Recreational & Family - How old to ride a century?

I have two boys, ages 10 and 8. My cycling is mostly limited to commuting, about 60 miles a week, but I did my first century last summer as a way of getting to a fair I was volunteering at for the weekend. My boys have begun riding their bikes to school this fall, about a mile away. There's just one major street to cross, which we have instructed them to handle by dismounting and using a crosswalk. We also go for rides of up to 4-5 miles at a time every other weekend or so, in good weather. Which, in Maine right now, it is most decidedly not! ;)

My 10-year-old said the other day that he wanted to ride with me next summer on this 100-mile ride to the fair. He will be 11 by then. I told him I wasn't sure he would be able to do it, but of course he insisted he would. I still have my doubts. I'm sure there will be at least one other adult, so I'd have to let the rest of them go on without us if (when) he lags behind, and I don't think he has the stamina to go the whole way even if he manages to keep up for a while.

Have any of you ever heard of an 11-year-old doing a century ride? If not, which I suspect, what is a realistic distance and/or pace for that age? I think he'd probably be willing to put in some training, but still, I don't see him keeping up with a bunch of adults. (I'm by no means a fast rider myself, since neither fitness riding nor long distance are my forte, but I'm not the slowest rider I know either.)

Would it be realistic to set up the ride as 2 days of 50 miles each? Maybe I arrange it so there is an option for either a 2-day or 1-day trip, with the groups meeting up towards the end.

Thanks, and Happy Holidays!

My suggestion is to set up a ride (or several) just for you and him prior to the event. Arrange for a car shuttle back. Then you just ride as far as y'all want to, and when he figures that's enough, you get on the cell phone, call mom or whoever, and sip lemonade until the shuttle gets there. If that's 20 miles or 100 miles, it's good either way. That way, you don't have to be pressuring him to go faster or keep going or whatever, and it's not some big disaster if he doesn't make 100 miles. And if he does, fine. And when the event rolls around, you and he will both have a better idea of his capabilities and what's involved.

My impression is that kids this age oftentimes have the physical capacity to do things like this, but not the mental fortitude to keep going when they get really tired or when it isn't fun anymore.

One thing you may also run into, is that he may not stop, but may wind up riding 4 mph, where it's just not practical to continue even though he could.

An example for you: I used to hike from our house up to Horsetooth Rock. This was about 3-4 miles, about 1500' of elevation gain. My son wanted to go with me. He was maybe 9 or so. So we set off, get halfway up a steep part, he's tired, and we turn around. No problem. We did that three times. Then the fourth time, by golly, he just kept on going right to the top, and surprised me. I don't think his legs got that much stronger, but he had just matured a little bit.

Check these 10 yr olds out:

http://www.familyonbikes.org/

Depends on the kid. We've had two 8-year olds do the Weatherby-Filey Great Yorkshire Bike Ride (70 miles and not flat). They were both active riders and had done a number of rides, but nowhere near that distance. Naturally, they flagged a bit for tha last 10 or so miles, but managed it without being too knackered.

Agree with other forumers - take your time and get him used to riding increasing distances and then make your decision. You know him better than anyone else and will be able to judge his capacity. As has been already said, it is at least a question of mental ability, the desire to keep on going when he tires.

Plenty to drink and eat and get him used to taking it on board while riding, but also sufficient breaks to ease his other muscles (not to mention yours). It will be challenge, but, above all, not succeeding will not be a failure - if he does more miles than he has ever done before, that's a success, a great achievement.

If you do do it, break it down into 10-mile sections (or some other distance, say, 5-miles), so that he's concentrating on the next mark and not the huge distance in front of him.

We also run a couple of Youth Hostel weekends each year and we've had 10 year olds doing up to 150 miles over the weekend with lots of adult encouragement - even with bad weather.

1. Work backwards from the date and set some intermediate goals/distances that are achievable
2. Make sure those rides are also fun and don't necessarily tell him what the other aim of the ride is ;o).
3. They are often better than we we can imagine, so prepare to be amazed.

Check these 10 yr olds out:

http://www.familyonbikes.org/

That's my kids! Yes - it's very definitely doable for 10-year-olds to ride. I totally agree with the above poster that it's mostly a mental thing for them, so if he really wants to do it he'll do it. We started out with short distances and celebrated every time we broke a milestone - made it 25 miles!! WOOHOO!! Even now, we still know what our daily record is (72 miles with 30 of those downhill) and will celebrate big time if/when we ever break it!

