So June 10 has come and gone. However, we didn't do the Niagara Falls ride and I think for good reason. Our ride down the Don Valley trail told us a lot about how prepared we actually were and if we were able to make it Niagara Falls in one single day.
On Saturday, I met with my good friend who's also name is Kevin. We had breakfast and made our way down to Steeles and Leslie where we began our ride down to downtown Toronto waterfront.
It was actually a really nice scenic ride through trails on a hot a sunny day. I learned a few things while riding that day that I think would've been REALLY useful when we ride to Niagara. These are the 2 biggest things that I'll need to work on and to keep in mind.
1. WATER/FLUIDS. LOTS and LOTS of water/juice to stay hydrated during a 30 degree C day. It'll help me from cramping up and from getting heat exhaustion/stroke. I'll also have to keep properly hydrated before and after the ride as well.
2. NUTRITION. Nutrition is so important before, during, and after the ride. On the day of the ride I had breakfast/brunch at a Hong Kong style cafe. I had 2 fried eggs, 2 slices of toast, 1 slice of ham, 1 medium sized bowl of satay beef vermicelli noodles, and 1 cup of Hong Kong milk tea. For lunch I had one of those Starbuck protein snack pack things (1 boiled egg, 1 piece of bread with peanut butter, handful of grapes, 3 slices of apples, and 2 slices of cheese) and a coconut water. Again, like water... proper nutrition and energy stores goes a LOOOONG way.
When we arrived downtown waterfront, I was NOT hungry at all. But I really should have eaten more than what I did. I ran out of energy and I cramped up in my quads at the very end of my ride (literally 50m to the top of the hill/2-3 houses away from my car). Energy bars, liquid gels, bananas, gummy bears, etc... Something has got to keep me going on a long ride.
Post-ride - I definitely need some good quality food to help replenish the energy lost and also to help recover faster as well.
3. CORE STABILITY. I realized that after my bike ride, yea I was sore in my legs, but I didn't realize that I was really sore in my core. Now if you've been to my clinic or if you know me... core stability is a big thing for the (pre-) and rehab for most of my clients. I also need to work on my core stability to help keep my back from being sore and also to prevent/reduce the chance of future injury.
Anyways, here are some pictures of that day.
Here we are sitting at Starbucks at Queen's Quay and York right off the Toronto Waterfront.
