Patch29

I had not been riding as much as I would like over the last few years and this summer it started to show. I have been wanting to tour and need to get in shape, so I have been riding and lifting weights. This weekend I broke one barrier and rode fifty miles, my goal is a century. I hope to accomplish this within the next four weeks. It has been over a day and I am only a little sore, not bad at all, I expected to hurt a little more. When riding I did notice that towards the end I really need to keep refueling. I will be carrying a lot of powergel and bars for the big ride. I am probably going to ride the Silver Comet Trail to the end and back as my next long ride (75 miles), hopefully around Tuesday August 26th. If there are any interested Atlanta riders let me know. I am not going for speed and will probably take several breaks to break the day up. I am just pumped up that I made it to fifty and feel good, we will see if I still feel fine tomorrow. Looking forward to my first century soon and getting out on the road for some great riding.

Code Monkey

what exactly is a century...? i mean i know what it is, it's a hundred miles, but what is the maximum amount of time you can take and still have it be considered a century...? if it's 24 hours, can there be an overnight between halves with sleep over...?

Patch29

I am not sure the exact meaning, for me I just want to ride 100 miles in one day (daytime), no sleeping, maybe a few rest stops?

Pat

To me it is only a century if it is done as 1 ride or all done in the same "day". In this case "day" being midnight to midnight. No fair doing 50 miles in the afternoon and 50 miles the next morning and calling it a century. You can sort of call it a century if you ride 50 miles in the morning and eat lunch and then do 50 miles in the afternoon. But that is pushing the envelope.

I prefer calling centuries, centuries only if they are done as a single ride. You can stop and take a break or even stop and eat a meal. But you are still on the same ride.

Patch29

I am getting closer in my goal to ride a century. I did get a metric yesterday and a little extra. 78 miles in five hours/five minutes riding time. My knee started to hurt, which it had not before with 50 miles. I might need to try a slightly different seat position, but the day after it already feels much better. Time to recover and get back out and get to 100.

Dutchy

A century or an endurance ride is any ride that the rider finishes without changing into regular clothing. As long as you haven't stopped for a shower and gotten changed into "non-cycling attire" then it is considered as 1 ride.
The reason for this is that some long distance events like Brevets 400-1200km will mean that the rider might stop and sleep briefly, possibly shower but then put the riding gear back on and continue.

Either way it is all too far for me.

I'm still building up the courage to do my first double metric/125mile ride in October. Thankfully the start/finish is only 15km from home and is around my local roads.

CHEERS.

Mark

dougfoot

Congrats on working on doing a century - here in Oregon, there are several century rides along with a couple of double century rides during the season. This year, I have completed the Seattle to Portland -STP- (single day double century) and the Vine Ride (century, very hilly). The key for me in riding long distances is to be consistant with training (I ride between 100 - 200 mile per week). I personally work on pacing (cadence and gearing) so that I won't get tired to early. On this year's STP, my 200 mile average was 16.5 mph - no record breaker, but I completed the ride in one day - 14.5 hours (including my 4 stops)

sakredchao

do people do these century rides in the mountains? mountains make long miles, downhill factored in, even. i guess i might be able to do something like that if i had almost no weight. but certainly not with my touring getup. 60 miles in a day is my max. after which i'm sore for the evening. if i do 3 days in a row of 50 with my touring get up, the 3rd day is a sore day of biking.