Assuming its rolling/flat, you'll be fine. Sore maybe, but should be ok. Nutrition and hydration are real.
Hills, and you will not be too happy. Mountain passes will suck.
Assuming its rolling/flat, you'll be fine. Sore maybe, but should be ok. Nutrition and hydration are real.
Hills, and you will not be too happy. Mountain passes will suck.
Eat about 2-3x as much as your body tells you. There's a big difference between 2-3 hours and 5-7 hours of riding. Most of the time you should be eating even if you aren't hungry at all.
Run4fun tourfever wrote:
Got a spare day this weekend. Tour de France fever.
Always do 50k (31-40 miles) every weekend.
Is that too much of a jump could I injure my knees jumping to a century?
My bike is a 2009 model but a beast.
Don't enjoy cycling much just want to try it. How hard is a century?
Only cycle for cross training.
It always strikes me how timid some people are. Why ask a bunch of strangers on the internet what might happen to you, instead of just going and doing it? If its too much for you, stop.
And no, its not very hard. I did similar as a 19 year old girl.
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Yes - you can do it. The last 30-40 miles will be a beating tho.
minong wrote:
I did this last week. I rode my bike I think twice in about 10 years, then got a bit serious and took about 6 weeks to build up to doing a century. Running endurance translates extremely well for something like that, but as I'm sure you know, running power doesn't. So just take it easy especially for the first 50. By that I mean 1-2mph slower than you'd do on your typical weekend ride.
The one thing that I can't recommend enough is EAT A CRAP TON. This is coming from someone that rarely if ever fuels for 20+ mile runs. I'm a believer in training the body to burn fat vs carbs. But when you're out there for 6 or 7 hours, you have to eat EARLY and often. I had a goal of replacing half the calories of what I burned while riding, and I think that set me up well to finish the ride (104 total) quite comfortably.
I just have an older hybrid as well. I'm sure a decent road bike would have been 1-2mph faster. But it wasn't a race, so no big deal. I finished in just over 6 hours. And again, that's coming from someone who's cycling fitness is awful compared to running fitness. So you can do it.
+1 on the eat a ton of crap. I would also get up and run 20 miles on no food but cannot do this with biking. Must have to do with how quad intensive it is. It’s also crazy how much food you can scarf down then jump back on the bike.
As most of the others have said, if you can do 50 miles comfortably, you can most likely do 100 if you take it easy. Fueling is key, especially if you start getting into z3 or higher effort, as you can bury yourself quite easily on long rides and not notice until it's too late. A century for me is anywhere from <4.5 hours (mostly flat) to >6 hours (mtns) and I'll consume at least 25 oz of water and 300 calories per hour. It's much more than if I was running for a similar time.
Be aware of numbness/tingling on any contact points as mentioned a few times. Your feet, hands and groin are going to be beat up if your bike fit isn't dialed in and you aren't coming out of the saddle/shifting hand positions regularly. Numbness/tingling for several days after isn't unheard of in long distance riding. Good bike shorts and gloves can go a long way here, but I've still dealt with numbness issues myself when I go far beyond my normal time in the saddle or am readapting to my tt bike in the spring.
Pick a route that makes the second half easier. There is absolutely nothing worse than getting to a turn around point on an out and back and realizing you had a tailwind the whole way, or starting to fade and realizing most of the climbing is still left.
Lastly, if you're going to wind up far from home, bring at least a spare tube, tire levers and a pump/co2. Just something a lot of newbies don't think about and it sucks to be stranded on the side of the road for a basic fix.
Official 2024 Monaco DL Live Discussion Thread (2-4 p.m. ET Friday) + Live Reaction Show at 4 p.m ET
I don't believe Jakob is clean. injured and runs 3:26.7 a bit later?
After Jakob's 3:26, Kerr's chance of winning in Paris has INCREASED
BREAKING: Athing Mu running 800m in Gainesville on Friday at Holloway Pro Classic
Jakob chugs almost an entire 32-oz sports drink in 6 seconds during interview
El Guerrouj: “Ingebrigtsen can break my records (but I’d rather he didn’t!)”