Century or more on hybrids
 

I know Ken just posted his first century report but I am curious about how many others have done a century or more on their hybrids. Can you tell me what your bike set up was?

I used to ride my road bike a lot in a former life but the position is too aggressive for me now. I bought the hybrid thinking I would just ride it for short rides with the kids, on some light trails and around the neighborhood for fun and hopefully with my renewed interest in cycling I would start using my road bike again. As it turns out I like the hybrid way better then the road bike, at least my current road bike. I really want to do a full century. Even when I used to ride a lot the most I ever road in one day was about 70 miles so
it is always something I knew I could do but never got around to doing. I want to get it done at least once this year but I am not sure which bike I should plan to do it on. Right now I am leaning towards slapping some thinner tires on my Utopia and either butterfly bars or ergon GC3 grips and making it work.

I think I might have permanently damaged my knee pulling a stunt like that! Train properly like Ken did and I didn't.

I rode a Marin Mill Valley(2009 replacement frame), Rivendell (by Panaracer) Rolly Poly 700x28c tires. Cannondale XYZ barends. Crank Brothers eggbeater pedals.
http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/DSC01004.jpg
I wore Nashbar Ragster II sandals, no socks. Brooks LSD lite jacket under the saddle which came in handy. The sleeves are a little short (not cycle specific fit). I cut the hood off after this ride because it wouldn't stay rolled up and it got in my way. The jacket weighs less than a blueberry scone. :) Tools in the red bottle, pump behind it, patch kit held under it with a piece of MTB innertube. The Bento Box remained empty. It's just for show. :D

This guy did it on a mountain bike. :thumb:
http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/DSC01134.jpg
Avoid this gear combination.

Oh I didn't mean I was just going to modify my bike and take off I do intend to train for sure! I am thinking about doing one in September. Possibly one in August but I don't think I will be ready for that one so I will probably just do the half or the metric for that one.

Well, if you opt for the Bento Box, put a couple Clif Bars in there. I would have if it didn't involve preparation.

Prsonally I would opt for gu ovef cliff bars but usually if it doesn't fit in my jersey pockets or in the seat bag I don't carry it.

As long winded as I was you would think I told you everything but I did not! If you can get up to 70 or 80 miles in the weather you will be riding in you are ready to do 100. What killed me was the sudden heat wave. I foolishly sampled all the bananas, cookies, bagels, etc at the first two rest stops instead of sticking to the power bars I had been eating during training. In the heat I just could not digest that stuff, got bloated, and that may have prevented me from absorbing the water I was drinking too. Then I started to get on the edge of dehydration and that is why I barely made it to 80 miles (a distance I had breezed through the week before in 40-60 degree temperatures) and had to rest and load up on Gatorade until I felt ready to continue. If I had had the weather experience needed to manage my fuel and fluids in that heat I would have cut at least 40 minutes off my time because I would have needed only a 20 minute rest at 80 and probably much more because I would have ridden stronger the last 60. Training involves learning to deal with the weather as well as building fitness and strength as well as building the saddle time to endure sitting on that small seat for the required period.

My 80 mile training ride did give me a saddle sore with one week to go to the century. So I had to nurse that with "Boudreaux's Butt Paste" and "Bag Balm" the final week and I did no training at all after the 80 mile ride as a result. I did manage to heal up but on rides that long you need to give your sitter any help it may need. I would suggest padded cycling shorts or padded cycling underwear underneath your regular attire. For historical reasons the pads go by the name "chamois". I was wearing such on my 80 mile training ride but the friction wore off a layer of skin on one "cheek" at 70 miles and the last 10 were quite painful. Thus I learned the hard way about the benefits of "Chamois Butt'R" and similar concoctions. The thought of smearing this stuff over your bottom and your "chamois" can only be described as yucky, but in fact it is not and if you have ever had a saddle sore let me tell you that this stuff does the trick. My bottom was only barely healed and had no trouble doing 100 with the "Butt'R".

