Stickney

^That.

PACE. PACE. PACE.

banerjek

The main thing when working with a group is to communicate with everyone constantly and no sudden moves (braking, swerving, etc). If you feel a little nervous, it's a good sign that you need to hang back a little.

For newer riders, this is no joke. Bring some ibuprofen. Like jayp, I think you'll be hurting plenty at the end.

This sounds like a pretty ambitious first century. But you can probably do it. Use your low gears and take your time.

When you do your 50 mile ride this weekend, do not push yourself -- you are too close to the ride to think about improving your fitness. Rather, figure out your pacing. Your goal needs to be to feel as good as possible at the end of your test ride.

And give us a ride report regardless of how it works out.

RacerOne

When an American describes themself as in OK shape, that tends to mean they are overweight and used to play sports in high school. That was me 3 years ago, and pretty much how I'd have described myself. If you fit the previous description, have no biking background, you've done a few rides at 30 miles and you're still riding in tennis shoes.. it won't be impossible to finish, but it's going to hurt.. a lot. Now get out there and have fun!!

hyhuu

Hopefully being young and with determination the OP can make it. With that much climbing, he is going to be in the world of hurts. There is only so much pacing you can do on a long hill, gravity sucks. Good luck.

Beginner Biker

thanks for the responses! I will keep you all updated.

So I was wondering what is the best way to approach a hill in regards to shifting? Right now I downshift? (easier) right before the hill and then just stick with it until I go over the hill, I found that shifting down on the hill really clunks up the chain, I don't want to break it doing that. Basically I don't know how to approach a hill well. Please help!

Thanks

gregf83 

I think that description is incorrect. For one thing there is no net gain between Amanda and Athens. The accumulated elevation change is +/-1100m according to ridewithgps.com which is not a particularly hilly ride for 100 miles. It looks like there is one steep hill of ~10% for maybe .8km.

FactVord

I don't know about you, but if I go too slowly of a pace, I can feel my @ss being buried into my saddle and it hurts a whole lot less than if I were say, going 20mph. OP, know your body and listen to it. If it needs you to back off on the pace, then do so. I don't know about the ibuprofen at the end of the century ride, but I find ice packs the best remedy for any long ride.

jayp410

Dunno, I just quoted the century's web site, but I have heard that some mapping sites (not sure about ridewithgps specifically) drastically underestimate the net elevation gain for a route with rolling hills because they apply smoothing to the data.

Also if you say there is "no net gain"..... well, that may be true from a mathematical definition, but when it comes to cycling if you go up 100 ft and go down 500 ft that is still a net gain of 100 ft because that's how much you had to climb.

gregf83 

The web site (https://www.pelotonia.org/ride/event/routes/) also shows the elevation profile (although it's small). Definitely not a net gain and doesn't look hilly.

edit: A garmin 500 lists the elevation gain/loss as 902/930. Not flat but not nearly as bad as the web site implies.

JAJ0404

I was thinking the same thing. I went to Ohio State and I can tell you, there are no hills in Central Ohio, VERY flat.

rex66

A week ago Saturday I attempted my first 100 miler and my nephew who is 27 decided to join me. He had less than 200 miles under his belt and no ride longer than 26 miles and I've been riding for less than a year so we were not sure what to expect. I did do 75 miles a couple weeks before but it was pretty easy terrain compared to the route we were headed out on. I'm a slow paced rider so I was probaly ideal for a newer rider to try and stretch their distance with. My nephew did branch off and head home after doing about 70 miles thanks to a 3 mile hill that did him in. I was still very impressed with him. I got my 100 miles in but I was more impressed with him because I know that last year when I started and only had the miles he had there was no way I could have done 70 miles on that route. Never underestimate what youth can do. That being said...pace yourself and have fun!

volosong

Won't say that my "style" is correct, but it's worked for me over the past 50 years or so. When approaching a hill, the only shifting I'll do before getting onto the hill is maybe drop to the small chainring, (if a double), or the middle chainring, (if a triple and the hill doesn't look too steep). I'll try and hit the hill at a 70-80 rpm cadence, (I'm a masher, not a spinner). Once on the hill, I will attempt to maintain a cadence of somewhere around 60 rpm. To do that, I'll downshift when my cadence drops to 50 or so. Before downshifting, I'll let up just a slight bit for a smooth shift. If at full power and no easing up, yes, it will be a "dirty" shift and not go well or smoothly. Then, when in the lower gear, I'll ramp the power back up to get back to 60 rpm. Not low enough? Ease up a moment and downshift again. I've never run out of gears yet.

