I've never ridden a century but want to by may. What are some things I need to know? How far appeart are rest stops, what are at them? Do I need to carry money? How much water should I bring? Is a camelback a good choice? I just want some input on how you prepare for them with essentials not training. Thanks

Kevin

My article on Riding a Century should give you quite a bit of the information you seek: http://www.machka.net/century.htm

But ... what we need to know to answer your question better is this: is this a solo century or an organized century?

On a solo century ... your rest stops are whenever you want, what's at them depends entirely where you've stopped (could be a convenience store or a restaurant or a grocery store or whatever), yes you would need money to acquire food items at these places, two bottles of water is usually good as long as you know you've got convenience stores or something every so often along the way where you can refill, and some use camelbaks and some don't .... it's up to you.

On an organized century ... it all depends on the century. One organized century can vary widely from another ... an organized century one year can be a completely different event the next year. Definitely contact the organizers!! But my one tip about any organized ride is this ... take everything they tell you with a grain of salt. Always, always, always bring your own food, tools, etc. I've been on organized centuries which have been wonderful ... it's like a rolling picnic with mechanical and medical support. But I've also been on organized centuries where they ration the food, etc. or worse, they've run out. I treat all centuries like a solo century so I'm not stuck in a bad situation out there.

On organized century rides, rest stops are typically somewhere around every 20 miles. Typical rest stop foods include bananas, PB&J sandwiches, power bars, pretzels, chips. Some bigger rides may have a more substantial "lunch" stop midway through. The rest stops will have water, and usually some form of sports drink. All of this is typically included in the entry fee, so you don't need to carry money to pay for it.

Machka's point is well-taken, though. I did one organized century ride where I had the bad luck to be in a "bubble" of riders that kept arriving at rest stops just as they were running out of food -- and in some cases, even water. (We weren't a particularly slow bubble, the ride was just having some logistics issues that year, which was very unusual.) Always bring some money with you in case you need or want to duck into a 7-11 or something. I always carry, at a minimum, a couple of granola bars. Try to find out what sports drink the ride is going to stock -- if it's something that you're not used to, you'll probably want to bring your own, and you may need to bring a few baggies of the powder version of it so you can mix up new bottles as needed.

If you like to use a Camelbak, by all means . . . I'm very used to mine, so I usually use it, but with only 20 miles between water stops (again, if all goes according to plan) you likely wont *need* the capacity of a Camelbak.

These forums are actually a pretty good source of ride information, especially for bigger, more well-known rides, but even for others, too. Just do a search, or post a "Who has done the Blah Blah Blah Century?" query, and someone will likely pipe up with their past experiences.

Organized ride issues....
sometimes the sports drink tastes like hose water... either watered down, or just bad water. Bringing your own little pouches might be helpful if you don't like drinking just water. TRY the drink before riding off.. nothing like setting off, getting a mile away and realized you can't stomach what you just filled your bottles with.... hopefully only one of your bottles ;)
I've been on one ride where the sports drink was pickle juice... I think it's local... but yeah, it's basically pickle juice in a bottle... I can't smell it much less drink it.

Sometimes you'll like their food... other times you won't... I take a couple granola or power bars of my own to use as backup.... but still utilize the rest stop food ;) . I'm not a big fruit person... often that's what's available. Personally, I prefer the bagels/snacks ;)

I've seen rest stops as close as 5-10miles apart... and as far as almost 20.... but usually the ride will say ahead of time. I personally don't drink much... I don't finish my one bottle in 25-30miles... so the distance isn't really important to me. I know others down 2 bottles in 15-20miles.... they NEED 2 bottles, and need to stop at almost every stop.

I take $10 just for the heck of it... never used it on an organized ride. Same with ID and some personal info... luckily never needed it.

A multi-tool is nice to snug down something, or do quick repairs on the fly. I've seen a seat post drop all the way down... it was a nice benefit to fix it then and there. ;) Much better than letting something stupid like that cause you to ride in discomfort, or sit and wait for assistance.

Solo...
lock if you plan on leaving your bike outside a store while you use...

$20 for snacks/drinks etc. I eat light usually... on one of our rides, we stopped at a convenience store to grab drinks... one guy wandered over to the jack in the box and got a huge burger and fries.... to each their own ;)

Camel back if you don't like bottles, or stopping that often... or are in the boonies. I've used them, but prefer a fresh cold bottle over the older warmer camel back.

Pack a couple snacks to begin with. I like to start with a bagel, but take some smaller bars of some sort for later. The store stops are for cold things, or when I run out of food.... I'm cheap. :D


Overall... rest when ever you want, but don't let the rests defeat you. The more I stop... the more I want to stop ;)

Spare tubes.. patches, and a pump ;) Possibly one of the presta to shrader adapter things. Incase someones pump doesn't work on your tube... incase you use a car compessor (gas station), or just so you don't have to hassle someone to flip the innards of their pump for your tube. ;)


Sunscreen... glasses.

I'd agree with the searching the forums for info on a certain ride... to the same effect... I try to give a detailed report of the rides I do for others' future reference.

Does anyone ride the whole century without stopping or is that uncommon?

Does anyone ride the whole century without stopping or is that uncommon?

Some people do, but it is relatively uncommon. You've either got to be a naturally or well-trained fast rider so you can finish in 4-ish hours and feel comfortable doing that (not over-exerting yourself), or a very well organized rider so you've got everything you need on hand and easily accessible, to do it ... because of the food and water issues.

I would NOT recommend planning to do that for your first century.

I've done 125 centuries (or longer rides) and I have not covered 100 miles non-stop yet. I'm not fast enough, and I haven't quite figured out the hydration thing ... taking in enough to keep me hydrated without having to stop to visit the ditch anywhere along the way. I think it would have to be done in a very particular temperature range and set of weather conditions for me to complete a non-stop century.

In my younger days did several centuries without stops; 2 bottles of water and food in jersey pockets.
Did do some sub-5 hours, but was only in my 40s then.
Whenever I ride, solo or tandem, always carry water and some food . . . better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Yes $$/credit card is always good to carry
Even on organized centuries, carry some of your favorite food as the rest stops may not have what you like.

I was thinking of a 100 oz camelback, with some extra waterbottles and I can pack enough food to go the distance. I just want a feel for it.

I was thinking of a 100 oz camelback, with some extra waterbottles and I can pack enough food to go the distance. I just want a feel for it.

How about planning to do a century where you stop a couple times to stretch and visit the ditch ... and getting a feel for that first?

Does anyone ride the whole century without stopping or is that uncommon?

It depends on what you mean by "stopping"...

I've ridden 70 or 80 without taking a real break, but generally I don't see a lot of point in that. It's good to get off the bike every couple of hours.

When I do centuries, I'll typically stop at 3 of the stops, and try to spend only about 5 minutes off the bike. For me, the longer I stay off the bike, the longer it takes to get warmed up and feeling good again.