After my nutrition 'eureka' moment, I decided to try to verify my findings by another test.
This time, the distance goal was 100k, about 10 miles further than I'd ridden the week before.
The weather on Saturday was perfect. It started off in the 40's, and was predicted to get up to somewhere near 60 degrees. You can't ask for anything better on the last weekend in January.
Noting that in my last outing, I got a little light-headed, I swapped out my diet hydration drink with a full-calorie over-the-counter sports drink. Sodium and Potassium content was comparable between the two, so the only real difference was the extra carbs. I also decided that I'd try to eat slightly more total carbs, but spread them out throughout the hour instead of one larger meal every 45 minutes.
My nutrition plan was simple: 1 fig bar every 15; 1 bottle of sports drink (~24 oz) every hour.
I delayed my 30-minute bar by 10 minutes, because I still felt too full to eat more. I got back on schedule over the next 3 feedings, and stuck to the 1 per 15 from that point forward. Next time, I'll cut my start-of-ride meal in half, which should solve that problem.
I rode south through Cary, then rode the route through Apex, and onto Old US 1, which I stuck with past the turnoff onto Lower Moncure Rd. This is pretty much what I'd done the week before, but I went further this time.
What a pleasant ride! The sun was out, and cyclists were out in force, all taking advantage of the unseasonably warm day. I stopped at Ray's Supermarket to refill and refuel, as I didn't have enough drink or fig bars to last all afternoon. I think it'll become a regular stopping point.
When I got to the 50km (~33 miles) mark, I picked the top of the next hill as my turn-around point, rode there, and reluctantly turned around.
At this point, I was feeling good, sad that I was on the last half of my ride, but happy that the headwinds that had been vexing me all day were now, quite literally, behind me.
The second half of the ride was much faster. It felt good to have the wind at my back, and I really got into the groove. I managed to find a nice position on my bars where I could tuck, got comfy on my bike, and let my legs and gears smooth out the rolling hills all the way back to Apex.
I missed a turn onto Regency, but by the time I noticed, I was at Kildaire Farm Rd, and decided I'd take it instead of doubling back. Really enjoyed the long, curving downhill that starts at Penny Rd, and seems to continue almost all the way to Tryon.
I ended the ride about 4:15 in the afternoon, about 5 1/2 hours after I started, feeling great. I'm confident I could have done more, but am trying hard to stick with my training plan, so I called it a day.
My energy levels stayed consistently high throughout the ride, and that in itself is what I was really trying to accomplish. The fact that I hit a personal distance milestone is just an added bonus.
With the nutrition issue beat, and my on-bike comfort getting there, I'm feeling more and more confident about nailing the 100 mile single day ride for the Tour de Cure in June. The two biggest issues are in the fine-tuning stage, which will let me focus on the next big hurdle - 2nd-day energy levels.
I posted my route on Runkeeper.
