How hard is a 100mi ride

[essayer]

So on the spot I had to come up with a new year's resolution and one was that I would do a 100 mile ride (thankfully I made no stipulations on time)

The most I did last year in a day was 40mi and managed that at a reasonable pace without hitting any of this feared "bonk" I've heard a lot about

Any tips on gearing up for a longer ride than I'm used to? Just extend my normal 20mi round trip to 40, 60, 80, 100 etc and aim to do it mid summer when the day is longest?

I'm on a hybridised MTB if that makes any difference (although as always contemplating a road bike)

[T S Magnum]

It depends how hilly the route is! Wind strength and direction are also a factor.

I did Edinburgh to Newcastle last June, 140 hilly miles. I was in a group of fairly inexperienced riders and we all finished that tired but not on our backs. We had energy for beers afterwards etc.

A normal ride out for me would be 40 to 60 miles. We did two group rides of ~70 miles over about 3 months as 'rehersals' for the big one. I'd say if you can ride 60 it's not a huge leap to 100.

As you say, number one priority is have access to plenty of calories along the way - paniers of grub, cash for garage/pub snacks or a support car following.

Good luck, Ed.

[anonymous-user]

Food and hydration are key. If you get to the point where you feel hungry, you have left it too long between feeds. I aim for a mouthful of Clif bar every 25 minutes with a slug of water, and a gulp of electrolyte drink every 25 minutes (in warm weather). Staggering the two is good.

ETA: electrolyte drinks and stomachs can be a bit fussy. Some people just don't seem to be able to get on with some drinks. I'd suggest trying a few to find one that works for you. Start with the SIS stuff. Riding a century on water alone is NOT recommended.

Discomfort can be an issue. If your bike fit is off, you make find aching back/shoulders/wrists/neck start to get to you after a while.

Otherwise, it's just a case of measuring your effort and not going mad.

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 18th January 13:08

[spitfire4v8]

The only thing I would say is make a zig-zaggy circular route so you don't stray too far from home .. if you cycle out in a straight line and you're 40 miles into the journey and get tired you've got 40 miles to cycle back! .. if your circular route only takes you no more than 8-10 miles from home if you get tired you've only got to cycle 10 miles to get back Once you know you can do 100 miles without issue you can get adventurous with your routings

[Rob_T]

it's actually quite easy. just take in plenty of fluid, stop for a bite to eat and go at a sensible pace. i assume you're not trying tp break any record, merely tick a box.

don't worry about it, just enjoy it (and hope it doesn't rain)

[anonymous-user]

Rob_T said:

stop for a bite to eat

Oooh, no! If you do this, you haven't ticked the 100 miles box. You've ticked the "two rides that together add up to 100 miles" box. Shameful.

(That said, I usually have to stop at a petrol station or newsagent to buy more water when I ride that distance).

More seriously, I wouldn't stop for a meal because (a) you may find your legs are less keen to carry on after a sit down and (b) having a belly full of food doesn't often make for a comfy ride.

[ratbane]

I reckon if you can do 20miles, you can do 100miles. Just keep hydrated, and top up carbs as you go.

[anonymous-user]

When I used to do this distance, it was easy up until about the 60-70mile mark. Once there, huge amounts of determination is needed to carry on as well as nutrition and lots of drinks.

If you're going to do 100miles then it is worth planning a route that takes you past eateries or shops every 20miles or so.

Either this or take energy stuff in copious amounts.

Great feeling when complete though!

[zebedee]

as one person said hills and wind are the big factors, otherwise just eat plenty and leave early enough and you will be fine. Unless you are taking in 100 miles of canal tow path I would really aim for a road bike too, it will be so much more enjoyable!

[anonymous-user]

enter one of the action medical research 100 mile sportives and make it easy for yorself. the rotes are on the web so you can pick one that suits, they are well sign posted and have good, frequent food stops.


dont discount how much easier it is having the route in front of you on clear to read signs, these things are quite mentally demanding too so you want to reduce the mental fears and just conentrate on the physical.

you can basically break it down to 4 x 25 mile events which pretty much anyone should be able to do. eat little and often, stretch out every time you have a break, get used to spinning a lower gear at a higher cadence than normal which can help reduce the chance of fatigue. set a sensible average target speed and find a group of similar speed riders, its quite easy and you can keep each other motivated. dont be tempted to form a pseudo chain gang unless you are confident that they are adept at bike handling.

as i said on another thread, a postman does the bristol to london 100 each year on his post bike so its possible on any bike, its up to you how easy you want to make it but i have seen people ride full sus and hardtail mtbs on centry rides. beware though, its a bug that bites so a road bike will be on your shopping list before long....

[okgo]

I never actually got round to doing one last year, but I'd say its do-able for most people that can ride a bike for 20 miles or so, the eating and comfort will be the main things.

[Martyn-123]

Some years ago i cycled from home, West Bromwich (5 miles from Birmingham) starting at 7pm on a Friday night on a knobbly tyre steel framed Kona MTB and arrived at Porthmadoc in North Wales at 10am Saturday morning. Very eerie going over Snowdonia overnight and through the Welsh villages with people wobbleing out the pubs at 3 in the morning, this was from memory 118 miles.

