Originally Posted by nuclear_biker

Thanks for the input. I should have given more info about my current situation. I have been riding since... I guess mid May. I would say every day with some exceptions. My commute to work is about 2 miles. This ride is very easy for me, and I can do it and still call the day a rest day. Usually in the morning I will take a slightly longer route which is about 4 miles. I could extend this more or less indefinitely by taking a variety of trails. Depending on the day, I also carry about 5-15 lbs of stuff with me. I also bike to get groceries or visit the bike store (or both!). This is about a 7 mile ride round trip. I usually take my longer pleasure rides in the evening. These are about 12-13 miles. Strava claims I have 14.5 mph average, but my area has a lot of up and down hills so I can get some pretty high speeds going down those hills. I feel like I could probably do about 15-20 mile rides before I start hitting hard limits. There are a few spots where the lactic acid really builds up to a point where I just take a break, drink some water and eat some granola (the homemade variety).

As for races near me, there is one somewhat notorious century near me, the Mountains of Misery. They have a 104 mile century with 10,000' of climbing, and it it's famous for the 4 mile 16% grade at the very end. Honestly, at this point the idea of riding a century is just seems completely outside the realm of the possibility. I've never really been a very good athlete, however changing that is definitely something I am interested and open to.