Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Century on a Mtn Bike?

Dumb idea? The summer is ticking by.. I only have my mtn bike (rockhopper hardtail), and have done many rides of 30 and 40+ miles with absolutely no issues. I do that 3 days a week normally. I'd love to be able to do a century before winter creeps up. I'm considering a road bike, but still haven't gotten the cajonies up to cough up the dough, though it's a possibility in the near future.

I guess I'm just curious.. how many folks have done a century on a mtn bike? Moral support or a smack upside the head, this girl can handle either. :o

Last Saturday I rode 111 miles on my Nishiki Cascade (see pics in sig.) It's not a lightweight by any means (~40 lbs with the bottles & bag), so any long distance ride isn't as quick as one on either of the road bikes. Last Saturday's ride took about 9¾ hours of moving time, with a total of about 11 hours including stops for food/water/photos.

My MTB is set up for road riding, with slick tyres, and although I have trekking bars to give me more riding positions, I would say that overall, the road bikes are more comfortable for long rides. The trick with long rides is to pace yourself; eat often, drink lots and if you get passed by other riders, resist the temptation to keep up with them. Most of my rides are solo, one of the advantages being that I can set my own pace and not have to drag others or be dragged along myself.

It sounds like you'll have no problems if you allow enough time - if you're used to doing 30 and 40 miles, then you're a third the way there! Good luck - let us know how you get on!

- Wil

I bet you could do it. I'm sure you have some slicks on it though right? If not, this will help even more. If you're doing a supported century, then you can not take things on the bike and save on some weight. You'll probably want to slow your pace down a little bit more than what you did on the lower miles. Take it slow and you'll be fine.

I don't think I've done a full century on my hardtail, but I've done over 80 miles in a day on it. With slick tires, there's no reason not to do it if that's what you have. Since you have plenty of experience riding 40 miles at a time, you shold be able to handle it. You'll be slower than if you had a road bike, but so what? Remember to eat and drink plenty during the ride and save your legs for the second half.

I've done a century along with my then 19 and 20 year old daughters and my husband. We rode one way on a two day ride called TOSRV in Ohio (2 days of 100 miles each). We all had department store mountain bikes, two with shocks and some big butt tires (think 1980's square tire). My husband wore jean shorts and duck taped a 2 liter bottle of water to his top tube. He carried full size wrenches and other tools in a backpack. My kids had only cycled about 10 miles for the year. It was my mother's day present. They are still proud of their achievement. They highlighted the route on a map from Columbus (center of Ohio) to the Kentucky border. It is a lot easier to do an organized century. That ride had rest stops with food and drinks every 25 miles. If you drink and eat and take something like Motrin for butt pain, a century is mostly mental.

A century is mostly mental.

That being said, I wouldn't want to ride one on my MTB...but on the last century I did, I saw a few riders doing this. It can certainly be done.

While certain bikes and gear are ideal for doing things like that...it's not impossible with "incorrect" gear. How determined are you?

I weigh more than 300 pounds, and next week I'll be riding my 3rd metric on a Giant Sedona comfort bike... a mountain leaning comfort bike.

I run road slicks at 80 PSI, and this time will be my first with a rigid fork and clipless pedals, and my second with bar ends for additional hand positions. I expect it to be even easier.

I will attempting to ride a century on September 10th... probably on the same bike because I don't have time to finish my road bike and get used to the different positions and components... so, go for it!

One of my female friends did the Chicago to Twin Cities AIDSride on a mountain bike when she was eighteen. Included two back-to-back century days. All she did was swap out her knobbies for slicks and she was good to go.

Sure -- put some slick tires on, and go for it!!

One of my MS150 teammates did the ride this year on her old mountain bike (that thing must weigh a ton!) and she did the full ride -- 100 miles on Saturday, 50 on Sunday -- in howling headwinds, no less.

Beware, though . . . if you do the century and enjoy it, you'll no doubt start lusting even more for a road bike. :)

Thank you so much for your replies, it's really appreciated. Nope, still on knobbies, but I'll get slicks. I know I'll be acquiring a road bike within 2 weeks or so, but I wouldn't have the time to get used to it before tackling such a long ride. I would imagine that would be a recipe for one hurting body? I want to do this ride in middle to late September.

