6 Ways To Avoid Fading On A Long Ride
Bicycling South Africa|March 2018

Anyone can start strongly on an endurance ride like the Cape Town Cycle Tour; but finishing strongly takes some skill, and some clever thinking. Here’s how to avoid fizzling out – or even bonking.

Selene Yeager
6 Ways To Avoid Fading On A Long Ride

WE’VE WALL BEEN THERE, feeling chainless and amazing for the first 60km of a 100km-plus ride. Then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, we feel... less amazing. We wonder why we started this stupid ride to begin with; and more importantly, how we’re going to make it another 40-odd km. As we watch our so-called friends roll off into the distance, our speed fades, along with our energy – and maybe our will to go on.

Well, guess what? It may feel like the Piano Man fell from the sky and sat on your shoulders out of the clear blue, but that’s actually not the case. Coming undone in the middle of a long ride is your body’s response to what you did – or didn’t do – during the first part of the ride. Read on to learn how to stay strong from beginning to end:

1. Save your strength for the second half.

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