hevysrf

There is a local metric century coming up, my best day so far has been 30 miles @11 mph. Normal day is 10 to 20 miles. Am I ready for 62?

KPREN

Only you can answer that question from a health standpoint but, given the information you have given, the task sound reasonable. Get a good nights sleep, fuel up properly and stay hydrated. Can you tolerate you bike saddle for that long. You will likely be slower than you normal pace towards the end.

Jughed

What is the terrain compared to where you typically ride?

How did you feel after the 30?

Are you mentally ready for 6+ hours in the saddle?

cyccommute 

That depends on the “coming up” part. If the ride is this Sunday, it might be difficult. If you have a few weeks, that’s much better. There are all kinds of training guides out there for centuries (100 miles) but they can easily be applied to metric centuries as well. This one isn’t too bad. Go ahead and start with week 1 but you should be about ready by week 6. If you don’t have that much time, drop into the training plan at a time that is convenient to you. You are probably at week 3 or even 4 anyway.

One word of caution: event day you will probably want to go faster than your normal pace. Try to do some training before hand to increase your speed. The article above links to Garmin which has a bit more detail on how to ride the schedule laced out by Cache Gran Fondo website.

Chuck Naill

I remember training for a marathon decades ago. I had one 22 mile training run and several 10-15 mile runs plus 75 miles per week. The day of the event was cold and with rain. I did well until mile 22. The course took a turn for which was not on the map which messed with my head. I did finish.

joesch

Not a good plan based on your history especially given the time of the year as most parts of the US are under extreme heat conditions. Recommend getting training rides of 40..50 miles before attempting a mCentury.
This would be 5+ hours riding at your pace and reads like you have never surpassed 3 hours.

RB1-luvr

it's the butt, hands, shoulders, neck that suffer the most with me. My legs, lungs and heart are always capable of doubling my recent ride distance. As someone else said, elevation matters too.

hevysrf

I ride mostly flat terrain, and the century is pretty flat also. If I do a 30, I don't really feel like another 30, but I might feel different if it was the middle of a ride.


Usually take an off day after a big ride.

jadmt

stretch your next ride out to 40 miles and see how you feel.

cyccommute 

In addition to using a training guide, do some strategic thinking to make the task seem less impossible. You can easily do 10 miles. It’s nothing. Think of the longer rides as just a series of 10 mile rides.

hevysrf

Getting on my bike now.

Carbonfiberboy 

Most people can ride their current weekly mileage in one day. Success however will depend on nutrition and hydration during that ride. This number only works up to maybe 150. Above that weekly mileage, the sky's the limit.

jon c. 

If you're riding at a comfortable pace stretching out to a metric should be possible physically. I usually ride about 30 miles but can double that with little problem. But the mental aspect of spending that much time on the bike can pose a greater challenge than the physical component.

john m flores 

You definitely sound within shouting distance of this goal. If you decide to give it a go, taper for 3-4 days (light, easy spinning) and make sure you eat enough throughout the ride - do not wait until you are hungry.

hevysrf

27 today, Think I might be able to do the metric, but not sure I would enjoy it.

Random11

I first heard this on BF years ago. I normally ride 100+ miles a week, but I ride every day, about 15-20 miles a day. I wanted to do a century, so gave it a try and had no problems, even though my typical ride is way short of a century.. So I've repeated this many times. You should be able to ride in a day the amount that you normally ride in a week.

Carbonfiberboy 

I also read this somewhere years ago and have repeated it on BF a few times after proving it true for myself. There are all sorts of century training programs, but they all come down to this. Of course your daily rides should have similar or more climbing than the century.

Tomm Willians

There’s nothing that says you can’t get off the bike and stretch from time to time. When I’m doing a century I find that to be immensely beneficial and keeps me going. Also fueling along the way to keep your energy up. Do you have someone to ride with to keep you motivated?

OldTryGuy

r.e. bold 27 miles and not sure about 62 miles is not what I would be feeling good about.

I would forgo a 40 miler and instead set up and try for 45 miles because to complete your planned ride would mean 17 more miles and that extra would be a bear.

Iride01 

Your speed is a tad on the slow side, but still you should do the ride and go as far as you can. Though I suspect you can make it the full distance if you don't ride at a all out pace that will use up all your energy. If there isn't a SAG time, then you can take as long as you want. If there is a SAG time, then they'll probably come by and pick you up.

No big deal either way whether you finish or not. Hopefully you get to socialize with some other cyclists. If possible, try to find a group that rides at your speed. Even a disorganized group riding in a bunch will save you a lot of watts and you'll go faster and further than you will solo.

reverborama

Do it.

You will probably find your wrists/shoulders get more work than you are used to. They will have a rest stop or two? Make sure you drink enough fluids.

GamblerGORD53

Hard to tell without knowing your weight, age and bike. Just get out and TRY harder. All you really need to do is move you legs for 5 hours. Enjoy the scenery and don't do any quackery like riding in the left track. Ride the outside of the shoulder if it's good pavement.
20 miles for me is the same effort as sitting on the couch.

I'm no athlete and 69, I have been doing all day rides for 20 years. So I do about 3 highway rides a month May to early Oct.
My city rides of 10 to 35 miles are just sightseeing really and only if it's not raining. There's short hills here that help, some are steep.
The last couple years I just didn't bother with the 60 mile warmup, LOL. Went 92 miles. Biggest problem was getting the inside arms sunburnt badly.
And getting cramps until I get the legs beefed up. The biggest effect on speed could be a SORE bum on long rides. Stand up often.

Last week I went 96 miles on Sunday and 103 miles on Wed., with 20 and 10 miles the 2 days between. Hardly any cramps the 103 miles in 11 hours. The steel roadster bike is 48 lbs with a SA 5w. Not the best advice of course, but a few times I have gone 60 miles to my turnaround town, with NO food break, just Gatorade. I always have a long lunch and an hour putter around before slogging back home. Otherwise I can get a stomach ache.
I never see anybody out there with me and hundreds of semi trucks. LOL. Use a MIRROR.

RCMoeur 

That was the mindset I used in the Arizona Challenge 24-hour endurance ride (17,000+ ft climbing, total loop 325 miles). I didn't dwell on the entire ride, or I'd mentally collapse. Instead, it was "OK, let's get to Fountain Hills." "Now to the top of this climb." "Now the next climb." "OK, one more climb to Payson." "Let's go to Pine." "OK, just got to get to Strawberry and the top of the rim." "Whee! coast to Camp Verde!" and so on. Focusing on thinking about achieving the next few miles instead of the finish can make it mentally easier.

50PlusCycling

You can certainly complete the ride, but it might not be pleasant. At 13 years old I did my first century (100 miles) with very little preparation, and eating Easter candy for fuel. The latter 50 miles was unpleasant, and I threw up most of the chocolate I had eaten shortly after the finish.

Normally I try to get up to the 75% point before doing a full century, a 45 mile mile ride a few days before a metric century.

PeteHski

I suspect you can do it, but I would try at least one 40 mile ride beforehand to see what happens beyond half distance. If that goes well then you should be fine on the big day. Pay attention to your hydration and nutrition, as these will be key to your fatigue on a longer ride.