Someone asked how determined I was... I am very determined. Since January, some little mental switch flipped in my head, and I decided to make some lifestyle changes. I bought my bike late last summer, did very little riding, but started riding frequently early this spring once the weather started cooperating a bit. The more I've rode, the more I WANT to ride. I've checked off various goals from Jan until now.. weightloss (goal was to drop 45 lbs, I'm now down and holding at a 53 lb weightloss), different climbs achieved that I would never have thought I could have done.. that sort of thing. I've had a marvelous season, I really have. And so my one last goal for this year, is to do 100 miles. I am not worried about how fast it is done ~ I know on my mtn bike it will be slower than a road bike, but I just need to accomplish this. Gotta do it. :)

Absolutely you can. I've done it several times. I agree with the conclusion that a roadie will be easier and faster, but just take your time. My '88 Trek 830 weighs about 44lbs with stuff and water. Sometimes I start out with a gallon or more aboard. I use 1.5" armadillo tires, a Brooks B67 saddle, North Road bars and platform pedals. A 10-3/4 hour ride is a decent pace. Add some stops to re-fuel and it works out to about 11-12 hours.

Here's the machine:
http://i8.tinypic.com/24g7xpi.jpg

I rode my century last year on a Walmart Schwinn department store mountain bike. 110 miles. It can be done, just take your time and realize you are going to average a few MPH slower than a road bike.

I've never gone a full century, but I have gone more than 90 miles on my mountain bike, knobby tires and all. It is fun passing people on hills when you have a dramatically heavier bike. :) But being passed going down the hills because you don't have big gears is annoying.

I've now got a road bike.

Last year I saw a guy on a double century riding a mountain bike, knobbie tires and all. Holy smokes. Using a mountain bike is definitely possible, as long as you are comfortable and like to ride the bike. That is a huge part of it right there.

Go ahead, you'll be fine. I rode a couple of events in England with a bloke renowned for completing the Elenith (305 km, 4700 m climb) on a BMX (to keep the ride 'interesting').

Sure you can do a century on a mountain bike. To really impress people do it off-road! I've done a couple of centuries, several metrics (crossing over Rollins Pass(11,666 ft) twice from the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel to the west portal and back) and a whole bucket load of half centuries (Georgia Pass (11,900) to Breckenridge and back). Since these were all in the mountains over rough roads, no slicks need apply. Full knobbies only.

Road bikes don't beat you up as much...well, paved roads don't beat you up as much either...but it can be done.

I'm doing the Deerfield Retro Randonnee (http://newhorizonsbikes.com/page.cfm?PageID=347) in a couple of weeks. 107 miles on dirt roads with 11,000 feet of climbing.

I'm doing it on my touring bike because it's the only bike that I have, but lately I've been pining for my old Trek 730 hybrid. That would've been a great bike to bring on this ride.

My first century was on a rigid MTB with commuter tires (26X1.95's) and flatbars

I'm doing the Deerfield Retro Randonnee (http://newhorizonsbikes.com/page.cfm?PageID=347) in a couple of weeks. 107 miles on dirt roads with 11,000 feet of climbing.

I'm doing it on my touring bike because it's the only bike that I have, but lately I've been pining for my old Trek 730 hybrid. That would've been a great bike to bring on this ride.

Okay, fess up! For the climbing they count all of the pebbles in the road right?;) I mean all the pictures look like the route is rather flat. Route notes: 100 miles flat, last 7 miles climb to 11,000 feet. But wait, Mass. doesn't have anything that goes to 11,000 feet. ;)

Just kidding! Have fun.

Me, I'm going to do the Bike with Pike (http://www.frontierpathways.org/Media/event.html) Century in September. Possibly the flattest century you can do in Colorado. Starts at around 4000 ft and goes to around 5000 ft in 100 miles (not a loop). Bad water, flat territory that even people traveling the Santa Fe Trail complained about, starts in the Arkansas Penal Colony and ends in Pueblo...what more could you want?;)

I did 3 Chicago-Twin Cities AIDS Rides (500 miles in 6 days), all 3 years on a '96 Specialized Rockhopper. I even had knobbies the first year. It never felt like a problem at all, and I'm sure I was far from the only mtb. One year there was even a guy on an old cruiser type 3 speed. I rode up to him one day and asked him why he was riding a 3 speed and he just shrugged and said it was the only bike he had. Gotta like that attitude! Ride what ya got.

I did 3 Chicago-Twin Cities AIDS Rides (500 miles in 6 days), all 3 years on a '96 Specialized Rockhopper. I even had knobbies the first year. It never felt like a problem at all, and I'm sure I was far from the only mtb. One year there was even a guy on an old cruiser type 3 speed. I rode up to him one day and asked him why he was riding a 3 speed and he just shrugged and said it was the only bike he had. Gotta like that attitude! Ride what ya got. my first long ride was a 50 mile route option on an MS150. Rode with a guy who was doing the century route on a Schwinn single speed cruiser. He deflected all of our wonder by telling us how he rode that bike cross country. Was about as close I've ever seen to a cyclist version of a surf bum.

