36,500km in 365 days - Cycling Against Living Miserably

Thanks everyone for the messages of support and I'm really taken back with the generosity with the donations so thank you. I didn't expect that at all, I was posting on here to tell the story of why I'm doing this and to have another way of logging the challenge to a bunch of cyclists.

So some facts of where I started in January and other miscellaneous ;
Weight was 72.3kg - now 71.8kg
FTP 310 - now unknown as I don't fancy testing this until I've finished
Biggest week so far was 25 hours 55 minutes (Would love to do a 30hour week when the weather is better)
Bikes: Isen all season and Caad 5 USA
I've lost count of how many local legends I've got and seem to top all Strava club leaderboards - Who even looks at these though?

Also @hippy I should of spoken to you before doing that as you couldn't be more correct. I've ended up with a slight knee issue, it's fine for me to ride slowly but I can't ride hard/fast which is what I enjoy.

Good luck - just sent you a few £.
Good day to be out today!

Let us know how you get on.

Rest it as much as you can. Self massage (not that, filth) can help as can stretching the quads and calves. Tight quads particularly for me can impact kneecap tracking and kneecap pain.
Also, don't be afraid to tweak your saddle height a little (and double check it's correct to begin with and keep notes!). As muscles fatigued and tighten you can gain some relief with a few mm up or down (depending on what pains you're having).

Lighter gears spun quicker cadence also. 90rpm+

I'm trying my best to rest, I'm lucky to have a physio girlfriend who helps with all my various sporting injuries. I've pretty much been doing all of that, I've got historically tight quads/calves so it's been an ongoing issue to stay on top of this. I had a diy bike fit on Sunday and lowered the saddle and swapped to speedplays which is nice but now I only have 1 set of pedals....

I've found the most important thing about this challenge is staying fit and healthy. Well over the equipment and average watts/speed.

Woow, just checked your strava, 5000 plus miles so fair this year! amazing effort.

I'm a bit behind on 4400 Miles this year.

What kind of split are you doing between being out on the road and the trainer ?

Thanks and well done to you too! That's a huge amount of time you've put in. Are you training for anything specific?

About 50/50 but i want to be closer to 100 road in the summer. I don't mind a turbo session, i used to row so spent a lot of time looking at a concept 2 screen.

Ah, well if you've got access to a physio I'm basically teaching you to suck eggs then. She'll sort you out. I would keep an eye on the knee tracking, like have a reminder to "inspect" it a couple of times a session and note any weirdness or pain. Have your GF look at your knee angle to see if it's too high or low. Check for wobbles and do what you can to stabilise them. No one is perfect though so don't get too hung up on one knee kicking out a bit or whatever.

Plenty of carbs, fluids. I mean yeah, you've done months of this already so you probably know already. I'd be looking for interesting sub-goals to do when winter comes back. Maybe try different apps. When I did that fundraising thing last year I did it all indoors just because that was harder for me and I felt if I'm raising money I should suffer, obvs. :S I ended up throwing Zwift on for that month in addition to Trainerroad just to level up and stuff. It kept it a bit more interesting and then I killed my account after it. There's some other training apps that use video and stuff that might be a laugh to use. Riding morning, lunch and night was a drag - three showers a day is nonsense so I'd prefer to do a single bigger session and then have more recovery time but I was pushed for time trying to hit my goals, hence 3x day.

You might be able to find cheap Speedplay for spares. I've got a lot but they're all on bikes or waiting until I break another C-spring to swap in.

@Norfolkbound I’ve sent you a message, I have some speedplays you can have for this great effort. Bit scruffy but work fine?

No eggs sucked here, my GF is a peadiatric physio so does occasionally make some blunders... K tape was one, ended up waxing the hair off around my quad and knee. Her response was I never need to shave my patients before using it on them.... (They're children). So advice from an experienced cyclist as yourself is amazing, thank you. I'll get her to measure my knee angles tomorrow and we can keep a note of it like you suggested.

