Guest Author - Michael Connolly

If you are the type of person who enjoys a challenge and riding has been or become that outlet, then riding a century is something that you will gravitate towards eventually.

For those of you just getting into cycling, a century is a 100 mile ride completed in one day. Completing a century is such a great feeling that I recommend that everyone put this on their challenge calendar.

I remember my first century, a fund raiser ride for the Cancer Society, it took me over 7 hours to complete, but I made it and it was such a feeling of accomplishment that I have always looked to ride as many as I could. Century rides are also great training rides when you are racing as they add endurance to your speed workouts. My old race team and I covered a century in just over four hours; we were toast at the end, but wow what a feeling!

Preparing yourself for a century doesn’t have to be intimidating if you follow some basic training and establish your base miles to get you comfortable on the bike for up to 5 or 6 hours. For this article I’m going to assume that you are already riding and have accomplished at least a 2 hour ride on your own.

Your goal for the year will be to ride a century by August of this year. There are many organized rides across the country, so contact your local bike shop or club to find out scheduled rides and pick one that is in August.

If you live in an area that allows you to ride on the road safely and comfortably then pick a few routes and drive them so you can check the miles before riding them. Pick 25, 50 and 75 mile routes and make sure you note where rest stops can be scheduled in or you will be sorry later. If you are in an urban area and have access to trails, check out the length and routes available and plan according to the miles above.

Once you have picked your routes start out on your shortest route for the first month. Make sure you have a cycling computer so that you can check your speed and RPMs while riding. For the spring 25 mile rides, try to keep your gearing low (on your 42) and spin in the 90 rpm range. Your goal for April/May is to build your length strength and a smooth spinning stroke.

Ride your 25 mile between 2 and 4 days a week. For your other days take one day for interval workouts in order to build your VO2 max levels. To do this find a straight stretch of road, about a mile long and pick a big gear(52x24) and sprint for up to a minute at a time and then spin slowly until your heart rate drops below 80 and go again. Perform this cycle for 10 intervals; find a friend its more fun as you can sprint against each other or play catch the other rider.

As you enter May/June start adding your 50 mile route to your ride sequence, make sure you are riding at least 3 days a week with at least one 50 mile ride at the beginning of the month and up to two 50 mile rides at the end of this sequence. Realistically your longer rides will probably come on the weekends so make sure you rest on Monday and then start your intervals and shorter riding during the week.

As you enter the June/July time period add a 75 mile ride to your schedule. If your longer rides are occurring on the weekends, then start off with a 75 mile ride followed by an easy spinning 25 mile ride the next day. Try to add a 50 mile ride during the week, however 25 will work as long as you ride hard for the entire time. Remember you are building a base of miles in your legs in order to provide you with the comfort level to go 100.

Continue to add some interval workouts during the week to keep your fitness levels high. If you feel tired on any day and your legs just feel dead, pack it in, riding will only make you worse not better. Your body will tell you when you need to take a break; rest is as much a component of successful training as the actual training itself.

You are approaching your ride date; allow yourself a couple days of rest just prior to the day of the ride

On the day of the ride make sure you pace yourself, there is a naturally tendency to start off to fast, which will burn you out before you reach the end of the ride. For an average rider you should target 16-18 miles an hour for your ride, which puts you at around 6 hours for your ride, actual ride time not including your rest stops.

Good luck and let me know how it goes for you.

Follow this table as a guide for your preparation:

Month Miles Gearing RPM Total miles Per Week
April/May 25 42x18-24 90+ 75-150
May/June 25/50 52/42 75-90 150-250
June/July 25/50/75 52/42 75-90 175-300
August 100 52/42 75-90 300