Originally Posted by
Doohickie
I just heard of plans to start a new 100 mile ride right here in Fort Worth next June (the idea is to make it a prep ride for the Hotter Than Hell 100 in Wichita Falls; I think the HTH organizers are involved). That gives me 12 months to prepare. This thread has great advice regarding what to do the day of a century, but is there any advice in terms of preparation in the time leading up to the ride?
Is there any way to know how to use that time to prepare for the century distance? I currently ride 75-100 miles a week, have no problems riding 40 miles at a stretch, my longest ride in a day is 71 miles. I think I can do 100 no problem, but what should I do in the next year to make sure? Should I just keep riding for now, and ramp up the miles as I get closer to the ride? Or do you think I could probably just wing it and show up that morning, considering how much I currently ride?
A year is an eternity, as far as preparation is concerned. So if your goal is merely to finish the century, I don't think you need to do much at the moment other than keep riding. In the two or three months before the ride I'd ramp up the weekly mileage to, say, 150 per week including one ride each week of > 70 miles. Then you'll be good to go.
If you want to complete it in a target time, then I'd start "training" a bit earlier and begin to challenge myself to do my usual rides a bit faster than usual. Not killing myself, just aiming over time to increase my cruising speed a bit. And I'd start experimenting with nutrition strategies on longer rides, to find out what worked for me in terms of eating and drinking on the bike to keep me going at a slightly higher intensity than I was used to.