Through the years, 59 of them, I have ridden a bike some, but never very serious. About 2 1/2 years ago I started riding much more serious. Actually I rode 5800 miles in 2008. This included six century events and many 100K rides. This May I would like to ride my first 200K. That ride includes two very difficult climbs, anther almost that difficult, and lots of rolling hills.

So what's my question? After each of the 100 mile events I have been completely exhausted. My time in the centuries has been between 5 hours 45 minutes, my fastest, to 7 hours. With the major climbs and another 30 miles thrown into the mix I know there must be a different mental approach to the 200K rides, and longer, than the centuries I have ridden. What is the diffenece in mental attitude from an event of 100 miles and the "long distance" rides the cyclist chronicle on this forum?