Hi. I'm starting to make plans to bike a century early this fall. I was wondering if anyone here had ever done that. I love biking, but I've been very casual about it up to this point (i.e. just biking for fun, not really training). Any advice (and encouragement) would be very helpful. :hamster:

Yep, several times. I hope to this week though -- I'm working up my miles for a *long* ride, and last week my biggest day was 90 miles. I'm trying to be reasonable about it and not pick up mileage by more than 10-20% per week.

After you get above thirty mile rides, it starts to be less about the legs and more about the fuel. If you know you're going long, start eating before you get hungry, 200 cal snacks every hour or two. You'll need to replace a lot of fluids, but not so much you feel bloated or actually *overhydrate*. To find your balance, you might make a habit of weighing right before and after long rides. If you're losing or gaining more than a pound over the ride, you're drinking too much -- or too little. I like to carry two bottles, one with plain water and one with ice and gatorade. The ice melts and dilutes the gatorade while keeping it cool, which I find nicer than the straight stuff.

Invest in a good pair of biking shorts if you don't have them. There are stealth versions if you don't like the looks of them, but the comfort difference between them and anything else is amazing.

Make sure your bike fits. Even a cm difference in the seat height or whatever can be a huge comfort difference. Bike shops are good with this if you need help.

Learn to change a tire. Bring along the tools to do it, a spare energy bar, and some small money in a bike bag; and a cellphone if you're riding alone. Problems are rare, but if you ride enough miles they will happen.

Prepping to do a century can really be a lot of fun; a great way to enjoy being out in the summer and doing something good for yourself at the same time. It helps you see you can do more than maybe you knew you could. It's kind of cool too how the same ride that seems *unbelievably* long now can seem attainable, and then quite reasonable, as time goes on.

Enjoy! If you've got specific questions, I'd be glad to help if I can.

Jeanne

I've done several. They're not that bad, really. Like anything else, you just need to build up slowly. You can probably find some ideas for a training schedule in an internet search.

Bios, thanks for the helpful advice! My current bike is an older trail bike. I'm hesitant to buy a road bike, in case I complete this ride and never do another century. Do you think I can do the ride on the bike I have (with road tires)?

I'm sure you could do it on a trail bike. I did my first century on a hybrid trail/comfort bike. I find two major issues when riding my mountain bike long distances as compared to my road bike.

One is resistance. There is just going to be more wind resistance and road resistance on a more upright bike with fatter tires. So you'll go slower than some other people -- more time to enjoy the scenery. You've got a good idea in switching tires; the slicker/thinner/higher pressure the better for pavement.

The other issue is a trail bike has fewer hand positions. This can lead to tiredness/numbness/tingling in the hands and wrists after a while. You might like to check out those bar end extenders they have for mountain bikes. They're supposedly to let you get more traction when climbing big hills, but I've had several people who ride long distances on trail bikes tell me they use them just for an additional hand position. Gel padded gloves help some too.

When I was sixteen I rode a 112 mile course every day for over 3 months to train for a race. I don't know how far I could get now!

Some things I remember:

- you tend to hit a "wall" at some point in the ride where you feel fatigued and sore. ride through that lightly and it will go away. I always felt a lot better near the end of my ride than I did in the middle.

- hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Hydration starts the day before and goes through the ride. Eat a light dinner the night before and snack through the ride.

- pick a route that you can't skimp on. When I was training I started with routes that I could shortcut by taking different streets if I got lazy, tired or bored. By going, say, to another town and back, you're more likely to follow through (of course, you may be a lot more disciplined than I am).

I've never ridden anything close to a century on a trail bike. I'd worry about holding that posture for so many hours. I never, however, really felt comfortable on them anyway. I think the advice on going to a bike shop is the best you can get. Let a professional help you adjust the height of your handlebars and seat and adjust your seat angle. A bad configuration can bring on a lot of pain and ruin your ride. There's certainly no shame in it - lots of serious cyclers do it from time to time if only to keep their reasoning in check.

So far as training goes, if you ride 15-20 miles every few days, and do a few 50-milers in the six weeks before your ride, I'm sure you'll be fine. I've had fit friends go along with me on weekend rides with far less preparation.

The one I did...it hurt my ass more than it did my legs. I also ate 5 pbj sandwiches during the ride.

ebola

I forgot about that part. Yeah - butt tempering is in order.

This is great! Thanks for all the pointers. Yeah, I'll need a new seat cushion. My poor butt gets sore or numb after only a 20 miler!

I'll take my bike in to get fitted when I get back to Wa, it needs to be checked over anyways.

Thanks a lot for the stories and advice! :rockon:

good luck !! :)

Did my first on a mountain bike with road tires. I'd never go that route again as I'm a complete road bike convert, but it's doable.

Thanks Vegan In Ohio! I think I'll stick with the bike I have for this one. Who knows, maybe the experience will make me convert?