avance

I started riding April 8 @ 5 miles. I completed 31 miles today at the Tour de Stooges, my longest ride so far. It was 90* with lots of humidity. There is a century ride that I'm dreaming about completing in September.

Pug

Well done, avance. You'll definitely be ready for that Century in September. Sign up for it now so you're committed.

Then do another one in October.

avance

IDK... that is a ton of miles and at my 12-15mph pace it would take me 8 hours

Street Pedaler

Congrats. You'll nail the Century.

TrojanHorse

You can do it! If you're dreaming about it, make it happen.

Pug

Keep riding consistently and you will be faster by September. And if it takes 8 hours? You'll still be ready to handle it.

chefisaac

Great job! Love to see that! Keep riding and you will turn that 31 into a metric century in no time!

digibud

Pace it however you need to. I had a similar goal from Denali Park to my home which is 130 mi. and I figured I could do it if I kept my heart rate reasonable with a reasonable effort on the flat sections which is exactly what I did. I was nearly 10 hours in the saddle but it was a great accomplishment. At some point speed may become a goal but I can only do what I can do and I'm quite happy with that. Go for the century whenever you are ready.
btw...my first ride after getting back to biking was well under 5 mi and I was hurting after that...so you're ahead of my curve!

Fishrising

Great job! Keep going!

CJ C

sweet and congrats

BikinPotter

That's so awesome! I hope that's me in a few months!

avance

I'm going to start doing more group rides during the week. I find the pace to be a factor in getting better at increasing my overall mph. I rode 23 miles last week for the first time with a friend and wouldn't have done it without him. I rode about 18 miles of the 31 on my own and then caught up with a larger group of the 64 mile riders. I found several to be in my range and rode with them, even though we would get passed by the faster riders.

IBOHUNT

Congrats. As has been mentioned, keep ridding longer and in no time you'll have done a metric, then an 80 mile deal and eventually a Century. And don't worry about how long it might take you.
Don't forget about nutrition and hydration. You probably burn 600 - 900 KCal/hr on a bike. You have to replace both the fuel and water/electrolytes during longer rides.

SkippyX

Congrats!

I'm planning on doing the MS150 in Houston next year. To help that happen I started commuting to work. It is twenty miles from my front door to work. I started out by riding to a convenient bus stop at the mid point of my commute. Now I'm riding the whole distance. Last week was the first week of doing the full ride, and it totally wasted me by Friday. I know that if I keep riding the distance it will become easier and I will become faster.

I have a year to prepare.

Next year I will ride the MS150. God only knows how much I'll weigh after a year of 40 miles/day, but I'm pretty sure it will be less than I weigh now.

avance

I would commute to work, but i work in East St. Louis. I'd probably be mugged by the prostitutes on the corner at 7am.

digibud

It might be one case where you might not hate going down. Next bad pun, please...

rearviewbeer

That is great progress! I think you will also be amazed at how quickly you will be able to get from 31 to 100, as well as increasing the pace. I find I am much faster and can ride farther behind someone...