# Considering riding my first Century



## comanche1680 (Aug 1, 2008)

Have been considering riding a century. And as the title suggests, this would be the first one I have ever ridden. I have been on several 40+ mile rides but never the dreaded 100 miler. I am wondering what advice folks might have for me as far as getting ready to do this. 

Thanks!


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## hrumpole (Jun 17, 2008)

I did my first 90-miler with a friend who was training for an ironman. First, do 65. Second, get used to eating. Gels are OK, but things like bananas and snickers bars really hit the spot at mile 70. YMMV.

I could have gone another 3/4 of an hour, but was glad I didn't have to.


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## Kevin_in_SB (Mar 7, 2009)

Get plenty to eat on your ride Beef Jerky bars gels also Drinks are a must have. Most important good Bibs 6 plus hours in a long time to be sitting.


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## hrumpole (Jun 17, 2008)

Kevin_in_SB said:


> Get plenty to eat on your ride Beef Jerky bars gels also Drinks are a must have. Most important good Bibs 6 plus hours in a long time to be sitting.


+1 for that. Use body glide all over your butt. A mild chafe in an hour will be a gaping wound after five. And every little flaw in your bike's fit will be exposed.


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## Slim Chance (Feb 8, 2005)

Mostly spend more time in the saddle. Gradually increase length and duration. Next time out try 50, then 60, 70 and so forth. Also train on the same terrain that you will be riding the century. Back off the week before the ride. Training on the flats or a hilly century could end badly. Search Bicycling Magazine for century prep. They print at least one article per year on the subject. Good luck and don‘t forget to look around while you ride.


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## Andy C (Jan 22, 2004)

Er, you'll want to experience at least a 60 mile ride before attempting 100, and obviously the more miles the better you'll be prepared for any discomforts. Depending on your speed and considering its your first one, be prepared for 7 or 8 hours in the saddle. That means lots of food and water and being able to pace yourself. And don't get sucked into a group that is going faster than you'd like or you make regret it by mile 70. Stop at every food stop (if its a supported century) whether you feel like eating or not. I'll never forget my first 100 miler and I was too tough to stop at some of the food stops and I totally bonked -- it was a real lesson.


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Ride some longer rides without stopping before trying the century. Eat well before the start - at least an hour and a half. Have some carbs and protein. My fave is oatmeal with some scrambled Egg Beaters and toast. I drink at least 20 oz. of water about 15 minutes before the start. This helps to hydrate your body. One of the most frequent causes of extreme fatigue is dehydration. On the bike I take 1 bottle of Gatorade and 1 of water. Regardless of temp. I drink at least one bottle per hour, more if it's hot. I also carry food just in case, even if the ride features rest stops and lunch. My faves for food are fig newtons and trail mix. I open the packages & put them in plastic sandwich bags,the fold over kind, not the zip tied ones. The latter are too hard to open & close without stopping. 

Speaking of stopping, I stop, but not for long. Five -7 min. is good enough for me. Some people stop longer and they're fine with it. When I stop for longer times my legs feel wooden for the next 7 - 10 miles. Evan at lunch I usually only spend 15 min. 

Check out the bike ahead of time to make sure everything is perfect. Not good, but perfect. Pay close attention to the tires. There's neither a need nor an advantage in pumping them to their max pressure. They actually have less rolling resistance, more traction and a smoother ride at lower pressures. Instead of 120 psi in both, for a century I use 95 psi in the front, maybe 110 in the rear. 

Don't try to keep up with the pseudo racers. Even if you can match their pace for awhile, when you finally get dropped you'll be so tired for the rest of the ride you might wish you were dead. Try to hook up with some riders that ride about the same pace as you. You can use each other to best advantage by drafting, pace lining, or just plain old chatting. It makes the miles seem to go faster. Remember, this is a ride, not a race. Have confidence. You'll do fine, and have plenty of stories to tell while your friends ooh and ahh about the fact that you rode 100 mi. in one day.


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## Zachariah (Jan 29, 2009)

Build your neck muscles up too. That ten-pound bowling ball of your head will soon make your neck feel like a wet noodle, past mile 50. Lay on your belly off the edge of your bed, with the head hanging off. Strap an ankle weight to top of your helmet as you do 30 repetitions raising your helmeted head off the side of your bed.


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## Touch0Gray (May 29, 2003)

my advice mirrors most of the others. RIDE, if you can do 50 without getting out of the saddle you should be golden for a century...........and pace yourself........a 100 miles IS a long ride no matter what anyone says!