I wouldn't plan on the whole century in one day, but 50 miles/day is very doable. My son who rides a single tends to start getting tired around 30 miles and is pretty tuckered by 50, but he can do it no problem. If you start training with your son in advance, he'll be able to make the distance - and will probably surprise you!

Audax UK keeps records of the youngest rider each year to finish a 200 km brevet on a solo bike. http://www.aukweb.net/results/famey.htm suggests that 11 isn't that unusual, the youngest is 9.

When my twin sons were under 11 my Wife, Sons and I rode from Dunsmuir (North of Lake Shasta, CA) to San Jose, CA in 4 days (385 miles). Prior to that ride we had done 3-4 centuries. My Wife did most of the training and I relied on my running base. This was more than 20 years ago and the equipment was not what it is today. Kids have great endurance if they are kept fueled up, but watch the heat; make sure they keep hydrated. Good luck!

Over the last five or six years I've run about 20 boys through the Boy Scout Cycling merit badge, which culminates in a 50 mile ride. Most have been 11 or 12 years old. At this age there's a significant range of physical maturity, emotional maturity, and of course physical fitness. But IMO even the most advanced 11 year old is not ready for 100 miles in one day. On the other hand two 50 mile days, with proper training and ride-day care, should be no problem.

Kids this age can tire quickly, but they recover quickly as well. They also get bored quicker than adults, which gets to be a problem with rides over an hour.

If you stop frequently, make sure he eats/drinks constantly, and keep him engaged in conversation, 50 miles should go by without too much trouble.

My daughter, who is now 12, has done 40-50 mile rides with us since she was nine. She looks forward to doing the Indiana Hilly Hundred with us each year. The first year she expressed interest I was sceptical. I told her she had to meet certain distances at a prescribed time of the summer (the ride was in the fall). She did all I asked and successfully rode in her first Hilly that fall. She made it up every hill, including a 22% grade! Now the only problem is working hard enough to stay faster than her!

Start him riding with you now. It's very easy for a kid so say he wants to do something now, and change his mind the next day. If he's serious, he won't mind training for the ride.

I rode my first century at 13. It was not an organized event, I just decided I wanted to ride 100 miles, so I went out and did it. It was miserable, I didn't eat or drink properly on the ride (left over chocolate Easter candy and one bottle of Mountain Dew), and I bonked about 85 miles into the ride. I rode the remaining 15 miles at a snail's pace, and vomited when I finally made it home.

Surprisingly, the experience did not turn me off from cycling, though it was many years before I attempted my next century.

Over the last five or six years I've run about 20 boys through the Boy Scout Cycling merit badge, which culminates in a 50 mile ride. Most have been 11 or 12 years old. At this age there's a significant range of physical maturity, emotional maturity, and of course physical fitness. But IMO even the most advanced 11 year old is not ready for 100 miles in one day. If you stop frequently, make sure he eats/drinks constantly, and keep him engaged in conversation, 50 miles should go by without too much trouble.

Good advice, particularly about training and hydration. When I was that age, 50 years ago, I did a 50-mile hike and canoe trip in eight or nine days for dual Boy Scout "50-Miler" Awards. Knowledge of training and hydration was pretty rudimentary in those days (for instance, we were warned not to drink much water before and during the hike because "it makes you thirsty"), and we didn't train at all beyond a few short hikes on weekends. I was the youngest kid on the trip (my dad was adviser to the Explorer post), and I really suffered, particularly on the canoe trip. But everybody DID make it, and if we'd been smart enough to train a bit and drink more, it would have been much easier.
Also, FWIW, there's an enormous difference between 50 miles, which anybody in decent condition can do on a bike, and 100 miles. I've done many centuries, and no matter how hard I train, the last 20 miles are hard.

My son did his first century with me at age 11 and he did great. But he had been doing metrics and 75 mile rides on a tandem since he was 9 and was routinely doing 50 to 65 mile rides on his solo bike during the year leading up to the century. I don't know many kids his age who took to long distance riding as readily as he did.

I would start taking him on longer and longer rides, teaching him the importance of pacing, hydration and nutrition along with other riding skills. If he takes to it, you'll know it. If not, adjust the goal to something achievable. Good luck.

I rode 94 miles and then 25 the next day when I was 12.

Though it was a trip with a women's cycling group (with my mother) and intended to be 40 miles one day 25 the next but on the 40 mile ride we came to a point when we were told we should turn around if we wanted to only do 40... but everyone else had decided to go on and do the entire trail which would come to 90 something... Since they were a group of mostly older women and I was full of youthful pride there was no way in hell I was going to turn around so ride it I did and didn't even whine too much about the ride the next day.