Preparing For A Century
 

I've signed up to ride the Seattle To Portland group ride in July. It is a supported ride of 205 miles over two days, or one day if you're a stud. I tentatively plan on doing a longer leg on Saturday, like 130 miles, leaving a shorter leg for Sunday.

Naturally, I have never ridden a century or even a metric century before. So I know I need to start training up to be able to pretty easily pedal, eat, and drink for training rides of X miles at Y mph average.

Here's the question - what's X and what's Y?

You guys who have done centuries, what was the longest ride you'd worked up to before the day itself, and what speed did you average?

(Now you know why I was asking about the solar iPhone charger.)

BTW if any Pelicans are doing this, let me know. We could have Flying Pelican jerseys made and everything.

Worry first on getting the bicycle to fit you. Find a GREAT shop that will spend an hour or two with you ( YES, you will need to pay for their time.) Next buy some darn fine shorts. 230 miles of saddle time will require your butt to be pampered.

Next, saddles. There's a butt for every saddle. spend some time and figure out what works for you. When i was riding 100 miles a week I need one saddle, when I rode 250 another and when I was doing 400 miles a week I rode a very firm saddle. That was 25 years ago and if I sat on that saddle today it would KILL me.

Some folks swear by V grove saddles. THEY leave me raw and tore up.

Gloves not only help your hands while on the bike, but if you run over glass you can reach down and wipe the tire off hoping to get the glass out before you roll over it a few times YES it works. Third reason for the gloves is when you fall off your stead that your hands are less likely to turn into hamburger helper.

Start out in short rides 15-20 miles for the first couple of weeks and work up from there. work up to 50 mile rides and try to look at the terrain that you'll ride on. if it's hilly ride hilly routes.


Please ride the MS150 rides for Paul's ( PWD72 ) wife Cindy & My wife Joanna.

Thank you!

My Brother rode STP in two days. He said it was a mistake to stop. He was riding TONS at the time. I would take a poll of other folks before you plan your trip.

Me? Not a cyclist.

Good luck,
Larry

I did my first century last year...Montauk. Planning on doing it again this year.

I started training about 2 months in advance. I tried to get out and do a 25 mile loop every weekend in those 2 months leading up to the day. I probably missed at least one weekend, maybe 2. I did two longer rides as the day got closer, a 50 and a 65. The 65 was pretty hilly (and I did it on my fixed gear bike). That was the longest ride.

I also tried to get out on weekdays for shorter rides in the evening, between 5 and 10 miles. I'd do interval style training on the short rides...with bursts of sprinting, followed by regular pace. Another thing I did on the 25 milers was to force myself to push a bigger gear than what I was normally comfortable with on "pleasure" rides.

The Century ride was a blast and I finished with strength to spare. I didn't set out to do it in a particular time, just to finish and have fun.

Hi,

That's a pretty aggressive goal for somebody that's never done even a metric century before - good luck!. There are so many details that go into endurance cycling and you should try to do some shorter events (metric centuries?) first or at least some long (3-4 hours) training rides. Rides under 2 hours don't really get you into the endurance zone. Food, hydration, bike fit, mechanics and many other things all come into play...

I've done a lot of centuries/double centuries and these days I use Hammer Nutrition products so you might want to check them out, I think they are great (no affiliation).

Good luck

Eric

Listen to Jim. Go out and do a 4-5 hour ride and adjust and re-adjust your saddle until you are completely satify with the fit. Give a saddle a few rides and ride out the pain until you can sit without any issues. Modern and high $$$ saddles do not mean they are better and more comfy. Its a very personal thing. A saddle is there to hold you up to take weight off your shoulders. Most men (competitive cyclist I know, just look at pictures of pros who do 7-8 hours on their bikes) like to ride with saddle painted up a little. You must give it some time. Second thing is to make sure your stem is the not too long. That will kill you from mile 60 to 100. NO fun at all. Just remember, the harder and faster you pedal, the less weight is on your cheek bones. So it should not hurt so much when you are hauling. how long can you last?

There are a bunch of century training schedules and ideas out there- Bicycling magazine posts one every year or two. I have taken several people on their first century- although I am not a trainer nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express. My fastest century was 5:15.
As above, make sure your bike fits and is capable of doing the ride. Know how to fix a flat. Find a local group to ride with, riding in a group is a different skill set. Keeps you, and others, safe.
Training is basically ride a lot.
A 10 week plan that works-
ride 5 days a week. Two days just ride easy for a couple of hours (not too easy, but so you can talk.) Two days are fast, including short sprints as you get into it. One long ride a week. Start at 20miles, and add 10 miles to the long ride each week. Goal is to comfortably do 80 miles 2 weekends before your real ride. Ride for the next 2 weeks, but no long ride.
This will get you a comfortable 7-8hr century- and you will feel fine after the ride.
Good luck
gary

Thanks, everyone.

