Originally Posted by
mkadam68
A century is certainly do-able for you. But, there is a difference between a "century", and a "century with a hard 10k of climbing", especially in dirt which amplifies the climbing effort.
I don't want to dissuade you, but unless you've been specifically training in the hills & mountains (tough in the Boston area, no? Better in Western Mass.), this sounds like it would be very difficult. Your training needs to mimic the climbing-to-distance ratio. For example, 100 miles and 10,000 feet? That's what I call a 1-point ride. (To round this out... 100-miles and 20,000 feet would be a 2-point ride, and a 100-miles with 5,000 feet would be a half-point ride.) A 1-point or higher ride is extremely difficult. You need to be training on 1-point rides or better: 50-miles & 5,000 feet, 60-miles and 6,000 feet, etc...
I also would recommend that you begin riding every single day to increase your endurance. 3 weeks between should be fine if you're riding every day.
What he said +1!
True, if you can do 60, you can do 100 but the 10,000ft is a different story. Sounds like you're taking a touring bike? Sounds cool but are there time limits? There were on our climbing rides. Training for 10,000 -12,000 ft centuries, my training was climbing 5,000 ft in 40 miles and 7,000 ft in 60 miles, every weekend! When I did well, it was over a 4 month training period. Good luck!
BTW, most of the rides don't get tough till after 8,000 ft of climbing. That's when the real test starts!