Originally Posted by
ksryder
There's a lot of truth to this -- I found myself on a 30-ish mile section of rail-trail and my average speed on that section was lower, and I worked a lot harder, than I would have in a similar-distance of regular road riding, because there was never any coasting, just constant pedaling.
Also, total feet of climbing doesn't tell the whole story -- how steep are those climbs? 8000 feet (or whatever) of climbing over 100 miles, if it comes at 2% grades, isn't going to be as tough as if it's in 10% grades, for example.
But bottom line, if you can do any century you can probably do it, just don't mind-screw yourself too much.
And there's ^ that ^. I rode a long ride this weekend, 59 miles out and back. (Up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and back) The last section to the turn around point is a 13 mile climb with about 2800 ft. of climbing, or about 215 ft./mile. Okay, that's a long climb but doable. The last 3 miles is about 1200 ft of that 2800 total! That's about 400 ft./mile. THAT will take the wind out of your sails, or at least, wind out of MY sail. (Went back the way I came so the downhill was a blast!
)
There is a local century every Labor Day. They target every big climb around here with a total of over 10,000 feet of climbing. No way. I've climbed most of them, but not all in the same day! It attracts some well knowns apparently. Pretty much weeds out us weekend warrior types.
Like Canklecat, I'm not a strong climber and have learned if I want to go distance, to conserve energy on climbs. Drop it in granny gear and slowly winch my self up. There are some long rides I'd like to do around here that has me considering some change in gearing.
So look at the course, specifically the climbs, and plan for them. Energy wise that is.