It’s the day before your first century or extra long ride!

Here is advice dished out by seasoned cyclists that we distilled to help you have the very best first long ride without needing to learn everything the hard way (which is how most riders figure this stuff out). This list is what to do the day before and the day-of the ride. This list assumes you’re doing a supported ride and you’re not alone on the route. It doesn’t include what you should bring with you or other prep necessary.

• Don’t stress!

  Focus on having fun. Fun. KEEP FUN IN MIND all day!!!

• Bring good company!

  Time goes faster and the ride is more fun with the distraction of riding with friends.

• Break the ride down into smaller parts, into distances you can ride comfortably already.

  Don’t think about the whole thing, just what you need to do to get to your next 10 miles, for instance. When you have ~30 miles left, you know you can do that since you’ve ridden 30 mile group rides no problem in the past!

• Eat & drink frequently.

  Take a bite of food or drink water every 15 minutes. Set an alarm on your GPS computer to call your attention to this. Make sure you have both carbs and plenty of electrolytes going into your body. Think 60-90 grams of carbs per hour and 1 bottle of water per hour depending on the temp of the day.

• Use chamois cream generously before the ride.

  If you get chafed anywhere on your shorter rides, it’ll be especially bad on a long ride.

• Move around a lot on the bike to offer your body relief. Stay relaxed on the bike.

  Get out of the saddle on climbs sometimes, shift position with your hands on the handlebars, look all around.

• Don’t go too hard, especially not in the first 20 miles.

  Try to keep your exertion in the realm of heart rate not too high such that you can carry on a conversation. If you can talk, your heart is not beating too much. Stay in this range all day!

• Keep rest stops fairly quick.

  Lingering and eating too much at once can make it painful when it’s time to resume riding. This is an opportunity to stretch too and move around. Don’t sit down.

• Focus on higher cadence, lower gearing.

  Pushing high (harder) gears will wear out your muscles faster than spinning lower (easier) gears. You can eat and fuel for endurance, but once your muscles are tired, it’s hard to keep moving.

• Eat a balanced diet the previous day and hydrate very well the day before.

  Carb loading is not what it sounds like, don’t do it. You’re better off eating salad and a balanced, wholesome dinner than a huge bowl of pasta since you’ll sleep better after the wholesome meal.

• Eat a big, healthy breakfast the morning of the ride.

  Do NOT start hungry. Minimize heavy proteins like meat. Carbs such as oatmeal and fruits are good. But don’t eat a breakfast your body isn’t used to, either.

• Don’t do anything new.

  Today isn’t the day to experiment with new saddles, new bike position, new clothes, new nutrition, new anything.

• Make a checklist!

  Even the most obvious things you need to bring with you, things you need to do, and what you should load in your pockets and saddle bag are EASILY forgotten on the big day. Make a checklist to allow your brain to focus on fun and not worry/waste energy having to think.

• HAVE FUN!!!

  The overarching principle is: have fun! If you’ll have more fun by breaking one of these rules, then break the rule.