Originally Posted by
donm1967
I've been riding for years just for exercise, nothing extreme. Last year after back surgery I start riding more and farther. I continued this year, and bought a road bike.
I ride 15-20 mi 3-4x during the week (avg 16.5 mph), and a longer ride on the weekend. My longest ride was 50 mi last weekend with a friend. We were pretty tired last 10 miles, probably started too fast. Avg speed was 15.5 mph. We're goig to try 60 this weekend.
If we can do 60, is it reasonable to think I can do a century in 2 weeks? I've never done group rides, never done an organized ride. There is an option for 68 mi, which I'm starting to think might be more enjoyable rather than struggling to complete 100. Or should I just go for it ? I know eat/drink every hour, slower pace, stop, stretch, etc.
thx, Don
It is definitely doable with your background, but not very long to prepare. See how the 60 mile ride goes and decide from there. If that goes well, you could try 75 miles the following weekend. Unless those rides are seriously hurting then stretching it to 100 should be fine if you start fresh. So just make sure you are well rested and eat well in the final week beforehand.