hazben1

I just finished my first century (6:07) with total 25 min. of breaks in there and riding solo for about half of it. After reading a few posts I decided I would set a goal of riding a 5 hr century. When I mentioned this to a few folks who ride a good bit they thought that was a pretty tough goal to achieve and would probably take a few years to get there if at all.

I realize weather, course profile, and road conditions play huge roles in this. My question for you'll is how tough a goal is this? Also suggestions on how to get there would be appreciated.

datlas 

I think a 5 hour century on flats with a group and little wind can be very doable even for a typical road cyclist.

I think a hilly and windy solo 5 hour century would be very difficult for many of us.

So, like most questions, the answer is: it depends.

How to get there? Ride lots. Once you have a good base, throw in some intervals. And don't forget to eat on rides longer than 3 hours.

mike12

This. I've only ridden one century and it was less than 5 hours, but I stayed in the pack & there wasn't a ton of climbing. It would have been impossible for me to have done it solo at a 21.4 mph pace.

Remember to take all the water you can if you don't plan on stopping.

thump55

How hard is a banana?

To the fly you just hit with it, pretty hard. To my grandmas dentures, not very hard.

That said, a five hour total time, solo, loop course century is a feat.

Shooting for a 5 hour ride time solo, loop course century is doable.

But in the end....no one really cares.

mr645

I think 5 hours is certainly doable on flat roads. I did my first century (104.5) a week ago and took 5:54, that included 2200 ft of climbing mostly on three difficult climbs. Since it was the first time I did 100+ miles so I did not push super hard.

JerrySTL

I've done two of them.
One was on RAGBRAI with 75 miles of stiff tailwinds and pacelines for all 100 miles. Almost too easy.
The other was on very smooth, flat roads with 4 other strong riders. I was feeling exceptionally good that day.
As I get older, anything under 7 hours total time is good enough.

My daughter did a 4-hour, non-stop, total time century at the Hotter 'n Hell. She was in a group of 50 riders and claims that it was her easiest century ever. She even took some pulls at the front.

fried bake

here's how to determine how difficult it is. ride with the B group in training. they'll start off with 40 mile rides and build to 75 mile jaunts as the event approaches. if you're able to hang in at the 21 MPH pace, fo 75 miles, then you're three quarters of the way there. it's not what i'd call easy or something a typical rider can do, but it's certainly attainable on a flat-ish course. throw in meaningful hills and you might be back to your 6 hour target.

Cyclelogikal

Do you mean total time or just moving time? Most organized rides there are rest stops and people mingle and hit a Red Bull or at least most I have seen do! So if you have a personal SAG that will bring you liquids and snacks right up along to you than yes it can be done without stopping. But then again...........if you had that service you would be "pro" and not posting here! Sorry I digress sometimes..........but if you ride a relatively flat course with great weather and ride in a small group most of the way to take turns cutting the wind I say very doable. If you ride the area I live at then unless your a great rider it would be a big NO.

mkadam68

Yeah, the keys are: terrain, environmental factors, and solo vs. group.

In El Tour de Tucson, sub-5 hours is a very solid achievement (it's somewhat difficult to accomplish). It's 111-miles with ~3,500 feet of climbing.
In Hotter-N-Hell, I would think it's not as difficult. It's 100-miles with ~1,200 feet of climbing (?).

In both events, there are large groups of riders trying to do the same. I would say, if a 18-20mph cruising speed (as opposed to just bursts of speed) is comfortable to maintain on your own, a sub-5 century is a very realistic goal. (It's not a done deal, as 18-20mph for four hours is alot different than for one.)

kps88

I did 100 miles in about 5:30 minutes (105 total miles in 5:48). It was the National MS City to Shore in New Jersey. It was flat. Only 479 feet of climb. I know I could do it in less than 5 hours, but the issue was in the beginning of the ride there were large amounts of people and we were going through typical suburban streets. We then had a few stops at red lights (most had a police officer directing traffic and we were able to go right through), but over a 100 miles, even those few add up to lost time. Towards the end of the ride (last 4 miles I think), there was a complete backlog of riders. It took quite a qhile to get towards the finish area. I didn't even know how fast I was going or what time I had at that point. But it would not have mattered, I was stuck in "traffic" and that easily added 15 minutes or more on my time (I technically was still moving, but at about 5 mph for quite a distance).

I am doing the ride again next year and with a group of 5 other riders. I did it alone and really didn't draft off anyone (I was passing most people). I had made some stops for drink/food, but that didn't add to my riding time (I use Strava).

