double century...

[explody pup]

There's going to be a double century 'round here at the beginning of June. It'll actually be 2 centuries, one on Sat and one on Sun. They're handing out prizes to those who can finish both days under 5 hours. That's my big goal for spring, but I don't know if I can make it so I have a few questions.

I'm an occasional smoker. This'll be my motivation to quit. I also don't have a geared bike. I rode 50 miles in 3 hours, fixed, this last weekend. I think I can do a century in 5 hours geared. Don't know about 2, though. Especially under 5 hours, each.

How much improvement do you think I can see in a month and a half in training?

What specific training should I be doing for this?

Is this too ambitious? One concern of mine is burning out.

I will be putting together a geared bike, in the meantime. Nothing fancy. Probably will be some old garage sale or thrift store special if I can find something decent. Or just build up my current bike w/ gears.

I don't really have any specific questions yet, though I'm sure I will come up with some after I get a better idea of what I'm looking at.

I'm mostly looking for a direction to start. Any advice would be great. Do you think I can do this? I'm not in super great shape, but I'm no slouch either.

There is a century comming up at the beginning of May I'm going to ride for training. Don't know if it'll be fixed or if I'll have a geared bike by then.

Enough with the random thoughts...

[LowCel]

What kind of course is it? Is it hilly or pretty flat? Do you have others to ride with?

I have done two centuries and my best time so far is 5:21. My goal is to do one under 5:00 solo sometime. If you have a pretty good group of riders that will work together the whole time then it shouldn't be too unrealistic to do it in under 5:00 if you are in pretty good shape. Now doing two in two days that would be pretty tough.

[explody pup]

This'll be for the Tulsa Tough (http://www.tulsatough.com/) race/ride.

Day 1 (http://www.tulsatough.com/race_sat01.html) will be a mix of hilly and flat conditions. Day 2 (http://www.tulsatough.com/race_sun01.html) looks like it'll mostly be hills.

I'm pretty much looking at doing this solo. My only chance at grouping up will be during the ride itself.

I am probably shooting too high with this. Even if I got one day under 5 I'd be happy. Hell, if I can manage to do them both, regardless of time, I'd be happy.

EDIT: The other option I'm considering is to ignore time and just do both centuries w/ a fixed gear. If possible. I dunno. But I'll find out.

[Machka]

Two centuries, one on Saturday and one on Sunday are not called a "double century. A "double century" is 200 miles all at once.

What you are doing is called: "back-to-back" centuries.

However, my first question for you is: how many centuries have you done ever? And how many have you completed already this year?

If you are comfortable with centuries, then there should be no problem at all with doing back-to-back centuries. I ride those as training rides several times a year ... they're nice because you get some good saddle time, but you get to sleep in between them! :)

If you are fairly new to centuries, you might want to have a look at my article here: http://www.machka.net/century.htm for some ideas.

All the best!

[supcom]

Doing a century in 5 hours requires that you average 20 mph - including any rest stops. If you ride with a group in a paceline it might be doable. But solo, or if there are significant hills, it's going to be very tough.

If you've never done a century before, I would concentrate on just completing the century and not try to do it in less than 5 hours. There's a big difference between riding 50 miles in 3 hours and 100 miles in 5. If you're in reasonable shape, you can do 50 miles without paying much attention to eating and still not bonk. For 100 miles (especially at 20 mph) you need to eat quite a bit on the bike. And then you need to get up the next day with lower glycogen stores and sore muscles and do it again.

[explody pup]

Yeah, you're right. I did some reading yesterday and figured that I was getting a little (lot) ahead of myself.

My revised plan:

There's a ride next month. There are 50, 62, and 100 mile rides. I'll figure out which one suits my level of fitness after a couple long weekend rides. My goal would be to be able to do the century.

Then there's the ride in June. My goal would be to do both centuries. But even just one would be great.

I'll read up on the link you posted, Machka, and come back if I have any questions.

Thanks for the help so far, everyone.

[lemurhouse]

I think the advice given above is good. But why not consider doing it fixed? If you're riding 50 miles now you can add long rides during the next 6 weeks and back to back centuries probably not unreasonable.

Go for it. What's the worst that could happen?

[explody pup]

I think the advice given above is good. But why not consider doing it fixed? If you're riding 50 miles now you can add long rides during the next 6 weeks and back to back centuries probably not unreasonable.

Go for it. What's the worst that could happen?
Yes, I will be doing this fixed. I already have the bike and it only needs some minor alterations (the bullhorns I currently use have too much of a drop and have been effing with my upper back and wrists on longer rides, for example).