2nd 200km ride done...but this one took a toll

So I managed to complete Novembers 200km ride yesterday, but with some issues. Whilst the weather was kinder the course was a lot lumpier with an additional 800m of climbing on a route that never really had any flat sections. It was up and down all day. We set off from Stourbridge at 630am in the dark and rode to breakfast at Wellesbourne, then westbound to Pershore and finally north via Droitwich back to Stourbridge. All in there was 2200m of climbing over the 200km with most of it coming in the front 1/3rd. I made the classic mistake of not filling my bottle at the cafe and ran dry halfway on the second leg. Once you get into a partial state of dehydration it’s almost impossible to recover whilst continuing to exercise. It’s a loosing battle….and one I was loosing badly. By the time I got to Pershore I was pretty drained and during the last 30kms I started cramping badly which is a classic sign of dehydration and the downward spiral.

5261 calories burned in a single activity which is a lot for a winters day. This is an accurate figure as the calorie burn is calculated from a power meter. I limped home and had to cut off the last 6kms which was all uphill. I think with better fuelling, and not making silly mistakes, I should be ok. December’s ride will be harder still as the temp is only going to get lower and the weather worse.