I'm definitely in a good routine with my nutrition and recovery but I've found when I'm tired I get lazy, which means I don't make gels for the following days so end up eating sweets. What was your challenge? When I was working from home, I was there with 3 showers a day and I would agree. Occasionally I do 100+km after work as it gives me quite a buzz, shows how much time we have after a working day. I'm planning on doing LEJOG in July which will be amazing but after that I will need to set mini goals, probably mini training camps so I can take advantage of the fitness gains for when the challenge is completed.

@Tallboy that would be amazing :) I've replied, thank you so much

It was a much smaller order than yours. The aim was for a bunch of ultra racers that Ed Tapp knew and pulled together to raise money for Doctors Without Borders. The goal was for us to collectively "ride around the world". Initially with the riders we had it was only supposed to be 1000km each but then some genius got the idea to do it twice or something so half way through it changed to needing 2500k each. I'd already decided to do all of it on the turbo because I felt riding 1000km in a month outside was too easy. But then being slammed with work and trying to do the 2500+ using Trainerroad sessions of all things was a proper ball ache, hence the 3 rides a day and getting onto Zwift to make my life a bit easier.

Thankfully my missus kept me fed. Eating sweets doesn't sound like a problem to me! I only use gels when I'm racing TTs with a support crew. When I'm racing ultras or training now, most of the time I'm eating sandwiches, lollies, waffles, doughnuts, etc. Just high energy food that you'd get from gas stations. No point training on gels if you can't find any during a race.

If I were you I might swing towards using a carb mix drink rather than gels (I've never made my own though, as much as I've wanted to). It's much easier to dump a few scoops of Torq into a bottle than DIY gel but I'd definitely have some foods close to hand if you're getting hunger pangs. Liquid feeding ain't always the best idea but on the turbo when you're likely running hotter than outside it might help.

Also, have some treats. These made one session a lot more fun!

That sounds like a fun challenge though. Like you said being busy with work makes things difficult, I've had a few days where I'm having to do site visits that are 150 miles away so miss the morning ride and feel exhausted from the driving. I have used and enjoyed trainerroad in the past but I'm doing various 'Active recovery' sessions on Zwift as keeping a consistent power seems to help my current injury. I'll move onto those high calorie foods, as you're right in saying you need to fuel on stuff you can buy. This will be very important for when I'm doing big multi day rides as I won't be able to make my gel/buy when out on the road.

I make up a maltodextrin based gel : https://theplantedrunner.com/copycat-gu-gels/#wprm-recipe-container-3063 I find it works really well but I make 8 or 10x the recipe and use soft flasks to store it, makes me feel more PRO... I find too much sweets or a monster ruin my mouth, I jump off the turbo and brush my teeth as I don't like the feeling.

I do have a Friday rewarded, my GF picks up fish and chips which is always a great after a long week. The weekdays are where the challenge really exists, as it kills my spare time and I have to be super efficient with all my tasks otherwise I end up going to bed too late and won't recover. I always have a 2kg bag of maltodextrin so will start putting added it to my bottles with a bit of lemon juice/squash. I have used SIS Go Energy in the passed too which I liked.

It's mental the cost of doing a lot of miles, I've already got through 2x chains and 1 set of GP5000s

site visits that are 150 miles away so miss the morning ride and feel exhausted from the driving

Urgh. At least I was only deskbound. 500ml cans of Monster are you friend. (Or leave early and ride the 150mi with a change of clothes and a pack of wet wipes :) )

I won't be able to make my gel/buy when out on the road.

You want to start experimenting with what foods you like/tolerate now, not in the middle of LEJOG for sure.

Sweets do for sure mess up your mouth over multiple days. I mix them up with bread/pancakes/waffle/chocolates/flapjack type stuff that servos stock and the odd pack of nuts or crips for salt and fat. In the USA, trailmix is a great option as every gas station sells really good versions of it. UK/EU not so much. Various biscuits and cakes as well but off the bike you want to get proper food in for sure. Veggies and beans salads and good proteins and all that healthy shit people like me are rumoured to avoid but actually eat quite a lot of :)

People at work have been trying to push me to cycle to site, the only issue with taking a change of clothes is that it's full PPE included steel toe cap boots and a hard hat...

