Originally Posted by
hillyman
*And don't worry about no dang dern cut off time. Unless they own the roads your on just keep on chugging!
Geez people. She can do it!
True, the cutoff time is just a number; but so is the average speed. It's no fun grinding out the last 40 miles, all alone, and coming back to an empty parking lot, the support gazebo taken down, the sidewalks rolled up and put away, no water, no snacks, and hopefully your car isn't at the far end of the field cuz you're too exhausted to walk that far. But I suppose it depends on the goal; is the goal to have fun, or to have bragging rights that you survived the 'death march?'
Miles by themselves are only to toughen your sitz bones. Since Elysse77 is asking for advice, my advice is to work hard to get her speed up. Combine hard short rides during the week with longer easier rides on weekends. And by "short hard rides" I mean an hour or so and coming home so drained that you go to bed early. Getting stronger will make the miles easier.