The health science behind this stuff is fascinating. I have a Garmin Edge 25 and use a HRM and cadence sensor hooked up with it. Very, very cool stuff to review. Average heart rate was 148, max was 170 (late in the ride, relatively steep but short hill I decided to stand for) and average cadence was 80m max of 100.
HRM shows I got a bit stressed towards the end. makes sense given the heat and more scattered nature of the crowd (much more solo work).
I drank approximately 6 24oz bottles of water. 3 had a nuun tablet in them for electrolyte replacement. I sweat a good amount and my hair afterwards was coated in more salt than mcdonalds French fries. breakfast was 2 bananas and water. food along the ride was 1 banana, a slice of apple pie (signature rest stop meal on this ride), 6 fig newtons, most of a cliff bar and 4 little energy/carb gels.
I was NOT hungry at the end of the ride at all but will be doing more careful analysis on the fluid and calorie intake when I get time.
Back, neck, feet and hands faired very well for the ride. no hand numbness at all (wore unpadded gloves that helped grip on bars a lot) and the arse felt fairly decent after as well. I did notice a case of numbnuts afterwards though. Never felt that before and frankly if my arse felt good i'm not sure I need to make a seat change. Legs were hurting towards the end (thighs) with slight pain in the back of my left knee.
Looking forward to the next ride and will try to make some very small changes to see if I can improve my feel at the end which will give me the confidence to attack 100 miles next!