I currently ride everyday (commuting, try to do quasi-intervals between the buses) and on the weekends (only a <15 mile route, but lots climbing). There's a pretty convenient 40 mile loop around Portland (hurrah for our bike trails). I'll do that next weekend and assess butt and legs, then figure next steps.

The route looks pretty flat though I hear the elevation chart might be deceptive, or maybe a roller that is nothing at mile 10 feels different at mile 180 . . .

i have done the stp twice 2006, 2008, the first time was with family and my niece (12) and nephew (10). the niece didn't make it, mainly due to a poor fit with the bike, too big.. she was flying in from calgary and used my sil's bike so there wasn't time for a proper fit. that's important. other than that it was too many breaks which lead to a very long day two. thethe midway break is in centralia so if you're going past, i hope you can find accomodations. as for training, i rode around lake sammamish once a week, about 22 miles a round trip, starting when the weather got better, around april, and a few times twice around. i rode with a stumpjumper the first time, changing to slicks. the second time i did it with a surris, and just a few family members, no kids, my sister dropped out at mile 70, my bil dropped out day two at mile 120, both because of knee issues. i had a much more enjoyable ride since we didn't stop at every rest stop and i was able to make it to the food stops before they were emptied out. the only drag was riding on your own for 80 miles. for me, the worst is hwy 30... its not hilly but boring. good luck.

As it's a supported ride, there should be food stops about every 20-25 miles. Even if you feel like skipping a stop, don't. It's so easy to ride through the first one. Stop and have a bite. Stay with carbohydrates and avoid too much of anything heavy like hot dogs or chili. Grab a fruit at each stop for your pocket and eat it before the next stop. Someone mentioned the Hammer products. They work great. I personally like the Endurolyte tablets you just drop in your water bottle to keep up your electrolytes. It's wise to have a a few Cliff bars or Hammer Gels in your pocket if you feel like you're starting to bonk (low blood sugar) but it's better to rely on the food stops if you aren't used to the Hammer products. You certainly don't want to get the Tijuana two step on a ride like that.

If you do 205 in two days, be sure to have a good spaghetti dinner the first night to refill your glycogen store. I swear by the Hammer Recovery drink. After a hard day in the saddle, that stuff actually perks you right up. I've also found it's great for hangovers as well.

Remember, you aren't racing but you really can't mosey too much either. I always look to make negative splits by doing the second half of the ride a tad faster than the first.

Someone also mentioned riding with local groups? That's a great idea. You need to learn how to ride in a group as you will probably find yourself in one during the century. There's a certain group etiquette that most cycling enthusiasts follow, things like not slapping on the brakes without warning. You need to become familiar and comfortable in a group. Pace lines are your friend especially if you start to wear down. Riding about a foot behind someone drastically reduces your effort level: drafting. Drafting becomes particularly important if it's windy.

Have fun!

I've finished it twice and bailed on a third (it was raining pretty bad from the start in Seattle, and we didn't feel like being wet and miserable all day).

The route is really easy. There are only a couple of hills, and they are not really that bad. Based on how much you say you ride, you shouldn't have any trouble. If you are worried, you might try some of the spring tours to test yourself. I know there are a few around there put on by groups like the Portland Wheelmen.

My main suggestion would be to ride with a friend or two, if possible. I think it can be really boring without someone to chat with.

Average speed for most people seems to be something like 12mph. Pretty slow. I think my uncle and I would average 16-18 not counting time spent at rest stops. Tandems and speedy guys seemed to be doing 20+.

Used to ride them often in the mid-west. Miss them and with you mentioning it, motivates me to do them again. Elevation changes were rarely on the routes but for a few short hills but I can see how they could be a leg burner out west. My mount was a vintage but comfy steel Colnago, set-up with the lightest possible wheels / tires, a Flight Ti saddle, and clamp-on aero bars. Agreed with the other mentioning shorts and gloves. Get the best.