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## voodooguy (Aug 18, 2007)

Not eating a big lunch made a world of a difference for me. Keep it simple and just enough...


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

Maybe try your century alone. Or with a friend. I find it much easier to ride 100, even 100+ miles at a time without a bunch of others around me all day. Do go out at a reasonable pace..Notch back a little from what you'd ride for 'shorter' miles even if you feel really good and strong..the last 15-20 miles of almost any recreational ride become very difficult as you begin to think of getting off the saddle, etc. It's nice to finish and feel like you "could have gone a little harder" rather than to drag in by sheer willpower and collapse.

Do take in enough fuel and fluids. You'll probably get tired of shoving food into your mouth continuously and slurping down sticky energy drinks all day..but you better do it. I don't think anyone can ride 100 miles all at once without eating. I've found the Hammer products work pretty well for me, though I have done centuries on just C-Store food, too. I avoid 'taking a break' for more than 10-15 mins. I like to take just one short break, mid-ride so that I only have to get started back up one time...

When you finish your first 100 miler you will have accomplished something you can be very proud of. It ain't easy riding a bike 100 miles and not a large % of the population can do it. It's quite the "Zen-experience" to spend the best part of a day turning the cranks and watching the country side scroll past..

I (we) enjoy finding long rides on our own. "Credit Card Tours" are quite fun..Take a weekend, find an out and back, a loop or a big pass and ride...stay overnight with your credit card and ride back the following day...If you are city bound you may have to drive a bit. You certainly don't *need* some organizer to do a century ride..


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## pigpen (Sep 28, 2005)

If you ride 100+ miles in a week, you can ride 100 in a day.
My first was done after a couple of weeks riding 75 at one time. My first was 106. I was tired.
A century is more mental than anything. I can do 75 at any given day, no matter how I eat as long as I eat. For some reason after 90 I just get bored thus slow and more tired.


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## comanche1680 (Aug 1, 2008)

Thanks! A lot of information here. I am going to go on a 50 miler this weekend. I realize it is only 1/2 the distance I am looking for but i) it the only long ride in the area this weekend and ii) the most I have ever ridden in 40 so this is a baby step in the right direction. Hope fully I will learn a lot from this and carry that over to the next longer ride.

Thanks again!


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## SkiRacer55 (Apr 29, 2005)

*I agree...*



Andy C said:


> Er, you'll want to experience at least a 60 mile ride before attempting 100, and obviously the more miles the better you'll be prepared for any discomforts. Depending on your speed and considering its your first one, be prepared for 7 or 8 hours in the saddle. That means lots of food and water and being able to pace yourself. And don't get sucked into a group that is going faster than you'd like or you make regret it by mile 70. Stop at every food stop (if its a supported century) whether you feel like eating or not. I'll never forget my first 100 miler and I was too tough to stop at some of the food stops and I totally bonked -- it was a real lesson.


...don't start with a century, do something a little less. Most century rides have other options, like metric century (62 miles) which is what you may want to try. Also realize that there are centuries and there are centuries. I just finished Ride the Rockies where our longest day was "only" 80 miles but had some horrendous climbing. 80 miles on the flat is going to be considerably easier...but I didn't say it was easy, per what Andy C says...


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## kmunny19 (Aug 13, 2008)

comanche1680 said:


> Thanks! A lot of information here. I am going to go on a 50 miler this weekend. I realize it is only 1/2 the distance I am looking for but i) it the only long ride in the area this weekend and ii) the most I have ever ridden in 40 so this is a baby step in the right direction. Hope fully I will learn a lot from this and carry that over to the next longer ride.
> 
> Thanks again!


then work up to a 75, then the century. going from 50 to 100 will be a huge difference, unless the century is done at a purposefully very slow pace. 

have an eating and drinking plan and stick to it. 1 bottle with electrolytes each hour. real electrolytes, not gatorade, or some other sugar water. a steady feed of good food, be it bars, bananas, peanut butter, etc. 

good warm up and cool down. and have an eating and drinking plan for recovery. lots of electrolytes again, and plenty of protein and good carbs (not sugar) and some fat too. and then plenty of electrolytes again. 

my first century went well, miles 60-80 sucked, but then kicked it back in for 80-100, averaged just under 17 mph, did a good job eating and drinking on the bike, and then afterward, EXCEPT, stopped drinking water and electrolytes after dinner, (which is usual for me) and had a cry like a baby leg cramp just before getting into bed that actually pulled my groin muscle slightly. bad night of sleep trying to keep in a non-cramping postion while I waited and prayed for the salt water I drank at 11 pm to kick in. it did, and the near cramp feel I had the rest of the night was actually the muscle pull.

other than that, it was awesome.


