Originally Posted by
Machka
Where you could get hurt by doing a century without being "bike fit" is in the repetitive strain injury category. If you have put in time on the bicycle prior to the century, you will have discovered if your saddle will be all right for a long distance and you will have discovered if your bicycle fit is right or not ... and you'll have time to fix the situation. If you are active in other ways, but don't do much riding, you could find yourself 40 miles into a century with a very, very sore butt, and a knee or ankle that is in a lot of pain.
I totally agree with you on this point Machka. However, I would hope that most people that attempt any distance ride would recognize these symptoms, and if it happens at 40 miles into a century ride, I would hope they would stop. There is no shame in starting something and then abandoning the ride to avoid injury. I'm sure that has happened to all of us on a training ride. I've short-cutted a planned route where my neck or shoulder has been sore and uncomfortable and the cycling has just exacerbated the condition. It can even happen if you think you have trained and prepared correctly. It just takes one night of sleeping in a funny position or an extended multi-hour session of posting on bike forums to get your neck and shoulder muscles tight before you even get on the bike. I think you still get on the bike though... give it a try.. if it goes away.. keep going.. if it keeps hurting, or gets worse, then stop or cut it short.