Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - century riding

Hi i am wondering what is the tuffest century you have done ie the bicycle you have done a century on.

I'd say back in May I did Breathless Agony, 12,000 ft and 114 miles. Did a few others a few years ago that were similar but this was the toughest only cause I didn't train as much and weighed 20 lbs more than the other rides.

Last century I did was couple of years ago. I did this one on my Canndale CAAD3 with a standard double, 39/53 and a 12/25 cassette just to see if I could do it only cause I heard so many horror stories about the ride!:D

Kind of sucked cause other riders that usually can't keep up with me either beat me or were within a few minutes of me. Just not right! I plan to do it next year and take a gang load of time off the timed event!


Ride profile
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/gulpxtreme/BAProfile.jpg

This one ...

http://www.machka.net/brevet/Coldest_Century.htm

Torture 10,000. Before you wonder what's so tough about that, I wanted the full treatment so I rode a loaded steel touring bike. I even carried 2 extra quarts of water in my panniers in addition to some junk specifically added to weigh me down. In those days, I never stood on the pedals so by the time the ride was over, I was in considerable pain. I've ridden longer rides with more climbing, but that particular one was the toughest for me. After that, I took my racing bike on hilly centuries, though I should take a bent sometime.

Hi i am wondering what is the tuffest century you have done ie the bicycle you have done a century on. oh, that would be the only century that I DNF'ed: the Deerfield Dirt Road Randonee (http://newhorizonsbikes.com/page.cfm?PageID=347) -- 107 miles, 11,000 ft. of climbing, 7 climbs w/ 1400 - 2000' elevation, 16 pitches with +13% gradient -- and 71 of the 107 miles is on unpaved dirt and fire roads.

It's awesome. :D

My failing was rooted in a few things -- a) it had been a month and a half since my brevet season ended, and I think I had maybe ridden one century in that time. I didn't do Boston-Montreal-Boston and was way off my conditioning, b) the week prior to the D2R2, I was out-of-town on a business trip and prior to starting the D2R2, I hadn't been on a bicycle for about nine days, c) I didn't bring a lot of food, and d) I got lost.

c) and d), I think were the most important. While the ride itself was certainly tough, I started out well and felt pretty confident on the first 15 miles or so. Then, the pack that I was in took the wrong turn on a fork, plunged through a hair-raising gravel descent and then travelled about three or four miles before realizing that we were off course. It should be noted, as well, that the cue sheet tends to be more like "left at stone hut" "bear right at fork in path" as opposed to having conventional navigational markers like, you know, street names. So, getting lost was a frequent occurrence, and by the time we arrived at the first control, 30 miles in, it was already 45 minutes after the posted closing time. Still the checkpoint was open because, according to the volunteers, by closing time, less than half the field had arrived. People were just lost all over the forest.

So, after getting lost again, and realizing that I was out of food at 40 miles, with no services nearby and at least 10 miles to go before lunch (which, at my rate of progress, would be another 45 minutes of climbing and struggling) I chose to abandon and ride to the nearest town with an open restaurant. Bonked halfway there and almost fell asleep because I just didn't have any calories in my system. Hooked up with a few other folks who were abandoning the ride, and together we rode back to the parking lot, turned in our incomplete populaire cards and headed home. I still think that if I did not get lost twice, I would've had enough time and energy to get to lunch and restock on food, then finish the ride.

Despite the difficulties and frustrations of not finishing, I have to say that it was an excellent, gorgeous ride, and I have been looking forward to doing it again. A few randonneurs and I are doing an unofficial running of it this weekend, as a matter of fact, for PBP training. This time, I hope to spend less time getting lost and more time eating.

I am wondering if anyone is doing centuries on anything other than a road bike ie mountain bike hybrid ect. thank you

I am wondering if anyone is doing centuries on anything other than a road bike ie mountain bike hybrid ect. thank you

Sure, plenty of people do. I saw many people doing Seattle to Portland (which is 200 miles over one or two days) on hybrids, and even a couple on a pair of cross country racing mountain bikes with slicks. That said, most people were on road bikes. Even there, however, there was a wide variation. I saw people on triathlon bikes, bikes that looked like they belonged in a criterium, "endurance road" bikes, touring bikes, you name it.

The fastest people tended to be on road bikes, though I learned that it seemed to have little to do with the type of road bike. Seattle to Portland isn't especially hilly, but I did see one guy literally fly by me up a hill on an old beater looking road bike with a wire basket full of stuff on the back. As they say, it's the engine that counts, though everything else matters too.

I am wondering if anyone is doing centuries on anything other than a road bike ie mountain bike hybrid ect. thank you

The century I describe in the story I posted (the link) was ridden on a Mongoose Mtn bike. I've done several centuries and my first 200K brevet on that mtn bike.
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Wow thanks again i had no idea you could ride a full suspention bike no a long distance ride. Dosent the suspention soak up all of your peddling momentum.

I am wondering if anyone is doing centuries on anything other than a road bike ie mountain bike hybrid ect. thank you

I did the 2002 New York - Boston AIDSride on a Trek 720 hybrid.

On the D2R2 ride that I posted about, the field was a pretty even split between cyclocross/sport touring and mountain bikes. On some of the gnarlier descents, I had some pretty serious envy for the guys cruising along with full suspension while my shoulders and forearms were being beaten up by ruts and hard gravel.

I am wondering if anyone is doing centuries on anything other than a road bike ie mountain bike hybrid ect. thank you

I'm doing one this weekend on a cyclocross bike. Not sure if that qualified as a non road bike though.

I am wondering if anyone is doing centuries on anything other than a road bike ie mountain bike hybrid ect. thank you

I do about one century a month on a road tandem, with my 10-year old son on the back. It makes any ride into a tough ride.

I just did my first century yesterday on my Trek 4500 mountain bike, with semislick tires on it.

I am wondering if anyone is doing centuries on anything other than a road bike ie mountain bike hybrid ect. thank you
I've done them on a trike, but it's not harder unless there is lots of climbing involved.