BikEthan

I'm thinking I can do this but I am definitely feeling a little intimidated by the concept. The first ride I've linked to below is HARD 10K' of climbing, mostly on dirt roads it should be a lot of fun (and kinda painful) and my Atlantis would be well suited for it, big tires, low geared triple etc... My only concern is the engine! ! I've been working out quite a bit (2-4x weekly) but not riding as much as I would like but I've been ramping up lately. The longest ride I've been on so far was 60 miles, just short of a metric century. I feel like the 3 weeks between events should give me time to recover. Thoughts?

https://www.franklinlandtrust.org/randonee.htm

https://www.boston2portland.com/index.html

Tom Stormcrowe

Go for it.......worst that will happen is a DNF. In honesty, if you have gas in the tank at the end of a metric, then you can likely finish an imperial as well. The recovery time in between should be quite sufficient.

One thing I CAN say...

If you never try, you'll never know.

v1k1ng1001

If you can do 60, you can do 100. Just pace yourself, plan lots of rest stops, eat and you'll be fine.

BikEthan

Well... I hope you guys are right! I was already registered for the B2P ride now I'm registered for the D2R2 as well. Silly acronyms. I should get myself a smaller camera than the DSLR I usually do these things with so I can do some documentation!

zpl

If you're looking for an easy (relatively speaking), flat century, I'd highly recommend the Tri-State Seacoast Century. This was my first century last year and I'm signed up again to do it this year. Like you, I want to do two centuries this season.

https://www.granitestatewheelmen.org/SCC/SCC-Details.htm

Good luck!

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.

CliftonGK1

2 centuries with 3 weeks between should be no problem. Take everyone's advice about pacing yourself, and remember to nibble frequently and keep hydrated.

I've done 3 centuries this season, and two toughest of them were only 9 days apart (first one was 6100' of climbing, second was 7050' of climbing.) The key is to pace yourself early on, and I learned that the hard way on the first two of the season.
First one, I went out too hard at the beginning of the second loop (it was a 60 mile and a 40 mile loop) and I started to cramp up with 25 miles left to go. I finished, but I hurt for a week afterward.
Second one I went out too fast right from the start and I cramped up really bad with 2 miles left. I finished, but just barely.
The last one, I learned my lesson and rode at a reasonable pace for me. I didn't concern myself with being passed by everyone, and I just enjoyed my ride. When I finished up, I felt great: Still able to walk around and enjoy the rest of the day.

Mr. Beanz

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!

Big Scott

I did the challange of the Centries ride(s) last weekend in Hartwell, GA. Two centuries back to back makes for a long weekend but I'm pretty well conditioned to deal with it. I had a great time and was able to pull the front pack. I'd say pace yourself and make sure you drink/eat enogh plus have some Hammer Nutrition's Endurlytes (https://https://www.hammernutrition.com/za/HNT?PAGE=PRODUCT&CAT=ELECT&PROD.ID=4037&OMI=10104,10082,10047&AMI=10104) on board to combat any cramps (if it's hot).



"Dude, this thing gonna hold me..?"


Have fun,
Scott

Missbumble 

Sounds like great rides - all of them. Hey dumb question form a newbie...If I want to ride in the Granit State Whheelmen's century...and I live in Atlanta - How do you get your bike there??? Any thoughts. Also - do tey bus you back to the start (and your bike)?

BikEthan

Yes definitely easier to train for climbing in Western Mass. I'll see what I can figure out around here for training rides. I'll start doing longer daily rides as well. I commute nearly every day but it is short (2 miles each way) and I'm usually doing longer rides (10-40 miles) once or twice a week. I've got a heart rate monitor in the mail (Polar CS100) so I should be able to really track my progress and get some quantitative info on my limits rather than just guess work. I'm under the impression that this is a very valuable tool for training.

Nice. If you're the Big Scott that I think you are (the one who won that race against a bunch of sub-clydes) then yes you are well conditioned for two centuries in two days. Hoping I can hang on this D2R2 thing, just gotta start getting on the bike and doing the climbs more often.

That looks like a nice ride... maybe I'll do 3.

I had some gas in the tank after a 60 mile, 3,000 ft ride, with loaded panniers on the back of my bike (that was WAY too slow) but this D2R2 thing sounds like a real kick in the pants. I like challenges (even if I do find the prospect a bit daunting) and this certainly will be a challenge.

Just the pep talk/dose of realism and good advice I needed. I'm going to get a training plan together and set some goals for myself.

Massken

Hey that is in my neck of the woods. Maybe in the future I will make that a goal of mine... I saw that they do lesser portions too such as metric, half, and quarter centuries along sections of the same route. I might consider that in the coming years

zpl

The Tri-State Seacoast century is a loop ride. You start in Hampton, NH, ride down a short ways into MA, turn around, ride up the coast through NH and into ME, and then turn around again and end at the start.

As for transporting your bike from Atlanta, your cheapest bet is to drive it up. I suppose you could rent a bike locally, but I wouldn't want to ride a century on a bike that could fit totally differently. Packing and shipping or flying with your bike gets pretty pricey.