Bob Dopolina 

What others said.

Where I live I couldn't do a century with less than 2500m of vertical. There's just no way. Most times its more than that.

Doing it solo in 5 hours would be a pretty good ride.

jsutkeepspining

i did a century in the beginning of january at 22 mph in a group with a super duper low average power. It can be easy if you have a flat windless route and a couple of buddies. If i tried to do a 5 hour solo century around here where all we have are short step kickers (more than 2 minutes but less than 10 minutes) i would struggle unless i hammered, and i see no reason to hammer for 5 hours in the middle of october.

Smokehouse

20mph average over 100 miles? Like the others have said, that's pretty darn tough depending. Group/Solo? Flat/Hills? Wind/No wind? Physical conditioning? So many factors there. I will say this though...you need to average 20mph which is not easy (at least not for me). I can put 15mph ave, my norm is 17 (did 75 miles at this pace) and my top over 40 miles was a hair under 19...but I was booking it (all were solo). I'm going to say that if you cant grind out at lease 22-24 mph ave over 30 or so miles...you probably wont be able to get a 20 ave over 100...this is a rough shot though, take it for what it is.

10 Wheels

3 Hours 55 Minutes:

Come to Indy next June 21 and jump in with the 30 mph pace line.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1osg3liOAlg

dave1442397

That kind of speed over long distances happens to be my strong point. A group of us (five) did the MS ride a few weeks ago (NJ - Cherry Hill to Ocean City, 103 miles) and averaged 21.9mph. I pulled at least 75 miles of that. We did have to pass a lot of riders in the first 20-30 miles, but we had a clear run to the finish.

I rode back the next day with two others and pulled the entire 86 miles with a 20mph average (we were taking it easy).

RollCNY

Not to be contrary, but how do you better a 20mph 5 hour average speed if you cruise at 18-20 mph? And 18-20 mph for 4 hours is 80 miles? Is there a new bucket list achievement called an octery?

I can cruise, and have done it multiple times, at 18-20 mph for 9 hour days (riding time, not total), but do not envision ever completing a 5 hour century. I at one point did 77 miles, with 5500 ft of climbing, in 4 hrs and 7 min total time, and as proud as I am of that, it is not a 5 hour century pace.

merlinextraligh

^ I started to post that as well. But I think what he said meant was that if you can cruise at 18-20mph solo, you can ride fast enought to average 20mph+ in a group.

kps88

That was a beautiful weekend to ride! The rest stops were great and that peanutbutter/jelly bar they had at the 100 mile rest stop was to die for. I ended up with 105 because I mixed up the entrance to the 100 mile section. I thought I passed it, trecked about a mile back only to find out it was just passed one of the rest stops.

banerjek

Correct.

20mph+ on the flats in a group is downright boring. Add hills, wind, or ride solo, and it's a different matter entirely.

fried bake

30mph? it seems a fine accomplishment, but that works out to roughly 25MPH and change, no?

dave1442397

Yeah, it was a great weekend. I almost turned onto the century loop twice, but realized at the last second that I'd been thru that intersection before

kps88

I will be doing it again next year. This time I will know where the 100 loop is.

jmX

It's funny you ask...after a couple years of cycling I just recently accomplished a long standing personal goal of a solo sub-5 hour century...absolutely not a single second of drafting.
Elapsed Time: 4:53, moving time 4:48...average moving speed 20.9mph. I needed to hold about 200w for the entire time, and I did have aerobars on my Specialized Roubaix that I rode in some of the time.
https://www.strava.com/activities/85884981

Of course I picked a route (out and back) that was flat and had very few intersections, but often that's how organized centuries are anyway.

If you were on a more aero bike, or are a smaller person, you could probably do it with less than 200w average. I'm 6'1" 160lbs on an endurance bike.

How tough was it? Well...it got painful towards the end, and from a zero-exercise dad to this level of fitness was just under 2 years of cycling 100mi a week (ie, not a lot).

lsberrios1 

Good goal. Mine is 100 miles under 6 of elapsed time. Did 101.3 in 6:06 elapsed time and 5:35 riding time. Lots of Stop signs and red lights on way out / in but covered distances at a good pace. Maybe 5:30 could be next... Century was Solo with a +/- decent amount of climb. Wind was not bad but there was a little.

https://www.strava.com/activities/88663163

zvez

shoot Luis, we killed a half hour just on the 7-8 miles getting out of the city. Had the metric started at the Psalmond road section you'd have killed it!