Normaly i commute to work at least 4 days a week / 26 miles round trip. I also take 30-40 mile rides on saturdays. I did not ride today (tuesday), and since my first century is this saturday I figured it might be a good idea to just not ride until then. Would it actually be a bad thing to take such a long break before doing a much longer ride than normal? I did my normal commute yesturday.

thanks for any help,

mike

mcavana,

I just did my first century last weekend. I didn;t ride for a week and a half before. And I was in New Orleans partying it up, and eating A LOT! (acutally gained 5 lbs. on the trip). I had no problems at all on my ride. Legs felt fresh, and I didn't struggle much until the hill they threw at us at mile 80. And even then I was passing people... you should be fine...

If anything, jsut do a couple cruise around rides to keep yer legs moving.. but don;t push yerself at all... If you tire out yer legs before the century, you'll be hating it!

jeff

My wife and I just did a century during the NC (New Bern) MS 150 this past weekend. We rode 60 miles the Sunday before, and 20 miles the Tuesday before. I rode another 15 miles on my commuter the Thursday right before. The longest ride we had done to date was 63 miles in the hills, and the century in the flats was great. Tiring for sure, but great!
If nothing else, I'd recommend a nice leisurely 15 mile or so ride a couple of days before just to make sure the bike is all working correctly and you're excited about the ride.

Did one Sunday.

Rode an easy 30 km on Sat. (real easy with my 9 year old son to pace me)
Med Intensity 50 km on Fri.
Hard 50 km on Thurs.
Med 70 km on Wed.
Tues. Day Off.
Mon reg Crit. race.

Did the 165 km in 5:45 ride time. 5:55 elapsed time.

Kep riding just nothing strenuous the day before.