Ride the bike you are comfortable with because you will be on it a long time. I left the rear rack and trunk bag on my Fuji and I loaded it up with several pounds of stuff. The extra weight did not matter nor did the aerodynamic penalty. Don't take stuff you know you have no use for but do not be afraid to carry the tire repair gear you may need or the food and water that you will need. You've done 70, you can do 100 easy if you train for it. I am 59 and before this year I have never ridden a bicycle over 35 miles! This year I did 40 about 5 times and 55, 80, and 100 once each.

Ken

Yes I am worries about the heat and humidity. It is already too hot here to be out riding midday so I need to either make it really fast (not likely) or start acclimating myself to riding through the heat. I know the ride in august will be brutal. I plan to do the 50 or maybe the 63 on that one depending on how I feel that day. The one in late September might be better heat wise but I can't count on it. We often get temps in the high 90's with high humidity here up until mid October.

I am still struggling with which bike to train on. I think I am going to keep riding my hybrid until the longer rides get uncomfortable or I decide that is the bike to take. The front shock locks and is pretty solid but it is still a very heavy bike and there are no flat roads around here, it is all rolling hills followed by bigger hills.

I might start using my old camel bak for hydration on longer rides. It is more to carry but I know I used to drink way more wearing it then I do with just bottles.

Thanks for the sharing your experience. I am very interested to hear anything else you can think of to help me train.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=205348

I did Sweden´s Vätternrundan (300 km) on my not-that-expensive Crescent in 2004. Shimano acera group (sturdy as h*ll and running flawlessly after 9 years and rebuilt to accomedate brifters). I´ve done tour de Vättern on my 1973 10 sp. vintage Monark. Of course, the bike matters, but it is all up to the rider.

I did 102 miles on my hybrid at the New York Century in 2009. Toe clips, padded saddle, bar-end extensions. It's a well supported ride on routes I knew pretty well. Ate, drank, took a lot of breaks. Most important was that I had a ride partner, some from these forums, to push me on. My original plan was to go off the route at 60ish miles, do some sight seeing and settle for 75 to 80 miles, but he talked me into finishing.

Best training is to ride a lot on the bike you are most comfortable with.

For what it is worth, I attempted to follow the Tour de Wyoming 10 week beginner training schedule. If you do a web search on century training schedule you should find 8 and 12 week schedules too. I was only sorta faithful to the plan even though my wife, "Coach Lisa", tried her best to make me execute to plan. I know I did more because of her "nagging" than I would have done without it, so I highly recommend enlisting a family member or friend as a coach. Even better if they want to do it too, then you can beat on each other to get to it! If you want to see how I actually did the numbers are below, the first number is the target, the number after the "/" is what I actually did. Because training had to start before the Illinois riding season begins (for most of us anyway) the weekday numbers were mostly done on a trainer in the basement. The last few week's numbers include the 10 miles a day I do as a bike/train commuter, on days when the weather allowed that. On one Friday when I had plenty of hours in for the week, I decided what the heck, knocked off early, and rode my folding bike the 22 miles home!





Week__M-Easy__Tu-Pace__W-Off__Th-Brisk__F-Pace__Sa-Pace_Su-Off_______Total
1______10/12____12/10____0/0____14/14____12/12__20/27____0/15_______68/90
2______10/0_____13/14____0/0____15/15____13/15__25/34____0/0________76/78
3______10/12____15/15____0/0____17/10____15/15__30/17____0/0________87/69
4______11/15____16/17____0/0____19/0_____16/18__35/41____0/0________97/91
5______12/15____18/0_____0/15___20/18____18/0___35/43____0/0________103/91
6______13/26____19/25____0/10___23/0_____19/0___40/0_____0/43_______114/104
7______14/10____20/10____0/13___25/0_____20/0___40/55____0/0________119/88
8______16/10____20/10____0/0____27/22____20/25__55/0_____0/40_______138/107
9______17/10____20/10____0/0____30/0_____30/30__65/80____0/0________162/130
10_____19/0_____20/10____0/0____30/0_____10/0___5/0______100/101.22__184/111.22
___________________________________________________________________1148/959.22