If I want to get out of the seat for awhile, I'll upshift two gears, maybe three on occasions where the terrain isn't so steep, (upshifts are much smoother with power applied than downshifts are), stand up on the pedals, and push away for however long I can maintain it, (usually not more than several hundred yards or so, maybe a half a klick if I'm not too tired). Then, I'll sit back down, ease up and downshift those two gears.

Kurogashi

I jumped from from 50 to 100 miles in one go, so it's not impossible but i'll tell you this, I was EXHAUSTED while getting home. We averaged about 15mph, while coming home, for the last 5 miles or so, I came to a crawl of 10mph. I was that tired. I felt like I was going to die, so it's up to you. Well in my defence, I had a 30lbs touring bike with fenders, and all that crap. lol

reshp1

What kind of derailer/shifters do you have? If properly adjusted and lubed, modern derailers shouldn't be too clunky of a shift unless you waited too long to shift and are basically standing on the pedals, especially the rear derailer. If you're having problems, practice backing off the pedal stroke as you're shifting. Shift well before you stall out, but you shouldn't have to shift so early you're forced to coast into a hill.

echotraveler

im gonna ignore all except 65ers, i dont wanna read right now...


DO IT! PIECE OF CAKE...you will feel it afterwards.

Champlaincycler

Your young and will likely be able to get through, but it will hurt. There has been lots of good advice but I'll mention one thing not really addressed. Your butt is going to be incredibly sore after 40 or 50 miles. Try to minimize this by standing every once in a while early on, but later on you'll be standing lots to minimize the pain. Also, move your hand position around to lessen pressure on one area alone. Get padded gloves if you can.

Good luck and report back

wheelspeed

Hey, some of my fondest memories are from my early 20's, entering 32 mile mtb races with little prep, and a bar-tour drinking binge the night before and utterly dieing during the race. But at that age, you get through it and recover in about two days and have a good story afterwards.

It's true what RacerOne said about some people over-estimating "pretty good shape". But, also, you're probably saying "pretty good shape" in reference to your other 20-something friends, which is like Olympian shape to us 40-something people.

So, I say don't get discouraged. Do the 50-miler that you plan, follow everyone's advice and have a great time on the century!

WHOOOSSHHH...

Decoded....YOUR TOAST..

banerjek

My toast?

Six jours

"The few, the proud..."

Nothing in there about spelling, banerjek.

surgeonstone

Oh you can do it....but do you really want to do it. I know when I have done centuries with not enough preparation, the last 40 miles were a perfect hell.

John_V 

My two cents, for what it's worth. I do charity rides all the time. The difference between my charity rides and my regular rides has been mentioned here several times ..... pacing myself. On every charity ride I have done, everyone that finishes, be it first or last, gets the same greeting from the event volunteers. The goal is to finish the ride and it doesn't matter what position you finish in. Take it easy, pace yourself, hydrate your body, take advantage of the rest areas and definitely enjoy the ride.

bjamis75

You can do it. Don't push it for the first half, you'll need that energy later on. Eat well at the stops but don't linger. Drink plenty. Put in some long miles this weekend. Congrats on contributing some serious $$ for a worthy cause.

MikeyBoyAz

so you must be speaking of a deciliter (dL), who else remembers the metric unimportant prefixes? (yes I do, but who else!) perhaps .1L is a better metric...
as everyone else says... pace yourself. shift before you need to, and go clipless or at least toe clips.

Ra_

I did Pelotonia last year and am doing it again this year. I originally signed up to do 43 last year, and only trained for that (maxed 38 miles training). At the end of 43, I felt good and decided to go on. I took it at an easy pace, but not gonna lie, the last half was rough. It didn't help that got IT band syndrome right before the big hill at mile 55. I ended up walking up the 3 big hills.

This year, I trained for the 100 with a group, and will be riding together with that group also. My advise to you is to take it easy, jump behind a pace line, and stop at every rest stop after Groveport. Don't feel bad if you have to walk up the 3 big hills, you might need to, to conserve some energy. Clipless recommended if you plan on getting into cycling, isn't a must, but at minimum toe straps. Good luck!