Hypno Toad

+1 ^^^ words with great experience!

For my part, I have 20 rides that are 100+ miles in the last 8 years.

• The fastest rides are ~ 5-1/2 hours (total ride time), these are all out efforts, not exactly "fun".
• The longest century took 10 hours, a gravel grinder in pouring rain & gale-force winds plus 9 "bonus" miles, not exactly "fun".
• The most relevant ride for this thread was supporting my daughter's first century, she was 26 at the time riding her mom's flat-bar road bike, we finished in under 8 hours including nearly 90 minutes of stops at supported rest areas. The course was fairly flat with 3,000 ft elevation gain. This ride was a ton of fun!
• The longest ride started in the dark (at midnight) and ended at sunset - that was 240 miles and not relevant, I just tell everybody about that DAMn ride.

Starting at sunrise, any rider that has done some training should have no problem riding 100 miles in 8 to 10 hours (based on route and conditions) and enjoying the day.

Doctor Morbius

Eagle Creek Park. It's a large city park in Indianapolis. It wasn't brutal because of the terrain. It was brutal because I was ill prepared to ride that far. When I set out that day I had originally intended on doing between 50 and 63 miles. However, things were going so well I decided to continue. At the 85 mile mark I knew I had made a bad decision.

noimagination

Not that I've done a ton of them (10-ish), but all finished well before dark. Even the one where I rode 25 miles to a group ride start, waited for the group, rode 70-ish miles with the group (including a long lunch break, one stop for a flat, one stop for a crash, one stop for a bonk), then rode 25+ miles home (including getting lost and having to make an emergency water stop) finished well before dark.

I can see it being challenging to complete a double century before dark, but if you start early enough, and limit breaks to a reasonable number of reasonable duration, then getting one done during daylight is not that hard.

----------

livedarklions

Is "eyes bigger than your legs" an expression? There's definitely times when I've felt that. The way I ride is to set a destination for a round trip from home, so there's no good bailing point after I've done half of my intended ride, I have to finish the distance unless I want to get a motel.

LesterOfPuppets

I've started as many in the dark as I've finished in the dark.

I'd keep the head light in a bag until needed.

livedarklions

I had a century this year where I went through 4 flats and had to stop at a bike store to buy tubes after going through the first two. And of course with all that wrestling with the bike to do the roadside repairs, my tail light somehow fell off the bike and got lost. I barely made it home at dusk, just getting dark enough that I was uncomfortable about riding without a tail light.

livedarklions

The question kind of answers itself--have the light kept in the car, put it on if needed. That actually sounds like a lot of weight to add to a helmet.

indyfabz

Was on my local PBS station a month or two ago. Wonderfully restored "print." The cinematography is amazing. But you can almost ride a century in as much time as it takes to watch the film.

BTW...The Aqaba scenes, as well as several others, were filmed in areas of Spain that I toured through in 2000. Many "Spaghetti Westerns" were also filmed in Almeria province and other areas of Spain. When I was riding through the Tabernas Desert area I couldn't help buy yelling out "Blonnnnnnnnnndieeeeeee! You know what you are?!?!"

Lawrence Of Arabia | Film Locations

bakerjw

I've never done a road century (100 miles) but I would expect to finish one in 6 hours of riding time.

I have done 3 110 mile rides on a fully loaded bike from Banff AB. to Elkford B.C. with varying average MPHs.

ridingfool

Maybe you are thinking of a metric century I'm in pretty good shape in fact can do the NYC granfondo in six hours with almost 10 ft of climbing and by Know means is that going slow for me anyway

ridingfool

10 000 ft

Milton Keynes

I've only done two centuries, and I ended both of them well before dark. They were organized rides which started at 7 AM, and I think both times I ended somewhere around 4 PM. Of course that was during the summer during longer daylight, but at my latitude even during the winter at 4 PM there's still about an hour of daylight left.

Milton Keynes

If not, it should be. I've had a few times I was wondering what I got myself into.

livedarklions

For me, that usually involves either wind, rain or cold, or some combination of those. Amazing how variable a mile can feel, especially on the second century of a weekend.

caloso

The sun will set at 5:25pm on Saturday at that latitude. So, if you leave at 7 am, that's 10 and a half hours to ride 100 miles.

Milton Keynes

That should be plenty of time even at a leisurely pace of, say, 12 MPH, even with rest/bathroom breaks.

BlazingPedals

My centuries usually run 6 or 7 hours, stops included. So plenty of daylight as long as I don't start at noon.

srode1

Mine are about 6 hours including stops - in the Summer I'm normally done before noon.

pennpaul

Funny you mention that. We saw this on our drive down about 1/2hr ago. Sky was cloudy from dust and then we see this square of light hovering in the sky.

It's the tower of a solar power station.

livedarklions

Be sure to keep an eye on the weather forecast!

pennpaul

That is our number one concern right now. The forecast is calling for 30% rain from 8am to 11am at 40deg F, and the 15mph wind going west to east is supposed to continue. We are travelling southeast but more south than east. Maybe I should fashion a sail tonight.

rm -rf

Headlights are a good idea when the sun is low, well before sunset, just for visibility to drivers. I've started using a blinking headlight and taillight even on bright sunny days, just so drivers notice me a long way ahead.

2manybikes

I start my rides about 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. That gives me time to walk the dog, take a shower etc. I do one century or much longer a week in decent weather. One short ride during the week that starts at 6:30 pm and includes dinner too. All my rides finish in the dark. Some start late and end at 2:30 am the next day. Mostly the 120 mile to 150 mile rides. I don't ride without lights, and back up lights. I will not let the dark change any of my rides. That would be vey annoying to me. Unless It's a very short ride to test something.

livedarklions

I suspect that one's feelings about riding at night are very strongly affected by the geography. As to the OP, I don't think the prospect of the desert at night is very appealing. Oddly, it would likely feel very cold.

For me, most of the roads I'd be going on on long rides are too windy and narrow for me to want to deal with darkness.

livedarklions

That right before sunset time can be pretty awful. Either darker lighting conditions or worse, the sun directly in your eyes.

Blinking headlight, good. Strobing headlight, bad. The fast strobe just makes it harder for oncoming traffic to estimate your position.