Obviously I am not an expert on this but then a newbie's perspective is always valuable to other newbies. As I have said the one thing my training lacked was experience with the heat that showed up just in time for century day. So you definitely want to do some riding and eating and drinking in the heat as you train to get experience with how much you can eat/drink and what you can eat/drink in those conditions. On a ride this long it is important to replace as many calories as you can (you won't be able to replace anywhere near all) to keep your energy up and it is vital to replace both your water and your electrolytes (again, as much as you can) to avoid heat prostration. I honestly had never partaken of Gatorade before my century ride and probably would have done much better if I had made it at least half my fluid intake. There are other sports drink products that may work better for you, I recommend that you start experimenting to find what you like best. The other major mistake I made even though I had been warned about it was to experiment with my diet on century day. I had plenty of power bars to eat and I knew that they had worked well for me on the 80 mile ride (which, granted, was a lot cooler) but what did I do? I ate one power bar and then sampled all the goodies available at the rest stops! I ended up bloated and unable to absorb much of anything in the way of food or water and I can tell you right now that is not a path you want to follow my lead on. So determine what fluid and food diet works well for you in the heat during your training and stick to what works on century day!! Wait till you cross the finish line then you can pig out on whatever looks good to you.


If you sift through the long distance riding section here on BF you can get some pointers on what to try in terms of diet. Web searches on sports nutrition will turn up a lot of information too. The Hammer Nutrition web site has some general information too though naturally it is heavy on advertisements for their own products which are perfect in every way, of course. It seems to me that a lot of cyclists use the Hammer products and they may be well worth considering. I have not used them so I neither endorse nor criticize them. I may try them myself this summer because I do have trouble digesting solid food in the heat, whether exercising or just laying about, and it may be that their liquid energy drinks could work quite well for me. Doubtless there are other brands to consider, I am not trying to be a Hammer salesman here!


Good luck, mjwithtwins and any lurkers tuning in, with a bit of work you can do it!


Ken

I'm currently training for my first full century after completing my first metric century a month or so back. Things I learned on the metric:

I've thought about taking a Camel Bak but ultimately decided not to. I carry two bottles and that is sufficient for the distances between the rest stops, where I refill. I have enough to drink and I avoid carrying more than I need.

I also make sure I take a sports drink and refill. You'll tend to consume more, which is what you need to stay hydrated, plus you get some electrolytes, sodium and potassium. I try to drink both water and Gatorade (or whatever) in equal amounts on my longer rides.

I prefer sports gel over energy bars. Easier to carry and no danger of digestion distress at an awkward time. The caffeine gives you an immediate boost.

Good-quality shorts (I prefer bibs) with a good chamois are necessary. Maybe you can tough it out, but why would you? Some, including me, find they need chamois cream too.

A question for MJ, do you know the weight of your Utopia? I am looking for a hybrid and was leaning towards the FX or Jamis coda line. I then saw the Uotpia/Katai's on here and it made me wonder about them. The GF treks look like they could go a little more off the beaten path than the others but I am afraid of them being too heavy for road travel. I know I should ride one to see, but i'd like to have a better idea of what i am looking for before I walk into my LBS and say I want to ride one of everything in the store.

While I've never done group rides and such, I have ridden close to 100 mile days on a hybrid (fairly low end Jamis thing a decade ago), went with panniers, and plenty of water. No issues really other than I had trouble with heat in the afternoon when it got over 100F. Other than avoiding big-box junk bikes which might self destruct under the continued load, there's no reasons to suspect that a bike from a quality manufacturer itself would cause the attempt to fail.

