Originally Posted by
Catweazle
I'm well aware that my only real 'achievement' to date has been to develop the ability to stay in the saddle for 5 hours or more during the day, using the the knowledge I've gleaned from here to keep those pedals spinning around at a reasonable rate and feeling my way into timing the frequent gear changes well enough that they're made before I'm in trouble.
Actually, you have accomplished quite a lot and made an important move into long-distance cycling. A metric is an excellent place to start. When you ride your first double-metric you'll find that nutrition and hydration become more important.
Or maybe you'd want to do a 100 mile ride before the double-metric? Regardless, you'll need to take care of yourself a bit better on the longer rides, but otherwise you should be fine. About "ability to stay in the saddle for 5 hours" it's a good idea to stand on some of the climbs to get your weight off the saddle occasionally.
In any case, after your first double-metric you'll be able to start planning your first double-century (in miles!). We get a good lot of 50+ riders on the double-centuries here in CA. You can check out our doubles at:
www.caltriplecrown.com
Rick / OCRR