I was a little crazier and all wrong back then riding with a fast crowd of rowdy roadies. We could pound more than a few cold ones and ride a double century. I'd be a statistic today if I tried that now! I loaded up on carbs and iron. Pasta, a couple of t-bones. Much of the rides depended on the weather and oddly, the high humidity and 90 degree temps never really bothered me as long as I was constant hydrated with 'gallons' of Gatorade... rarely water. Cold and rain.. not my thing but warm temps and rain were welcomed. Would hit most of the stops for the fun but very short, kept moving, chow down and hydrate. Body salt water would spray out of one the riders in our crazy group and actiually corroded his components! After a ride it was always a ravaged feast of steaks and pasta.

get with cascade the club that puts on the ride they have plenty of training rides to get people ready for it.

you wont be doing 130 one day and the rest the second. the overnight is in centralia at the halfway point. two back to back centuries.

i did it 4 times, once in one day,(that 2nd 100sucked) but the last was 1987 when the field was only 3000 riders. you couldnt pay me to ride it now with 10k. build up your miles slowly. if you arent a rider now you probably wont be doing your first century till sometime in april if you start training now. speed isnt the object of this ride.

grab a cookie and a banana at every free stop.

John,

Is not only the miles that count in the training. It is time spend in the saddle and how much your brain willl tell you to keep pedaling and not stop. My suggestion is to spin for a few hours a day and push a fairly big gear for one or two day out of the week to build muscle to combat cramps. Oh yeah, you will get those. This way, you save your legs for the climbs. Spin easy gears as much as you can.

I did LA to San Diego once with 5 other guys I use to race with. We were all in pretty good shape. I average 3-400 miles a week during season. the distance and time on the saddle was just killing me. The other bastards try to kill me too along the way also. We were all trying to kill each other. We big ring for about 80 miles pulling double pace line all the way down past Camp Pendleton. I was done going over the big (All hills seem big after you have been beaten down )hill at the college right before entering San Diego. Didn't have it in my head and legs. I dropped it down to a 42x17 and spun all the way to the train station with my head down in shame.

You will have fun in this ride.

did the amtrak century a few years ago. nice ride, along the coastal towns.. too bad they don't allow the ride thru the army base, had to ride on the 5 for something like 10 miles..

Yep, that will make you pay attention.

John,

I lead a training group I call "Tour de Taco" which trains for the Houston to Austin MS150.

For the mileage basics, take whatever you're presently doing, and do it twice on the weekends. Stretch it by about 5 miles per ride each weekend to start then 10 miles, to get your mileage up.

The real issue beyond getting your legs and butt ready is energy and water. You need to learn to eat when you're not hungry and drink when you're not thirsty. In "winter" months, I need about 1 bottle of water (20-22 oz) per 20 miles. In Spring weather (60 F start, max 80F) I need about 1 bottle per 15. Anything where my riding is over 80F, I try to go 1 bottle in 10.

Using a bike computer, you can tell how many calories you're expending on the rides. You need to put the calories back. Your muscles store about 2 hours of energy. After that, the muscles start pulling glucose out of your bloodstream. This is the food for your brain. You will start to feel tired and eventually "bonk".

So to start for the calorie portion, you should be using a "gatorade" type fluid. Powdered versions are cheaper than the liquid version. Do not water them down, as you need the calories. Powdered is also good if you want to refill bottles later. I usually carry premeasured "gatorbombs" where each package is for 1 bottle. This means I can beg water and make my extra bottles.

Carry enough bottle to go as far as you are comfortable. If You can only make 20-30 miles before a stop, carrying more than 2 bottles is a waste. I try to get 40-60 miles without stopping, so I have 2 cages behind my seat.

For eating, there are a lot of choices. Lot of people like bananas. They are very good, but carrying them is tough. The "power gels" are very compact energy. The problem is they are expensive. I also like dried fruit, dried cherries, blue berries, etc. Dehydrated bananas mixed with dehydrated strawberries are great! I also make my own power gels, along with my own gatorade, these days.

For the MS150, we have 2 months to go and we are only going to be doing 75 miles each day, but we still have some work ahead, as most still haven't started trainng yet. We'll get them there, by starting around 30-40 miles per ride (70-80 miles per weekend) now, and adding 5-10 miles per ride each weekend from here to late April.

Oh, and do 2-3 days of spin classes a week

John:

Having ridden STP the past four years ( did it in one day last year...), recommend riding to Kelso on Saturday. Sure, 150 miles is a long ways, but it sure makes day 2 lots easier! Only challenge is finding an affordable motel room - the worlds most expensive Red Lion is in Kelso for STP weekend!

Rd Beard,

THANK YOU FOR DOING THE MS150 ride!!!!!

Today I need to lift Joanna's feet up into my truck. MS SUCKS!