I guess it's going to be more trial and error as at the moment, I have a very controlled environment with my riding so can plan everything with my nutrition. I'm going to do some long days in the run up to LEJOG so will test the shop bought nutrition then.

Challenge update:

I'm on day 84 now and I'm a bit behind from the knee injury but I'm very motivated to hit day 100 at 10,000km, as this feels like the first big milestone of this challenge. I'm definitely predicting life getting in the way more in September/October with a house move and potentially living between two places so will make the most of this summer by getting some miles banked then!

full PPE included steel toe cap boots and a hard hat

Haha Just do an Alexandra Houchin with the boots...

and the hardhat is your new helmet. Sorted.

with a house move

You're not making it easy on yourself are you?

If it was me I'd definitely ride to sites as I like riding to somewhere with a purpose rather than always doing loops for the sake of it.
You could get a tailfin to carry your gear.
Or get a cheap second hand bike that will take a rack so you don't have to worry so much about security on site if that's an issue. Sometimes it's nice to ride a different bike for a change, and you really appreciate your best one after riding something a bit less slick.

I make up a maltodextrin based gel : https://theplantedrunner.com/copycat-gu-­gels/#wprm-recipe-container-3063 I find it works really well but I make 8 or 10x the recipe and use soft flasks to store it

Do you have this with proper measurements? I love a recipe that uses grams and "1/32 tsp" haha

For 10 years now I've been thinking of making my own gels and I've never actually tried. But I'm trying to reduce my single-use plastic output so a bulk quantity in a squeezy bottle might work for 1-2 day rides. Need to find a source of maltodextrin and fructose though.

His recipe does seem quite high in Potassium relative to Sodium so I'd probably adjust that ratio.

I like riding to somewhere with a purpose rather than always doing loops for the sake of it.

Yeah, it's always nice to have a "mission". On my stupid long out and back training rides I'd picked a pub to stop at and refill my bottles, grab a half and a coke and some crisps. It was nice to have a physical target to aim for and each week it was different so helped my flagging motivation for long A road TT sessions.

VeloViewer tile hunting could be a nice mission to keep your mind occupied during this challenge.

good idea that.

This is what I've used for the last 8 years or so.

http://jibbering.com/sports/drinks.html

I mainly have his endurance one and like the bland, soya taste. I did all my 12 hours on this stuff, with virtually no solid food, and a good few audaxes as stomach training.

His gel mix is good too, although a little bit more faff to make.

You can mess around with ingredients and flavours.

I wouldn't recommend using this stuff (or commercial versions) on multi-day rides. Having done that three times (pbp, tcr and indypac) I finally realised why my mouth was always wrecked with ulcers after 2-3 days.

I won't be adding soy or sweeteners - I want a purely carbo/electrolyte mix. I will need to make it taste of something otherwise I won't use it. I love Torq stuff but I might finally be motivated enough to try DIY to save money and packaging. For TTs I'd still use Torq.

Torq orange:

Maltodextrin 1kg - £2.99
Fructose 500g - £2.99
Electrolyte 5g - £0.17
Orange Flavour - £0.14

The orange flavour here can be an orange cordial or "squash", try a no-added sugar, and consider reducing the fructose to make up for the sugar in the orange itself. Or alternatively there are powdered orange flavourings available online at an increased cost, but simpler as the orange is then a powder like the rest rather than a liquid.

I think I'd ditch all the amino stuff if I tried these. Cheaper still.

