[Sammyboy]

My company enters a Dragon Boat race every year, in September (I think), and this year, I thought I'd travel there by bike. It's around 130 miles from my house, so I thought I'd get sponsored for charity, take the Friday off, cycle up there, spend the Saturday at the racing (I'm in the crew, but it's not really hard work), and the cycle back on the Sunday. Then, having stared my new cycle business, working with Downtube, I thought it would be great publicity to do it on my Downtube 9 speed full suspension folder.

Now, I've read all about nutrition and hydration on the ride, and will have a Bento bag full of food, plenty of fluids, and will stick to the guidelines as a minimum. The IXFS is fairly low geared, so I think I'll be fine on the hills even when tired. My question is, how will I know I'm ready? I've only done commuting mileages over the winter, and really don't have time for training rides of over 40 miles. My plans so far include putting a Brooks on the Downtube, and doing all my training rides on that, for familiarity. If I'm lucky, I'll get to do 2 20-40 mile rides a week. What should I aim for, in order to be sure I'll make it?

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[10 Wheels]

Go for a 75 mile ride.
You will have more of an idea what it might take for the complete 130 miles.

[kamalster]

The first time I did a century, I also did 2 in the same weekend. 105 miles on the Saturday and then 105 miles on the Sunday riding back. It's not as hard as you'd think, there were plenty of people on the ride who weren't super-serious cyclists. It was early in the season, but it still only took about 10 weeks of moderate training to be ready for it. Like 10 Wheels said, if you do a 75 mile ride you'll have a pretty good sense of whether you can do the 130. If you do a weekend with 75 miles on the Friday and another 75 miles on the Sunday, you'll have a good sense of whether you can do it both ways.