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## JohnHemlock (Jul 15, 2006)

Lots of good advice in this thread. I rode 140 miles in a day a week or so ago. My longest day prior to that was about 70. Wouldn't recommend it but I was sort of like Forrest Gump. Started off and just kept going and going.

Keep the engine stoked with food and drink, and break it up into 4 25 mile segments. If you have done several 40 mile+ rides, just look at it as doing 2.5 of these in a day. Seems reasonable.


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## comanche1680 (Aug 1, 2008)

I agree 50 miles is too short. However my optiosn this weekend were 50 or 100. Ride longer than 50 are in the works however.

Also what are "real electrolytes?"


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

You'll manage. People exaggerate the difficulty of ramping up, IMO. 100 is much more than 50, true, but the biggest difference is the fueling requirement. You can almost get away with not eating on a 50-mile ride, if you're tanked up well, but to go 100 without bonking you need to eat, all day.



> Maybe try your century alone. Or with a friend. I find it much easier to ride 100, even 100+ miles at a time without a bunch of others around me all day.


A lot of people have exactly the opposite feeling. Having a crowd around, finding people to ride with at your pace, chatting a little with new acquaintances, chasing a group in front of you, just observing the differences in people and equipment; all those things make the miles go faster and more pleasantly, in the experience of many riders. And knowing there are food/drink stops (not to mention off-loading facilities ;-) at frequent intervals lets you relax and just ride, rather than worrying about whether there'll be a convenience store at the right place when you run out of water.

Have fun. Don't forget to calibrate your computer properly. It's kind of a kick watching that third digit pop up for the first time.


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## newmexrb1 (Aug 16, 2009)

Andy C said:


> .... And don't get sucked into a group that is going faster than you'd like or you make regret it by mile 70. ....


Amen to that. This is exactly what I did my first century--I had energy to burn at mile 30, so thought I'd try to run with the boy racers for a while. Wrong move.


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## Touch0Gray (May 29, 2003)

newmexrb1 said:


> Amen to that. This is exactly what I did my first century--I had energy to burn at mile 30, so thought I'd try to run with the boy racers for a while. Wrong move.


mile 30 is a LONG way from mile 100


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## newmexrb1 (Aug 16, 2009)

Touch0Gray said:


> mile 30 is a LONG way from mile 100


Per-cisely., point of course think long haul and not get swept away with the moment. Thanks for amplifying the point.


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## Touch0Gray (May 29, 2003)

newmexrb1 said:


> Per-cisely., point of course think long haul and not get swept away with the moment. Thanks for amplifying the point.


I have seen it many times........my best tip to someone attempting their first century is PACE YOURSELF!

I have seen people blow up at mile 90 and not finish...

Another point......there is NO SUBSTITUTION for saddle time......absolutely none.


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## medimond (Apr 26, 2009)

A few weeks ago I road my first Century, Tour de Park City here in Utah. Having run two marathons I have figured out the eating part. However, I did misjudge what 100 miles would feel like. This century had 6,500 vertical feet along the way also and from mile 90 in it was a stiff head wind. I completed this with only long rides up to 40 miles, but I did suffer that last 10 miles pretty good. 

Lots of good tips included above. Don't look at this as a race, but a goal to ride 100 miles, this will help you keep your pace in check. 

Mark


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## CdaleNut (Aug 2, 2009)

comanche1680 said:


> I agree 50 miles is too short. However my optiosn this weekend were 50 or 100. Ride longer than 50 are in the works however.
> 
> Also what are "real electrolytes?"





I agree what exactly are REAL electrolytes ??


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## Touch0Gray (May 29, 2003)

CdaleNut said:


> I agree what exactly are REAL electrolytes ??


battery acid is an electrolyte....but I'm not drinking it


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## Zachariah (Jan 29, 2009)

CdaleNut said:


> I agree what exactly are REAL electrolytes ??


Anything with sodium in it. See the white powder on your helmet straps?


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## Eyorerox (Feb 19, 2008)

Time in saddle is important so that you have managed all your contact points, good fit on the bike
comfortable shorts low pressure in your tyres
Keep your self aerobic the whole time, HR monitor may help you
Eating just depends on how hard you push yourself, my last century I rode alone I consumed
1.5 litres of something similar to gatorade and two cliff Bars at an average HR of 124
I should have drank more but there was no water on my route, so plan ahead so that does not happen to you! I think a long ride is much easier with 4 - 6 people


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