Trail Running Blog

Tour of Long Beach 31-Mile Ride Race Report

I actually registered for this race months before, but as it got closer and closer to race day, I still wasn’t sure if I was going to do this 31 mile bike ride. That’s the problem with signing up for a race so far in advanced, you never know what plans you’ll have until a few weeks before. But at the end of the day, I was able to do the race and attend the other commitments I had afterwards. And since there was a chance I was going to do this ride, I prepared as much as I could for it. The weekend before, I completed an 18 mile ride so 31 would not feel as bad. In between those rides, I was still running as often as possible as well as working out at the gym. The race wasn’t even timed, since it was a ‘tour’ of the city. But I like to time everything, so here are my unofficial results: 30.42 mi, 1:49:46 (16.6 mph). The course was very straight forward, basically a giant square around the downtown area, which consisted of four terrains: dedicated bike path along the Los Angeles River (didn’t know this existed, not like the typical river you expect), backside city streets, down a similar dedicated bike path along the San Gabriel River (again, did not know this existed), and finish up along the Long Beach boardwalk. The problem I had when I did the 40 mile bike ride a few months ago was that because it was a smaller race, I ended up riding along for a lot of the race. This time, because of the big turnout, I always had someone to ride with and never worried about going the wrong way. The problem with these tours and fun rides is that I’m not really competing against others, it’s more casual to them. Then again, I don’t think I’d be prepared to really compete in a real bike race, I mean I don’t even own the proper gear (I wear basketball shorts, running tech tee and sneakers with my toe clips). 

What I noticed from the race is that I did a poor job staying hydrated. My brother actually did a 30-mile race on his own and I told him how I barely took a few sips out of my bottle the entire ride! I told him I just didn’t feel thirsty. I never felt tired during the ride, I guess that could be my fault for not riding as hard? But it might also be because I didn’t notice I was tired since all sweat is blown away from the wind. My hamstrings felt a little sore immediately after the race, so it might have been because I was dehydrated. I suppose I just need to force myself to have a drink every few miles. And speaking of miles, I noticed that the miles went by pretty fast during the race. I was using my AfterShokz Headphones which allowed me to hear outside noise during the ride (perfect time to use them since it allowed me to hear other riders around me as well as any cars or outside danger). My phone would call out the mile that passed and I would see mile markers throughout the course.

Even though we started the race fairly early, I still got a slight sunburn on my neck, which is barely healing. I guess that’s my fault for not preparing even though I knew I was going to be outdoors for almost 2 hours. I had lunch with my family not long after the race and got about a 30 minute nap before they all decided to take a swim at my sister-in-law’s pool. It would have been better to go a little bit earlier, but it was still nice to do a few laps since I haven’t in so long. Once summer arrives, I’ll try to go on more rides and swims and finally complete that dreaded triathlon!