Okay, fess up! For the climbing they count all of the pebbles in the road right?;) I mean all the pictures look like the route is rather flat. Route notes: 100 miles flat, last 7 miles climb to 11,000 feet. But wait, Mass. doesn't have anything that goes to 11,000 feet. ;)
you saw the part where they were talking about 20% grades, right? :)

If the writeup in the Charles River Wheelmen newsletter (http://www.crw.org/WheelPeople/WPP200510.pdf) was anything to go by, the ride's going to be a monster -- including a 200 yd. 25% climb. Many of the randonneurs that I've talked to is that it's a century that feels like a double just because of all the dirt road climbing involved. Yet, it still sounds utterly gorgeous, so I'm still excited. It might be painful, but I'll just view it as penance for working on the weekend of Boston-Montreal-Boston.

Me, I'm going to do the Bike with Pike (http://www.frontierpathways.org/Media/event.html) Century in September. Possibly the flattest century you can do in Colorado. Starts at around 4000 ft and goes to around 5000 ft in 100 miles (not a loop). Bad water, flat territory that even people traveling the Santa Fe Trail complained about, starts in the Arkansas Penal Colony and ends in Pueblo...what more could you want?;) Shade would be nice ;)

I rode lots of centuries on my all rigid MTB. Slicks help...

Your replies are inspiring, they really are, and I appreciate it. Next month I will attempt (no, I will conquer LOL), a century, either on my rockhopper or a road bike. I'm wanting to purchase a road bike, but have been waiting.... see the boyfriend is opening a shop, and working on what bikes he'll have in. He's gotten in Marin bikes, Breezer, probably Jamis, and he's trying to get Giant, and it looks like he probably will, and if he does, I'd really like to try a few of those and see. But it's a hurry up and wait thing. Wait for the rep to visit (which he finally did last week), go through the paperwork, jump through a few hoops to make them happy, hurry up and wait again. Hopefully we'll know this week or early next week, and then it'll be another bit of a wait once some bikes are ordered. And so I'm hoping to acquire one soon, but I'm not waiting either. I really need to finish this final goal of mine for this year.

I once rode 110miles on my MTB and hardly any of it on pavement (a lot of gravel and some rail-to-trail and horse trails). My biggest problem with lack of different hand positions. I did a little nerve damage and my hands were numb for a couple of weeks.

When we were younger my brother and I loaded up our MTBs and did 150 miles in one day. I was on 1.5'' smoother tires, and he was on giant knobbies inflated to 40psi.

I am of the opinion that almost any kind of ride is do-able on any bike, right down to the cheapest walmart special. It is just a matter of how comfortable you want to be, how determined you are, and how much you mind having to do minor repairs along the way!

Moral support or a smack upside the head, this girl can handle either. Okay, here's a big WHACK!!!

Hey, just go shell out some bucks for a decent ATB "slick tire" with matching correctly-fitting inner-tube, mount it on your back wheel and inflate to 110psi -- the next 100 mile road ride is no big deal.......

We did 82 miles last weekend. I was using a bone stock '07 Trek 3700 and my wife was using a Schwinn Frontier Sport X (we are not into a lot of the high end stuff yet as the bank account says we can't spend $1000 on a bike). The only mod to either of these bikes is my wife has a Serfas saddle. After 82 miles I can say that there is definitely a new saddle in my fiture as well to replace the stock one. We were going to go for the big one double zero but ran out of time and light. (no lighth added yet, pretty new bikes). Mind you it was on Mackinac island so the going was pretty smooth, but yes, a 100 miles on a mountain bike can be done.

I remember once reading on a website (the name escapes me now.) A guy rode across Canada on a MTB and about 80% of these days he did a century. He was not the fastest but had a great ride nonetheless.

I rode the Montauk Century in '05 most of the with a guy on an MTB he'd never ridden before. Long story, but needless to say it wasn't what he had had in mind the day before. Anyhow, he rode the full 145+ miles on it.

A mountain bike century is very doable. It is all about pacing. I did the Wilderness 101 last month in State College, Pa. I rode a full suspension mountain bike and finished in 13hrs 20 mins. This is one of the original off-road centuries. They are becoming more popular and are popping up all around the country. The W101 is about 60 miles dirt road and 40 miles single track with over 10,000 ft. of climbing. The winning time this year was somewhere around 7hrs 20mins. Many people would consider that a very respectable time for a hilly century on the road with a road bike.

Okay, here's a big WHACK!!!

