I am a young (23) new-ish rider. I have ridden in the past, but nothing more that 50 miles at a time. I want to train for my first century which would be July 30th and plan on doing a few in the fall.

If you have any advice/tips for training. Any insiders secrets that I need to know. Anything at all, it would be much appreciated.

Any good resources for training?

Thanks


Matt

Bicycling Magazine has a training schedule for your first century, which you can probably get at their website.

But it's essentially goes like this: Ride 4-5 days a week. Take 2 days off for recovery (such as monday, friday. If you have time to ride 6 days, make friday an easy recovery ride.)

You want to do at least one long ride a week. Gradually increase your mileage, making your long ride 10% longer each week. With the goal of doing at least 70-80 miles once or twice before your first century.

You can do shorter rides during the week. After a few weeks of building a base, add some intensity to a couple of your weekday rides each week, i.e. going faster than your intended century pace. This can take the form of fast group rides or intervals.


As for actually riding the century, eat and drink lots, and read the various first century threads on here.

I'm sorry, you'll have to wait until next year, there are already too many people trying their first century this year! :-)

use the search function for century and you will fill your heart with information!

I assume your century on July 30th is some sort of event which will be with other riders. In that case, just work on doing some long rides by yourself. You will be amazed at how much easier cycling is when you ride with others and pace line.

I just got into road biking a few months ago (only learned how to ride a bike 8 months ago. Missed that part of my childhood, I'm a late bloomer) and completed the El Tour de Phoenix this past weekend; it is a 72 mile ride. A few weeks ago I rode 72 miles alone in 5 hours in 20 minutes. During the actual tour, since I had the ability to work with others and paceline, I finished in about 4 hours 25 minutes. I shaved almost an entire HOUR off of my time just because I could work with others.

So focus on getting in a lot of miles. Look for group rides in your area so you can get used to riding with others, but don't rely on group rides only for your training. Also, go for really long multi-hour rides so you get used to the pains of long distance riding...if your neck or lower back begins to hurt at exceptional levels, go get a professional fitting at a lbs (will cost you around $50 or $60 most likely, but well worth it). Additionally, be sure to dedicate some rides to hill work because that's going to make you a lot stronger and a lot more confident about riding.

Above all, have fun and don't stress.

+1 End of thread.