Bike Distance for Century Ride

If you can get away with it (i.e, the kids won't be able to burn the house down in your absence), and have the time and desire, I'd say go for it!

Do the 65. Your butt will likely not be happy with the additional time in saddle but you will feel a sense of accomplishment.

You'll do fine with the 65 if you've done 30 before...especially with the additional rest stops.  Go for it.

Edited by JoelO 2017-08-24 5:54 PM

I posted something similar not long ago. I used to use a x2 rule, but after trial and error I limit myself to 40 miles past my recent longest ride. I'm prone to cramping where my legs just lock up and stop. For some reason 40 miles is my magic number. http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

I'd say go for the 65er. If you're feeling good after 35 that's a good indication that you're ready to go longer distances. I've also found that riding in a group, which I assume you'll be doing is much easier (from an effort standpoint) than riding solo or with just 1 other person. Good luck and let us know what you decide and how it goes!
-john

Alright, so the ride was this past Saturday. I have to admit that my decision to ride the full 65 was in part fueled by life kicking two of my friends squarely in the balls (the girl kind, that is) one friend lost her 9-year-old daughter in a car crash and another friend's daughter got diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. The former happened the week before the rid, the latter I found out the day before. So, any hesitations I had just went out the window - this was therapy.

The ride itself was in Delaware - it was mostly rolling hills,farm country and a fair amount of wind. The rest stops were well stocked and everybody was so nice! My husband and I ended up playing leapfrog with another group of three (definitely serious bikers, if you were to judge them by gear and speed). We managed to pass them when they had to stop due to technical issues and left each rest stop before them - they, on the other hand, passed us on the road. During one particularly windy stretch I somehow managed to end up at the front and have all of them drafting off of me. I was slightly miffed that I, the absolute weakest biker, ended up in the front. I made some comments that it wasn't very gentlemanly, so one of the guys from the other group graciously took the lead. Thank goodness! Chivalry is still alive

Overall I felt really good. At the last rest stop with 15 miles to go, I could tell that my quads were getting tight, so I stretched a fair amount and ate, even though I didn't feel hungry. With 10 miles left to go, my neck was definitely getting sore (am debating if it was due to poor bike fit, me just riding in an improper position or just not having the strength needed to keep my giant head up for that long of a ride - or a combination of all three) and my arms a bit too. However, I did a pretty good job of ignoring it, even if the pace had slowed a little. The last ten miles were by far the toughest and we dropped from a 17-18 mph pace to 15 mph. During those last 10 miles I decided that I'd do more longer rides before my next ride in October, that I'll definitely ensure I'm super prepared for my first century, and that I could totally do the bike portion of a HIM.

After we were done, we stayed around for a bit and chatted with some of the folks. I felt great (despite the misery of the last 10 miles - thanks, brain!), and somebody was even nice enough to offer me a cold beer!

My absolute biggest annoyance was that, despite taking allergy medicine, my nose was soooooo runny! I'm impressed by the amount of snot my body can produce. What in the world do you do when this happens? I was so fed up by sniffing every three seconds and couldn't stop all the time to blow my nose. The husband suggested a "snot rocket" (which I had no idea what was). After he laughed at me and explained what it was, I opted to not try it lest I just blew snot all over myself. It also seems incredibly unladylike.

So, long story short, I had a great time, learned a lot and am still in awe of the people who did the full 100.

Nice job on the ride! As always, you're capable of more than you think/know. My longest ride before my first century was 35 miles of hilly gravel. That probably equates to a bit longer on a paved road, but still, it wasn't very far. Determination and/or stupidity can get you pretty far and I'm certainly not lacking in either! I paid for it in the days after the ride, but it was a pretty awesome accomplishment.

Snot rocket lesson... it helps to kind of sniff a little bit to "collect" everything together, if that makes sense. Plug one nostril and blow hard. If you're with a group it's polite to make sure there's no one close behind. Also, be careful if it's windy! It's a great idea to wear gloves if only to be able to wipe your nose after. Just toss them in the washer when you get back.

Way to go!!!

Congrats! I'm glad you chose the 65er. Next year you can do the Century!

That's the plan!

Congratulations on the ride, and so sorry to hear about your friends' tragedies...

re: the runny nose. Yup, I leak a lot while riding, too. I am male, so do not have the 'un ladylike' worry, but there are a few things you might do. Snot rockets - necessary, and can be useful to get unwanted wheel-suckers off your tail Note that I have never actually done this ...

Some cycling gloves have a soft terrycloth covering on the back of the hand near the thumb area - it is for wiping sweat or snot. Get them! Cannot find them? How about a terry wrist band? IIRC, they used to be sold for tennis...??

I also employ the squeeze n wipe technique Squeeze your nose, then wipe it off on the rear shoulder area of my jersey... yeh, kinda gross, but it dries right away, and it is better than the very annoying sniffling

cheers