swankgd

Hi. I'm hoping for some advice on training for my first century. I will be participating in the Amtrak Century, from Irvin to SD, in September. This seems like a nice entry-level choice for my first time.

I've read a lot about what it takes, and I'm fairly confident I can make it. My only concern is that I'm pretty pressed for time, all the time, so I can't really do a lot of riding longer than around 40 miles. I might be able to squeeze one or two longer rides in before the event, but not much more than that.

But I THINK I've got a workable strategy. First, I commute at least 3 times a week, sometimes 4 or 5 times. It's 10 miles each way along the SART (a relatively flat portion). So right there I'm averaging around 80 miles of riding per week, though obviously not consecutively.

For my longer weekend rides, I've been riding Santiago Canyon. It's only 40 miles round trip from my front door, however it ends up being nearly as much total climbing (~3500ft) as the entire Amtrak Century route (~4000 ft), including some grades that are steeper than anything on the century route. I'm able to complete those 40 miles with plenty left in the tank, at a decent pace (15mph average overall). The only thing stopping me from extending my range is time.

Does that sound like enough to prepare me? I figure with the same amount of climbing spread out across 2.5x the distance, I should be alright. I still plan to find the time to get a couple longer days in, but hoping for confirmation that I'll be alright with what I've got going, otherwise I'll have to figure out a way to squeeze more time out of my weekends.

Thanks for any advice!