My First Century – what do I need to know?

[jrenaut]

I’m planning to go out to California this coming May to do the Wine Country Century with my brother-in-law. How much training do I need to do? In general, I ride 7-10 miles a day, 4-6 days a week. My longest ride to date was the Five Boro Bike Ride, about 40-45 miles. I did no training for that and it worked out fine. Obviously a century is a little longer.

How did you prepare for your first century?

Topic

[pfunkallstar]

Different strokes. My hatred is less driven by my innate introversion, but rather by my deep-seated fear that a headless horseman will chase me down on some country lane without my posse.

[TwoWheelsDC]

My “fun” limit is about 40 miles…after that point, I’m quickly “over it” and my pace drops quickly from lack of motivation. I think my problem is that I get bored and lose interest in the riding experience, and it starts to feel like just another workout.

[acc]

Hmm, apparently I’m alone in remembering a century as something that is much more fun afterwards than during. Especially the last 25 miles.

It’s a leap from rides under twenty miles to going all day in the saddle. I remember thinking that if I sat down at the 78 mile rest stop I might not get up again. It is fun. I’m doing it again. But I’m not sure I’d attempt 100 miles without a few long range rides first. If I did, I’d have alternate plans for getting back if I decided enough was enough. And for what it’s worth, I’d make sure my saddle was the most comfortable one I could find.

ann

[Author]

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