Due to unforeseen circumstances (swine flu and pneumonia), my training for an organized 50 miler was cut to just 5 weeks. I was off the road bike for 5 years until 1.5 weeks ago. So far I have just worked on bike handling, sit bone toughening and leg speed--spinning 96 to 103 most of time. I feel pretty comfortable on the bike now. I have gotten in a 12, 18, 20, and 15 mile flat/rolling road rides plus one short offroad MTB ride in that week and a half. The MTB ride was killer--while I have a good spin, I have no anaerobic pedal mashing power. I have 3 1/2 weeks left and can get in only 2-3 rides per week. What should I be doing? I'd think I need to work up to at least a 30-35 miler to finish comfortably. The ride is the Solvang Prelude if that helps with course profile if you're familiar with it. It's mostly flat/rolling with a couple climbs that total 1565 ft.

Just keep riding. Do a long ride once per week.

Are you riding a road or MTB for this ride? Don't mash, just spin through the hills.

I've done the Solvang double metric and froze! The support is great. Just go and have fun.

I'm on a road bike as is my wife. We have friends on a tandem road bike going so I think I will suck their wheel a lot, lol.