Hi group,

Looks like we have about 15 or so members who are interested
in doing the double century. I know some are just looking on,
but we seem to have a lot of interest this year, which is
good.

You should be out riding as much as possible now. The ride is
about 6 weeks away now, and this should be the prime training
season.

You should also be thinking about food and eating on the bike.
You must be able to eat and drink while riding or you will not
be able to complete the ride by sunset. Try experimenting now
with different foods. I like grapes, which I pick off the
stem, wash, and throw in my back pocket. Grapes are my
primary food, as they provide sugar and water at the same
time. I also keep extra in my fanny pack take them out at
stops to replenish my pocket supply. My other foods are
starches and sweets. I find most cookies are too sweet to eat
while riding. Energy bars are OK, but require unwrapping
while riding, and eating too many of them leaves my stomach
feeling like a toxic waste dump. Bagels seem to work well in
the beginning of the ride. I have done very well with pound
cake or brownies. Both not too sweet, but both have a
wrapping problem. I will probably go with two bagels, grapes
and some brownies for the ride. Remember, if you like what
you have to eat, you will be more likely to eat it while
riding.

We will be having two big food stops, and several smaller
ones. The first stop will be Dover Plains at the Broadway (or
Stage, I forget) Deli. This will be around 8 am or so. The
next food stop will be in Sheffield at the Sunoco station.
Fairly nice convenience store/deli there and they will have AC
if it is hot. Highly recommended to cool off if you can. We
will also stop in Kent for a drink and bakery. Not a great
stop, but nothing much else is around. Then we have the
option of stopping in Pawling, but this is soon after Kent, so
we generally skip it. Some fairly good deli's though. The
only other stop would be the Swan Deli in Golden's Bridge (not
cyclist friendly, but better recently), or in Katohna or on
117, but by then you just want to finish.

Anyway, make sure you have the food and fluid situation
figured out before the 200. If you need a testing ground, I
would recommend trying things out on the 100. We should only
stop for lunch and maybe one other time. Also, while you are
riding, remember that stopping is the nemesis of long distance
riding. Once you finish the ride, you will subtract your
cycling computer's ride time from the start time of the ride.
The unaccounted time will be the stop time. You will be
amazed at how long you were not riding. All the stops will
seem rushed, but yet we will spend at least 2 hours not riding
during the day. The point is, during training rides, stop
once, or not at all. I often don't have to stop on a 60 mile
ride. I only stop if others on the ride want to stop.

Hope to see some of you at the Bloomin Metric on Sunday. Pray
for good weather. I will be captaining a purple tandem with a
red trail-a-bike. I think we will be wearing yellow jerseys.
Say hi when you pass.

Bruce