First Century Ride

cyclist_44060

I have my first century ride in about 3 weeks. I have a pretty regular training plan I am working thru, but any tips on training or what to expect during the ride would be welcome.

katozdad

Having completed my first century last month, I would suggest that after 60-70 miles, the rest is in your head. I went out on a very hot day and suffered as a result, so plan plenty of stops, especially towards the end to take on board water. I only had 1.5 litres of water to carry and the shops I stopped at to buy more water were there more by luck than through good planning.

I have a blog where I recorded my first century ride at this link, hope you find it useful.

http://carlbirch72.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/my-first-century.html

cyclist_44060

Having completed my first century last month, I would suggest that after 60-70 miles, the rest is in your head. I went out on a very hot day and suffered as a result, so plan plenty of stops, especially towards the end to take on board water. I only had 1.5 litres of water to carry and the shops I stopped at to buy more water were there more by luck than through good planning.

I have a blog where I recorded my first century ride at this link, hope you find it useful.

http://carlbirch72.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/my-first-century.html

Thanks for the insight. I read your blog it was a very interesting read, it gave me some things to think about. I am participating in an organized ride, so I am hoping that they will have regular water stations for me to keep my bottles filled. I plan to do a 75 mile ride a couple weeks before the ride. That should be a good gauge on how my body will handle a 100.

jagi410

Have fun and relax! As mentioned above, most of it is mental. You CAN do it, so enjoy it!

sijomial

I've only done one so absolutely no expert... (I'm an even later starter than you!!).

Mistake I made was to change my nutrition on the day compared to earlier 80 mile training rides - ate too much beforehand and felt sick and thirsty for the first couple of hours.
Don't go too mad early on as your pace will fade, be a little conservative.

Fatigue seemed to come and go rather than build all the way through. Agree with the other posters about the mental aspect, it will be tough, accept it and get through it.

Be organised on your stops - stops kill average speed. Practice puncture repairs for the same reason.

Caffeine tablets helped on the last few miles to give a little energy boost when I was flagging.

Smile as you cross the line.

TheRealParisLove

I did my first century last year and am doing 2 (a week apart) next month. I wrote about my experience here: http://escapefrommc.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/my-first-century-long-read/

It is very long, so hopefully you have 15-20 minutes to read the whole thing. However, if I can do it-you can do it!