Jibbering Apple-Cinnamon Energy Gel Recipe

500g Maltodextrin
1l apple juice
50ml Pectin
1 teaspoon citric acid
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1.2g caffeine
8g BCAA
1g Beta Alanine 

The Method
In a suitable pan, boil the 1l of apple juice so that it reduces to 1/3l, if you over reduce, don't worry simply add more water to return it to 1/3l.
Mix the maltodextrin, caffeine, BCAA and Beta Alanine together as a powder, if you're planning on making more than one batch, this is well worth doing with larger amounts since accurate measuring of the caffeine is required.
Stir in the mixed powder to the still warm, but no longer boiling apple juice until it all dissolves.
Add the cinnamon and stir well.
Add the citric acid and pectin and stir well.
Pour the warm liquid into a jar or other container with lid. I use used, sterilised Hammer Gel 26 serving bottles.
Place into fridge to thoroughly cool.

The result: 24 Servings of gel:

100 calories
50mg caffeine
167mg Leucine
83mg Isoleucine
83mg Valine
42mg Beta Alanine
13p a serving 

So at a cost of around a 1/6th of the price of buying hammer gels, an Apple Cinnamon Caffeine based gel is made. The exact amounts of Amino acids is not known in the real Hammer Gel, the amounts I aimed for was similar to the hourly dosage of their endurance amino capsules.

It's the plastic use which is why I swapped to making my own, using a soft flask is actually better as you can modulate how much you take. I make it for my GF too and she much prefers them as she never uses the full shop bought gel so she can have as much as she needs. I'm definitely not that accurate with my measurements, I follow the grams but just pour the salt in and hope for the best..... Also maybe test try the homemade ones for the TTs, you could definitely put the flask down the front of your skinsuit which could have some aero benefits depending on your body shape. One of my mates who's pro-conti does this and swears by the benefits although he never does 12hour TTs.

@frank9755 i'm definitely a fan of making a batch up for the weekend for the 2 days but now that I've got a multi day ride coming up I will stick to solids as you and hippy have mentioned. I've only done gels for a few hours at a time and not multi day races like you have and found my mouth is less than desirable.

What do you guys do about staying well? I'm the vitamins below and cold showers which has been working but I'm interested in what a lot more experienced people do.

My breakfast looked like the below today with a glass of OJ and a double espresso, does this mean I'm an endurance cyclist....

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I stopped taking most supps - there's actually some evidence they do more harm than good.

Vit D is all I use nowadays (unless there's a specific issue, ie. I would use B12 again for nerve damage).

Although I'm still a big unit, I think my diet is much healthier than it used to be - I try to get more variety in my food and more fruit and veggies these days. Nuts and seeds too. All of these are my multivitamins. Less ice cream more fruit and yog. Less sweets more dark chocolate and dates.

There is some evidence for Zinc re: colds or upper respiratory stuff but I try not to get the cold in the first place by noting when I'm feeling run down and increasing rest and staying the fuck away from the Tube (easy with Covid lockdown).

Chocolate milk. I do still have bags of Torq recovery powder left over from when I used it a lot so I use that now and then after bigger sessions or if I know I'm doing back to back sessions. My on the bike eating has got pretty bad though since moving from x grams / hr of carbs to "whatever you can buy and carry from the gas station" hence looking into DIY gels again.

Oh, on longer, hotter ultras I might take electrolyte/salt pills with me. I don't really cramp these days but they're insurance against my heavy sweating.

I fucking hate cold showers. Fuck that. :)

I won't be adding soy or sweeteners - I want a purely carbo/electrolyte mix. I will need to make it taste of something otherwise I won't use it. I love Torq stuff but I might finally be motivated enough to try DIY to save money and packaging. For TTs I'd still use Torq.

I use a version without soya as well as, if I'm going all day, I only want a certain amount of protein. So on a 12 would probably have used 4l with soya and 4l without.

I bought some of the amino stuff when I started but as I've gone on I only buy the main ingredients and miss out the 'magic' extras...

Re flavour, I want it to taste of as little as possible as I have disliked all the commercial flavoured ones I've tried, and some have made me feel sick. There are probably ones I like out there but cba to try loads more. Flavour is very subjective and some people must like them or they wouldn't make them like that!