Hey, just go shell out some bucks for a decent ATB "slick tire" with matching correctly-fitting inner-tube, mount it on your back wheel and inflate to 110psi -- the next 100 mile road ride is no big deal.......

a good idea - please look around and note not all slicks are the same. Some are super narrow High pressure (the Continental GP is my fave - a bit pricey at $50ish each but light and fast) while others are essentially off-road tires minus the knobbies on the road contact area.

I'd say go with the narrowest you are comfortable with, though the narrower you go, the bigger jump you'll feel from your knobbies. 1.25" might be the best bet for you at about 80-85 psi. You could also get narrower in rear and a bit wider in front to cushion your hands.

fwiw, I've never don a century, but I did the same 55 mile ride 2 years in a row, once on my MTB (rigid, no shocks with 1.25 slicks) and the next year on a road bike with flat bar - both had the same flat bar and bar end set-up, so no drop bars on the road bike which would have probably helped in the wind. In my opinion, the mtb was just as comfortable but not qwuite as fast - the road bike's larger wheels were just faster and smoother ove the long haul. The mountain bike was definite better in the climbs though (my road bike had a low gear of 47 inches, 42x24).

Finally I'll agree with most here and say of course you can use your mtb - but if you are gonna do centuries once a year or more, why not treat yourself and eventually get a road bike or a hybrid at least?

Well I'm planning on doing a lot of distance riding if at all possible on my MTB - some of us could barely afford one bike, getting another at this point would be impossible I'm afraid - but is it really worth the extra money to buy slick tires for the road? Is the difference worth the expenditure, in other words?

If money is very tight, just one slick tire for the back wheel, should help you average close to 2mph better.
Another approach is to buy a used road bike for $50-$100 (or more). Resell for close to same afterwards.
Probably good for another 2mph over the rear slick mtb.

I'm doing the Deerfield Retro Randonnee (http://newhorizonsbikes.com/page.cfm?PageID=347) in a couple of weeks. 107 miles on dirt roads with 11,000 feet of climbing.

I'm doing it on my touring bike because it's the only bike that I have, but lately I've been pining for my old Trek 730 hybrid. That would've been a great bike to bring on this ride.


Did anyone do this ride?



I went up there on my mountain bike and didn't know what to expect, I lasted about 56 miles and then just south of VT border, I said I had had enough, I returned to the start and had enough recovery to ride out for 100 miles.



A century is a century, no matter what state it is in.

You can definitely ride a century on a mountain bike!!

I've done several centuries on my heavy department-store Mongoose, and I also did my very first 200K brevet on the same bicycle. My mtn bike centuries have been a little bit slower than road bike centuries, but I've been very comfortable on them. :)

I did a century last year on my Trek 4500 mtb since it was my only ride. I averaged just under 16 mi/hr, not bad for a 32 lb bike but then again I'm no light weight either. Speed was not an issue just the thrill to do my first century and it was great to accomplish another goal. Doing another century soon but might take the cross bike I bought and see how much of a difference there really is.
FWIW - I am planning my first LD ride next year, I'm going to use my mtb bike w/trailer for a 360 mile to visit my son in Ottawa. Ayone know a good bike route between Kingston and Ottawa?

Your replies are inspiring, they really are, and I appreciate it. Next month I will attempt (no, I will conquer LOL), a century, either on my rockhopper or a road bike. I'm wanting to purchase a road bike, but have been waiting.... see the boyfriend is opening a shop, and working on what bikes he'll have in. He's gotten in Marin bikes, Breezer, probably Jamis, and he's trying to get Giant, and it looks like he probably will, and if he does, I'd really like to try a few of those and see. But it's a hurry up and wait thing. Wait for the rep to visit (which he finally did last week), go through the paperwork, jump through a few hoops to make them happy, hurry up and wait again. Hopefully we'll know this week or early next week, and then it'll be another bit of a wait once some bikes are ordered. And so I'm hoping to acquire one soon, but I'm not waiting either. I really need to finish this final goal of mine for this year.

Just came across this thread - I'm wondering how your century plans are coming along?

I'm also curious. Did you make any changes to the bike?

My first century was the NYC Century on a SS Rigid IF Deluxe MTB with slicks(Specialized Fatboys) and it was a lot of fun. The slicks are a big help. I also rode another century with Schwalbe Super Motos, they were cushy but not as fast as the slicks.

I did a century on a MTB in every month of 2004. I even attempted a double on it and would have done it but for a crash in the last 30km. Yes, it's doable. The main thing you have to get your head around it that it's likely to take a while longer. If you can pace yourself, eat, drink and do all the other things you normally do to ride a century, without becoming despondent that it's taking longer than usual, you shouldn't have a problem.