Originally Posted by
BigAura
To me it's not clear that you are are talking about 100-miles-a-day OR a total trip of 100 miles? If you're talking about 100 miles out and a 100 back weekend trip I'd say you're probably in way over your head. Back-to-back centuries are particularly difficult and require an even higher fitness level than a single day century.
I agree with the others that say to get your rides up to at least 50 miles on a consistent basis before attempting the century. Besides doing the ride, be sure you're prepared for the number of hours in the saddle. You'll need to be sure to start early and/or be prepared for darkness, especially in winter.
EDIT: If you're talking about 50 miles out and then 50 miles the next day, I say go for it. On flat Florida terrain this should be doable at your current level.
A few of you have asked this and my plan is 100 miles in 1 day. I'm prepared for darkness, have everything I need for touring and own a touring bike (Novara Safari).
3 years ago I did the same trip on a beach cruiser with my wife. It was... a nightmare. We did it over 2 days with 60 miles on the first day. I didn't train for it; it was a "why not?" trip. I fared better than my wife during the trip, but I was a' hurtin' by the time I got to my destination. I'm trying to be smarter about it this time. I'd rather heed advice than suffer terribly. I don't mind pushing through when tired, but I want to make sure I'm physically up to the challenge.
I started running 20 miles a day to meet my son at his work. He bike commutes and I ride up there when he's ready to ride home. He commutes 10 miles one way and I ride there and back with just a small break in between. Some days, I'll ride 4 miles to a nearby park with my wife and then put in the 20 miles later in the day so 24 miles/day isn't a problem at all.
The other thing to mention is my pace... I average about 10 mph according to my computer. I'm no speed demon, but I'm not training to be. My son will be going with me, I'm 40 and he's 20, so I'll have company. We figured we'd get up and start riding at 5am to give plenty of time for breaks as needed.
Also, as asked, this will be a single century. We'll ride down to our location then get picked up and driven home after staying the night at a relatives.