I caught the train home !

Set yourself a target as somewhere you want to get to for a reason rather than a zig zag route where it would be easy to give up if a little tired and give yourself plenty of rests, i walked up one hill for over 2 hours which gave me a break,


Martyn...

[zebedee]

Martyn-123 said:

Some years ago i cycled from home, West Bromwich (5 miles from Birmingham) starting at 7pm on a Friday night on a knobbly tyre steel framed Kona MTB and arrived at Porthmadoc in North Wales at 10am Saturday morning. Very eerie going over Snowdonia overnight and through the Welsh villages with people wobbleing out the pubs at 3 in the morning, this was from memory 118 miles.

I caught the train home !

Set yourself a target as somewhere you want to get to for a reason rather than a zig zag route where it would be easy to give up if a little tired and give yourself plenty of rests, i walked up one hill for over 2 hours which gave me a break,


Martyn...

why did you choose to go at night, out of interest?

[baxb]

okgo said:

I never actually got round to doing one last year, but I'd say its do-able for most people that can ride a bike for 20 miles or so, the eating and comfort will be the main things.

I'm not so sure most people that could do 20 miles could upscale to 100 that easily. I did 5 100 mile rides last summer in training for an Ironman distance tri & found all of them tough going. For me up to 60miles was fairly comfortable, but it's the last 40 that you need the training for. If you can get 3 rides in of 60-80 miles in before going for the ton that should prepare you for what to expect, as has been said nutrition & hydration are key.

I think the Action Medical Research rides as mentioned above are a good call, I did the Chiltern 100 & between the hills & a hot day it was a good test, but routes are well marked & feed stations were reasonably well stocked. I hope you do it !

[snotrag]

I'm building my first 700c wheeled bike this year - I'm also planning to do my first century this year sometime.

Wetherby-filey Great Yorkshire bike ride should be a good warm up I think I'm going to aim for, about 60/70ish miles i think.

[Allblackdup]

After doing really well last year and properly getting the cycling bug i gave myself two aim's this year.

One - To buy a new road bike to carry on where i'd left off in 2011 and increase my mileage/join a club etc

Two - To complete a 100 mile sportive type event by the end of the year.

So far i'm finding i'm still getting used to the new road bike (position is so different from riding an mtb for so many years) and i've only 23 miles in one ride so far but as with the other comments, with the aim in mind, i'm slowly going to build up the mileage over the weeks and see how it goes.

Slowly but surely i'm sure you'll be fine too

Oh and if anyone can suggest a reasnoable first Sportive to complete the aim that's no more than a couple of hours from south wales/west please feel free.

OP - Let us know how you get on and if you go for a sportive or many, let us know which ones

Edited by Allblackdup on Wednesday 18th January 19:06

[insideline]

I did London - Canterbury ride 81 miles (Pilgrims Trail? Childrens Trust?) 2 years ago on a MTB with slick tyres. I planned to do lots of prep but laziness and working away meant I pretty much went into it cold. The first 60 miles were easy, but the last part of the route zig zagged across a valley and the hills really hurt (as much psychologically as physically). Near the end one of the course cars stopped to see if I was OK as I was pedalling so slowly, I told hime that I was ready to give up and call my wife to come from the finish and pick me up. He told me that it was only a mile to go, this was the boost I needed and I was able to ride to the end.

Took me about 7 hours, was pretty chuffed all told given I am a 16st 6'3'' office dweller. I might do the C2C next year with some friends but really need to take the fitness more seriously before I do that.

It doesnt help that I broke my back a year ago (sledging in last years snow) and I am only just starting to get back in the saddle, which hurts when my cocyyx is still damaged from the accident.

Not sure what this all means - I suppose the point is that mental strength is as important as the physical bit. Best of luck with it though, and most of all enjoy it.

[Captain Beaky]

snotrag said:

I'm building my first 700c wheeled bike this year - I'm also planning to do my first century this year sometime.

Wetherby-filey Great Yorkshire bike ride should be a good warm up I think I'm going to aim for, about 60/70ish miles i think.

The Great Yorkshire Bike Ride is a really good 70 miler and you'll almost certainly have a following wind. The AMR York 100 (19th August) is a good century; a nice route with only a couple of hills and excellent cakes.

[Martyn-123]

why did you choose to go at night, out of interest?


Cant remember, roads were quieter though apart from the sheep

[snotrag]

Captain Beaky said:

snotrag said:

I'm building my first 700c wheeled bike this year - I'm also planning to do my first century this year sometime.

Wetherby-filey Great Yorkshire bike ride should be a good warm up I think I'm going to aim for, about 60/70ish miles i think.

The Great Yorkshire Bike Ride is a really good 70 miler and you'll almost certainly have a following wind. The AMR York 100 (19th August) is a good century; a nice route with only a couple of hills and excellent cakes.

Brill - thanks for that, just emailed it to a mate, fancy it. Know those roads well too... albeit at 60mph..!