Well, it is pretty heavy to me but I am coming from a fairly light road bike but it doesn't feel sluggish to me either. When I bought it I test road the kaitai, utopia and fx 7.3 or 7.5 I can't remember which. I loved the kaitai the best on first ride. My husband talked me into the utopia which I am very happy with now that I switched out the stem to match the kaitai position. I didn't feel the same thrill when I rode the fx whatever, it just wasn't as rugged and fun.

I've ridden 10 centuries on my Trek 750.

I rode TOSRV (Tour of the Scioto River Valley, 210 miles over 2 days) in May on my 2000 GT Nomad hybrid with 700c X 38C tires, rear rack, seat wedge (filled with spare tube, etc.), and bar ends (removed the fenders and left the trunk bag at home). I had never done anything over 50 miles before. I made it but it was slow going. While I'd like to blame the bike for my slow pace (averaged 14 mph) it is probably more due to my inexperience. Still, the thing is over 30 pounds and I've been considering getting a real road bike in hopes of easing the pain a little. On the plus side, I had zero mechanical issues, and the stuff that can trip up a roadie (rumble strips, railroad crossings, loose gravel) posed little challenge for the old heap. I wore soft gym shorts, lightweight t-shirt, and a tight fitting wind shell. I was one of the few who were "out of uniform" :)

Like this...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...09commute1.JPG

And this...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...pring2010a.JPG

And this...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...k7500tour1.JPG

Found that drop bars and trekking bars both have their benefits... was faster with drops but the t bars were better for rides that took me off the beaten path and for urban assaults.

I actually did my first century of the season on my Trek 7.5 FX last weekend (actually 114 miles). I had done a few 80 and 90 mile rides this season already.

I have Ergon GP1 grips along with separate bar ends, last year i did 2 centuries on my old bike without bar ends and this is such a night and day difference i couldnt imagine doing it without again.

I use 700x32 tires, my centuries are on smooth limestone trails and these tires are perfect.

I also use a Topeak Handlebar bag for stuff i need to get to quickly my light, camera, gloves, wallet, etc.

I use a Topeak trunk bag for my extra water, food clothes, etc.

I have a Topeak seat bag i keep my tools, extra tubes, etc in.

Another thing id highly recommend are shoes & SPD pedals and a gel seat, depending on what is on your bike now. I biked without biking shoes last year and they really make a difference when the fatigue begins to kick in.

As far as food when im doing over 60 miles i tend to eat a light breakfast before hand and a light lunch at my midway point. I only go for the power bars when im doing over 90 and i usually eat one at the 25% and 70% marks

Here is a blog post on my ride last weekend along with photos.
http://bartsbiking.com/?p=729

Here are a few pics of my bike
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-N.../s640/P1010203


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-d...0/P1010854.JPG

Jimbojonez, I love your pictures! Thanks for sharing. I am not in anyway prepared to ride that kind of distance unsupported, any rides I do over 60 miles or so will be organized with support and sag because I am a nervous wimp :rolleyes: so I don't think I will need to carry so much. Probably just my seat bag and 2 water bottles.

I am debating between trekking bars and the ergon gc3 grips with bar ends. I am leaning towards the ergo grips I just can't find them locally so I will have to pull the trigger and order them. I am also planning to try slimmer tires, probably 700x32 but maybe even 700x28. There are so many tire choices I am a little overwhelmed. Next week hope to extend my hybrid riding to 50 miles for the first time. So far, as I have added distance I have been comfortable and happy with my hybrid. I think if it can do 50 or so miles on it without wishing for my road bike I will be good for the whole thing in septemeber.

Long runs mean, apart from everything else, SADDLE IS ESSENTIAL!

Oh yes, I am very happy with my saddle so far. I am using the Bontrager nebula plus size small which is actually the same width as the large version of the women's road bike saddle by Bontrager. I expected to eventually swap it out for a Terry saddle like I have on my road bike but it turns out I like it better then the Terry.

Actually the heat won't matter if you start early enough. My first one (road bike) I started a half hour before sunrise and finished well before midday.
You'll have a great feeling of satisfaction after it's over.