commuter to centurion conversion

[krazygluon]

Now that I've been commuting 6+months I'm starting to get ambitious about riding longer/faster when I'm not concerned about getting to/from work and like thousands of cyclists before, I've set my first century by the end of summer as a goal.

Slight background: I grew up completely non athletic save that I did a lot of long distance walking and learned how to but didn't spend much time on a bike until this past june at age 23. the idea of endurance is probably a complete abstraction in my mind.

so my plan for becoming able to do a century was this:
1. Start commuting regularly for general conditioning
2. Ride a century
3. collapse in a deck lounger for the rest of that particular saturday.

obviously something between steps 1 and 2 is missing.

My guess about how to fill that gap is: ride successively longer rides each weekend and maybe augment with longer rides home in the evenings.

I did 15 miles this past saturday running some errands (5mi to destination, 10 on a roundabout home) and felt like I could have easily done 30 or more, so maybe I'll do that. would just a steady 5 mile increase each saturday work or should I do more of "Pick a 20 mile route, ride it a few times, pick a 40 mile route, ride it a few times" etc until I work up to the century?

[Carbonfiberboy]

Depending on the length of your commute, there may not be anything missing!

Generally, increasing your weekly mileage by no more than 10% per week is good. Find a bike club and try some weekend rides with them. That'll be good because your century will probably be with other riders. Best to get used to that. So not so much just the increase on the weekend ride, but increase in mileage all week. Keep track of your weekly totals. That will give you a metric and make you feel good.

Don't worry too much about jumping the mileage up on the weekend ride. You can recover by cutting back a bit during the next week.

[SharpT]

I'm kind of in your same boat. I have been commuting (2-3 days a week) and trying to see where my limit is for long distance. My training program is basically adding more and more miles to the commute. (30miles RT, 33 miles, 36 miles, 40 miles, etc.) Taking longer routes home and to work (kind of fun to plan new routes). Longer days helps make this possible. First century is coming up in mid-April.

[Six jours]

I think most experienced long distance riders will tell you that simply finishing a century -- as opposed to trying to do it in under 3 hours or with 40,000 feet of climbing or whatever -- is actually a relatively easy undertaking. That's not to say that it isn't a worthy goal or a real accomplishment, but just that you don't have to be a superman or adhere to an exacting training schedule. From where you're sitting, it may appear to be more difficult than it actually is.

In simplest terms, I'd say that your training program looks to be adequate. I think adding 5 miles to your Saturday ride each week, along with steady commuting mileage, should get you from here to century by the end of the summer. If you have performance goals other than simply finishing without undue side effects, you may have to incorporate speedwork into the program, but that doesn't sound like something you're worried about.

Good luck, and keep us posted.:-)

[krazygluon]

From the 26mile ride I did last August I do know I have one thing to contend with: the hilly nature of the terrain around here. Its not so much that there are big hills by any absolute measure, but that the terrain is literally one hill rolling into another. My 6 mile commute encounters at least 4 of them sometimes up to 6 depending on the route. I'd even say that true flats are a rarity and most of what one would call a flat is still a 1% grade. I suppose that increasing my weekend ride a littl every week and getting used to the different hills is all I can do about that though. Other than that my only real goal is for it to be as close to a nonstop century as possible. I can understand breaking to eat an apple or granola bar or two at the midpoint, but I'd prefer to make it nonstop.

[Six jours]

Most folks learn to, if not love hills, at least make peace with them. And the fact that you live among them makes your job a bit simpler. Your body will learn to deal with them simply because there is no other choice. The flatlander who travels to ride a hilly century has troubles that you don't!

One tip: after you become reasonably comfortable with hills during rides of "intermediate" length -- say 30 to 50 miles -- you can improve your ability on them by using them for intervals: short efforts of higher-than-normal intensity. Say five to seven minute efforts at almost maximum intensity, followed by a full (10-15 minute) recovery, and repeated until you really don't want to do them anymore. This is not at all a necessary technique for you, BTW, but will allow to ride the hills A) faster or B) at your normal speed but in greater comfort and with a larger reserve.

[Six jours]

I can understand breaking to eat an apple or granola bar or two at the midpoint, but I'd prefer to make it nonstop.
I'd rather shoot myself than ride a 100 miles on a couple of granola bars. You gotta EAT, mate. If you want to do it genuinely nonstop then you've got to eat on the bike, which means making sure your no-handed, fishing around in the jersey pockets skills are up to par.

My absolute minimum for rides of more than a couple of hours is 250 calories per hour, and I prefer more than that. That means I'm eating half a PowerBar every 30 minutes, or drinking a prefered carb replacement drink, or constantly munching on cookies, mini sandwiches, bananas, whatever. So part of your training means learning what your body wants on the longer rides, what your stomach will tolerate, and what you can carry with you that still remains appetizing after five hours in the jersey pockets. Hint: avoid the mayo. :-)

[SesameCrunch]

I can understand breaking to eat an apple or granola bar or two at the midpoint, but I'd prefer to make it nonstop.

You're living up to your username :)

You experience severe cramps or bonk just once in the middle of a long ride and you'll know better...

[krazygluon]

Today I saw my goal of 20 miles and raised it 5. Aside from some saddle/shorts issues I'm pretty happy with myself. 16.2 average (16.8 on the first lap)(its a 10.5 mile lap x2 and a shorter circular route beginning/ending with my apartment complex) and I usually average 15.8 to 16.0 on the weekdays. Best of all no walks of shame.

I did one lap with my bibbed shorts and one with my regular ones...I will now never ride non-bibbed again. The saddle issue is this: my brooks makes my hip-sockets kinda hurt, but the stock saddle from my Pilot creates some "heat" that almost eventually feels like chafing the sides of my thighs. I'm a bit of a clyde (6'0 233) so I know the thigh problem will disappate over the summer...I may try swapping to the brooks and playing with fine-tuning it some more.

Edit: and per advice I did snarf a granola bar between the two laps which made me feel much better.

[Six jours]

Goodonya, mate!

I know what you mean about bibs. I almost feel sorry for the folks who haven't made the discovery yet.

Between the hips and the "heat", are you sure your saddle's not too high? Having to rock your hips to reach the pedals will produce those symptoms.

Or it could just be your big fat thighs. (I can say that because until I got back on the bike a few months ago I was about to pass the 220 mark:-)

[krazygluon]

You know I think that could be it. I raised the seatpost when I was still on the brooks and havent lowered it since going back to the bontrager saddle...it probably is too high.