100 miler as a goal and was looking for information on preparing and training. After directing her to different sources of information she asked if there was an article or information on how 100s are qualitatively different from 50s and what to do about that. She was especially interested in differences of food and fluid with both horse and rider. I forwarded her post to Dinah, ed committee chair, to see if we could put something together along these lines.
So I thought to put this discussion on more of a positive track I would ask 100 mile riders on ridecamp to address some of the differences you experience between 50s & 100s and the ways you bridge these differences to move from 50s to 100s. I am going to organize these ideas and perhaps will put them on the AERC website or write an article. So let's keep this positive, not criticize, and share ideas. When you reply please be sure to send to my e mail address because of the AOL issue I am not getting all of the ridecamp mail.
Here are a couple of thoughts that Dinah sent with her repsonse to me:
"Though the mileage would make me believe otherwise, a 100-mile ride doesn't feel twice as far as a 50-mile."
"We compete to beat dark and/or the trail. That means on 100s, all of us riding are on the same side so there tends to be a tighter sense of comradery and support between riders than generally found on 50s."
Here is one of mine:
For myself, I make more of an effort to keep hydrated early in the 100 mile ride. I make myself start drinking within the first few miles of the ride. In a 50 or 25 miler, I can get away with not taking care of myself because I know I will be finished early and will be able to recover in basecamp after the ride. With a 100, the effort I make in the morening to stay hydrated and nurished will pay off when I need it most in the latter part of the 100 mile ride.
