[TBatty]

I'm fairly new at trying to be a "serious" cyclist, and have mostly done short road rides and trails. I want to incorporate more road riding, and would like to be ready to ride a century by spring. the catch is for various reasons, a good share of my winter training will need to be indoors. Any suggestions for training for a century indoors? endurance is more the focus than speed, but I don't want to be too much of a slug either.

I am fairly fit, and have been a runner for some time, have done a marathon so endurance training is not a foreign thing to me, just the bike.

TIA

[The BikeForums Team]

This is an archived thread, you can find the full version of this thread, with images, links and more content here.

Ready to buy? Check out these two online bike stores:
- http://www.nashbar.com (you can find the latest bike nashbar coupons in this thread)
- http://www.performancebike.com (you can find the latest performance bike coupons in this thread)

Cya on the forums,
- The BikeForums Team
- http://www.bikeforums.net

[Machka]

Have a look at my article about riding a century ... it might give you a few tips. :0

http://www.machka.net/century.htm

[chill123]

it is easier than u think. i was in a similar state, did a marathon (injured and slowly) in april, bought a bike in june, and now i've done 3 centuries (2 unsupoorted + solo and one 170 mile ride from london to paris).

don't hang to much about training. just got out and ride. mix you rides up (slow + long, short + fast, recovery etc) and factor in rest/recovery days. make sure you eat and drink lots on long rides (40miles+).

once i'd done a couple of 60milers i was out for a lond slow ride one night and after 40 miles thought what the heck, today is century day! i just kept trucking till i hit the triple digits! good luck!

[robdac]

This is my first year of cycling and I've done three. If you can run a marathon then you can do it no problem. My wife is getting ready to run her first marathon (Chicago this weekend!) and her training has been harder than mine. As chill123 said, it really is easier than you think. 100 is only a big number until you do it.

I did the first one on a flat course that was supported and it was a great experience. The second was organized but not well supported and had tons of hills. The third I did on my own on a whim and believe me, I'm no athlete!

As to training indoors... This winter I intend to do something else to stay in reasonable shape but I can't image sitting on the bike for that long in the basement. I love cycling but I'd rather have my fingernails pried off with a butter knife than ride indoors. Sorry. If I were starting now I'd just crosstrain to stay fit and ride indoors a few times a week to get comfortable on the bike.

Starting as soon as I could get outside I'd increased my weekly mileage and longest rides by 10% each week until I got to 80 miles and then do the century. Simple, nothing fancy. You might find that next spring you'll be able to start out in the 50-70 mile range and it will only take a few weeks to get ready for the century.

Not being an endurance athlete, the long rides taught me how to eat on the bike. They also helped me find fine tune the bike fit so I was comfortable over longer distances and gave me the confidence to do the century.

[telebianchi]

Having just completed my first century this past Sunday, I think one of the things that helped me train was a heart rate monitor. Before having the HRM, I always thought I was riding in a good endurance range for my heart beat. Turns out I was probably working too hard.

Once I had the HRM and paid attention to my hear rate, my first couple of rides were slower but I quickly -- within two weeks -- was riding a bit faster and having no problems doing longer rides. I didn't become a geek and check the hrm constantly or track things on an Excel spreadsheet, but it was a good way to make sure I was training correctly. In fact, I never specifically trained to do a century. I was just riding. It just happened that by early September I had done a number of 50, 60 and then a 70 mile ride in the heat of summer. At that point finding a century to ride just seemed like a normal next step. And doing that century on a day with temps starting at 52 and ending at 78 was much easier than a 60 mile ride on a 97 degree day in August.

Search through the forums and you'll find a ton of good information about eating and drinking for long rides.

And have fun. At the end of my ride last Sunday, it no longer felt like such a big deal. But the feeling that it wasn't a big deal is what really made it a big deal to me (if that makes sense).

[Garfield Cat]

Unless a rider is in a race, I don't see any need to eat food while riding. In organized centuries, there are usually rest stops and food is usually provided. So there's plenty of opportunity to get proper nutrition and hydration.

Even if a rider is doing a solo century, if planned correctly, the route will allow for nutrition stops along the way and even bathroom stops too.

[TBatty]

Great, thanks for all the responses. Really doesn't sound that much different than training for a long running event, build the miles gradually, adjust the gear as the miles increase, and figure out what food works well to keep the engine running.

Seems like plenty of folks from the pacific northwest on this list, maybe I'll see some of you at the first Portland area century in the spring!

[Machka]

Great, thanks for all the responses. Really doesn't sound that much different than training for a long running event, build the miles gradually, adjust the gear as the miles increase, and figure out what food works well to keep the engine running.



Exactly!! :)

BTW - I did a spinning class last winter and loved it. It was much more of a workout than I had ever imagined and I'm sure it helped get me in shape for my summer riding. If you find you're getting bored riding your trainer, take a look around for a local spinning class.