Training & Nutrition - First century

I'm hyping myself up to do a century soon. I ride a mtn bike with FS and slicks. It'll be an urban century so I can stop along the way if need be. Is your first century just a battle of attrition? Or is it something you have to prepare for. I've done 10km everyday for over 2 years, can I just hop on a bike saturday morn and spin for 8 hours?

Yes, if:

1) You're willing to ride slowly.
2) You can eat and drink enough but not too much
3) Your butt holds up.

If you have some time to train, I recommend going on a couple 3-4 hour rides to figure out how much to eat (think 250-350 calories/hour from carbs) and also how much to drink (weigh yourself before and after).

I'm hyping myself up to do a century soon. I ride a mtn bike with FS and slicks. It'll be an urban century so I can stop along the way if need be. Is your first century just a battle of attrition? Or is it something you have to prepare for. I've done 10km everyday for over 2 years, can I just hop on a bike saturday morn and spin for 8 hours?

Maybe, but your chances aren't very good. Even if you succeed, you will probably suffer greatly unless you are in much better shape than your riding indicates.

Whether you are planning a metric century (100km) or imperial century (100 miles), you are considering riding at least 10 times the distance you are used to riding. You are likely to have joint problems because your knees are not used to riding for many hours at a time with little rest. You may bonk because your body has not adapted to storing a lot of glycogen and you are not in the habit of taking in enough calories during a ride.

Pushing a FS bike around, even with slicks, is going to make it harder, but certainly not impossible.

You would be much better off by working on increasing your mileage to within 75% of the distance you want to ride before attempting the century. This will give your body time to adapt to the rigors of long distance cyling. Of course, if you are young, you can probably get away with anything and live :p

I think it is very possible. Several times my brother and I would just up and decide to ride our bikes to a town 125 miles south of us. We'd take all day to do it and we were sure sore afterwards, but it is doable! I think that it's just a matter of how much you're willing to suffer.

Expect a world of pain, and then it might not be so bad.

I would read up on how to eat to survive it. Stopping in at a pizza joint at mile 40 and piling down a meatball sub and 3 cannolis might feel good. But...