Originally Posted by
Mr. Beanz
Biggest tip is DO YOUR OWN PACE! Don't try to keep another rider's pace.
+1 -- I did my first metric century a couple weeks ago as part of a group ride where I made the painful mistake of trying to keep up with the "fast" group for way too long. I pushed too hard, and paid for it later in the ride -- if I'd kept my own pace at the beginning and just enjoyed myself instead of suffering for the better part of two hours, I have no doubt I'd have been in MUCH better shape toward the end. And the funny part is, the entire time I was pushing to keep up with the fast group, I kept telling myself "this is stupid, you're going to pay for this later"... but I kept doing it anyhow.
The short version -- listen to your body and go your own pace.
Good luck!