sstorkel

The figure I've always heard is that between drinks and food you should consume 250 calories an hour. On long rides, I find that 300 calories/hr works better for me. Then again, I'm still 20lbs north of where I want to be, so what do I know?

DanteB

For most people, the body will not process more than 300-350 calories per hour.

rdtompki

OK - if I don't break and spokes between now and then I'll nix the spokes, but will have my wheels checked and tweaked by my LBS before the ride. Will get a new set of Gatorskins prior to the ride. Loose 15 lbs. before the ride, but I'll still be above 200 to retain my Clydeness. I think my gearing at 29 gear inches (lowest gear) is probably ok, but we'll see how my hill climbing goes over the next few months.

sstorkel

I'd make any changes to the bike at least a week or two prior to your ride. That way you've got some time for any problems to surface before you do the big ride. You might also want to do some research on puncture-resistant tires. I mentioned the Gatorskins because that's what I have experience with, but there are lots of other possibilities (e.g. Specialized Armadillo, Bontrager Hardcase, etc).

CliftonGK1

I use a 34/32 (28.4 inches) for my lowest gear, and I've done a 200k with nearly 8000' of climbing. You should be fine with a 29 inch low gear.

cyccommute 

I'd suggest making any changes to the bike more towards the middle or beginning of the training cycle. That way anything that might go wrong or need adjustment will show up during the training. One to two weeks before the event, don't mess with anything.

Neil_B

Allow at least a month or more. When I bought a new bike six weeks before my century in 2007, I had all kinds of fit problem for a month before I got reasonably dialed in.

Pinyon

Lots of contributors, and lots of good advice. The main things that you keep hearing are to take enough repair equipment, don't forget to eat and drink, and train hard to prepare for it.

Distance and foothill/mountain riding are my favorites. Here are my preferences.

• 2 water bottles, and knowing where convenience stores and free water spigots are located along the way. The stores come in handy if I start to bonk or cramp, and need a sports drink or something. I only carry water, and stop to buy a sports drink if I feel like I need it. I hate camel backs. Others like them, but I don't. I usually just stop at a local park and refill my water bottles when I have to use the restroom.
• I prefer real food to sports drinks and stuff. On longer hilly rides, I've found that portable salty and crunchy snack foods like wheat crackers (usually different flavors of triscuits or wheat thins), dried fruit (apricots, raisins, banana chips, etc.), and granola or energy bars work great. They give me energy quickly, don't upset my stomach, have enough salt to balance out my electrolytes, etc. I've also found that a pack of salted and roasted nuts can work wonders, if I'm close to bonking and need salt too.
• The repair stuff that I carry all fits into my medium-sized seat bag, and includes: 2 spare tubes individually wrapped in plastic grocery bags (slippery bags make the tubes pack easier, and can be used for emergency rain head-gear, a saddle rain-cover, etc.), a patch kit, a 2-3 feet section of duct tape rolled into a flat-square (was VERY VERY handy on numerous occasions), small multi-tool and tire levers, a small first-aid kit (3-4 knuckle bandages, antiseptic wipes, and gauze), about 3-4 feet of toilet paper rolled flat in a ziplock bag, a couple of reflective velcro ankle bracelets (for dark conditions, and have used to strap/emergency-patch stuff on the bike), a cell phone, and about $40 in cash (strongly recommend some single dollar bills and a few quarters). Almost everything but the tools and tubes can be used for multiple purposes. If you do lots of long-distance riding alone, you will USE all of that stuff at one time or another EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Count on it. Especially if you stop to help other cyclists that lack something along the side of the road.
• A frame pump (I LOVE the Topeak road morph).
• On mountain or non-summer rides, I also carry a polyester shell jacket. It packs down very small, and will save you lots of discomfort if it gets cold, rainy, or windy all-of-a-sudden. Weather forecasters are often wrong in the mountains. Be prepared for it.
• In the summer I also carry a small tube of sun-screen. I sun burn very easily and need it to prevent getting sun burn blisters on my neck and/or nose areas during longer and sunny rides.

That's about it, except for training. I think that you should have a training plan, like one of those you see above that are online, or that you find in a magazine. Be flexible, though. If you get hurt, slow down until you have healed a little bit, or you could end up hurt worse, potentially blowing a whole riding season.

With the route that you have picked, I would also throw in A LOT more hills than the standard century training plan incorporates. I usually replace some of the faster or high-tempo rides with steady-to-hard climbing routes instead. I would also include one HARD and sustained hill ride each week (at least 1 hour of steady, non-stop climbing), to help get you used to it. I try to avoid doing more than 3 hilly routes for any one week, though. I need recovery time between hill routes. If it is a "hill" week, then I just do longer and steeper hills on those 2-3 days.

Just follow one of those training plans for the rest, making sure that you can physically take 6-7+ hours in the saddle. Good luck! Have fun training.

gotls1

You going to get a steak there at Harris Ranch when you're done?

Looks like a fun ride. Is ACTC the club you joined? I've gone on a couple of their rides - they're a friendly group.

rdtompki

Harris Ranch is the only way I could get my Wife to pick me up (although she's off beef). I'm going to give her a "drop dead" time by which time she should start driving the route in reverse to pick up my bones. We'll stay in scenic Coalinga overnight.

I think I've indicated in another post that I've started working on a local hill once a week (4000 ft. climbing, 3000 ft elevation gain in about 13.7 miles), but it's going to take me a few months to get to the top. I've got some other routes (40 mi. loop, 2000 ft. climbing for example) that I'll do. At some point I'm going to have to take a few 60-70 mile rides. Lots to think about.

Did a bunch of centuries and a 400 mi. (in 4 day) ride with my Wife and kids, but that was 20+ years ago. The spirit is willing, we'll see about the bod. Trick is to avoid injury.