C'mon to the glacially-scoured lower Great lakes area! Waaaaay back in Aug '80 I rode my Fuji S-10S from Cleveland OH to Milwaukee (and then on to Madison). 470 miles from CLE to MKE, and five days riding each way, Total elevation change was non-existent other than a few (less than 100') river valleys or train track/highway overpasses. My gearing back then was the stock 51/39 crankset and a six-speed (new-at-the-time) 14-24t freewheel.

NO WAY could I do that today!

:thumb:

My 70th birthday is Friday. A biking friend will be my Domestique for about 40 miles from 12:01AM until the segment is done. He asked what pace I want to keep and I asked if he doesn't mind keeping it a slow for him 20mph. The rest of my planned double age ride +1 will be much-MUCH slower.

Depends on a lot. Vertical gain, temps, altitude, etc. I've done 100 mi. with a heat index well over 100F in about 6 hrs. with probably 4k ft. vertical gain. I've done sub 5 hr. centuries, with not a lot of vertical, with a group, in well under 5 hrs. Never really liked riding that far in one clip. My favorite ride was 50 mile, with 5k vertical in 2 1/2 hrs. That day I felt like I could have come close to 5 hrs. for 100 miles with 10k vertical, but I'll never know. :)

I'm the age of the OP - 59. I did a solo century this April at 20.2 mph - 102.5 miles in 5:03. It was a very flat and open course, with few stops and turns. That was a personal best for a century.

Group riding is different. My personal best, last August, is 4 hours and 2 minutes for just under a century - 97 miles. 24 mph average.

That is a fantastic time regardless you must be a really strong cyclist. I cannot imagine the one in just over 4 hours in a group even as 24 mph is cooking. I would be curious to see your strava stats my guess is you probably hold many of the KOM at least for age if you Strava.

70th Birthday Ride complete beginning at 9:04pm with temp at 84F and humidity 80% winds 9mph to 15mph a whopping 164' elevation (FLAT AND HOT AND HUMID 141.25 miles.) Domestique Friend only helped for 15 miles. Had a moving average of 16.7mph.

OLDER and SLOWER :D

https://www.strava.com/activities/375110260

I've ridden 100 miles exactly once. A bunch of teammates and I rode to the group ride in a neighboring town, rode the ride, and rode home. Had to ride around the park a few times to get up to 100. Riding with friends (who happen to be strong riders) is the best way to do it.

I was in really good shape last year. I think I rode 16 centuries.

In an organized century, I rode with a large lead group of about 30 (and did my share of pulling). We averaged just above 25 mph until about mile 72, when the group shattered on a hill. I started to cramp and got dropped. I chased solo until about mile 88, when I was about spent, but met up with a friend and 2 others I didn't know and we worked together to finish. It was epic and hard. And it will probably never happen again

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d0b49b0301.png