how hard IS a century?

[mimitabby]

Well, I haven't done 100 miles proper... but I've done 70-80-85 miles... and I did it with a Camelbak and 2 water bottles. Of course, I filled up along the way.

When I ride, after the first hour (since I have breakfast in my tummy) my goal is to try to consume 200 calories an hour... that can be in the form of food/gels/sports drink.

The key is to stay properly hydrated, eat before you get hungry and rest when you need to.

KSH gives darn good advice. Camelbaks really make it easier to hydrate. But you're going to have to refill it from time to time!
it's really hard for me to eat enough to keep going all day; and oh yeah, a 6 hour century is REALLY FAST.. Typically, unless you are a reallly fast rider, figure about 12 mph ~ 8 hours. slower for lots of climbing, faster for tailwinds.
and headwinds can ruin everything.

[Pedal Wench]

Also, should you take in carbs every 30 or 45 minutes--stuff like Carb-boom, Cliff shots, or more substantial chewy fun food?

Whatever you can stomach! Really, you'll want to alternate so you don't get bored, and really whatever makes you happy. I use centuries as an excuse to try out all the new bad candybars, although I pay for that with the sugar-crash that usually follows. Oh well.

[sundial]

Ok, so at a supported century I should be able to fill up the CamelBak, right? Or is it better to carry bottles? And I have one of those funny Gel Bots. Should I take in the gel a little at a time or just gulp it down? Oh, why can't there be an ice cream truck that travels with the riders.

[sundial]

I use centuries as an excuse to try out all the new bad candybars, although I pay for that with the sugar-crash that usually follows. Oh well.

Have you tried the new PayDay sport candy bars? Snickers Marathon. Oooh, you are a bad influence.

[jobob]

Oh, why can't there be an ice cream truck that travels with the riders.

oooh, I like that concept.

But there's no rule that says you can't pop into a convenience store along the route to buy a Hagen-Dasz bar. Done that!

(hee hee I can hear maillotpois "ewwwing" in the background)

[Starfish]

I'm still trying to figure out my on the bike eating schedule though. Any suggestion?

My biggest suggestion would be to keep (sanely) increasing your long rides on the weekends per one of the gazillion century training plans out there...and REALLY use those long rides to learn what your body needs/likes. I cannot stress that enough. MUCH better to have the runs on local training rides where you know where the bushes are! MUCH better to find out locally if the same gel that works for you on packet #1 in hour 2 still works great by packet #5 in hour 7. All that kind of thing.

For the century I did last weekend, I chose not to eat ANY of the wonderfully tempting food they had at the stops, with the exception of 1/2 banana (which I had used in training successfully). I can get digestive upset, so I simply decided to carry ALL my own food & electrolytes...needing only water at the stops. It was very hard for me to pass up all the beautiful fresh fruit and yummy cookies they had, as well as the sandwich makings...but, I just didn't want to tempt an upset stomach.

I planned on needing 200 calories/hour, but it turns out I had way too much food left over when I got done. I expected to be out for 12-13 hours (lot of climbing, slow rider). I did the 200 calories x 12 hours = 2400 calories to carry. Then, because I felt nervous, I threw in 2 extra bars for 2900 to carry. It was way too much.

Next time, I will carry about 150 calories per expected hour on the bike. When I got done with the ride, I wasn't even hungry. I had just fueled ALL day. And, I don't like to eat too many calories at once, so rather than eat 1 bar every 45 minutes to an hour, I will eat a bite or two every 15 minutes. It gets a little tedious, but my tummy can get upset.

I used a combination of: yogurt & almonds (1st 10 mile stop, early a.m.), payday bars, power bars, CarbBoom gel, banana, almonds, Clif Shot Bloks, water, and nuun electrolyte tablets (in one of the water bottles only, but all day long, alternating bottles).

Oh, and one last thing...I don't know if this is pertinent to your ride or not, but I tried to eat more of the solids at the top of my climbs before descending, so I could digest more of the solid foods on the downhill, with a lower heart rate and lower exertion.

[indysteel]

Others may have different approaches, but on the longer rides I've done, I've tried to keep my stops short. On hilly rides especially, my legs tend to get really tight and heavy if I stop for more than a few minutes. At the Horsey Hundred, I made the mistake of stopping at every rest stop and hanging out for a bit. Not only did it make the day really long, but it made the next few miles after the stop pure torture. Since then, I get in and get out in as little time as possible. A lot of organized rides have very frequent SAGs. It's nice to know that they're there, but you don't necessarily have to stop at each of them IMO.

[luvs2ride]

Hello Wiseowl,
I am new to cycling after running 4 marathons. My husband and I just completed our first century in Lake Tahoe, CA in June 07. I have to say that both marathons and centuries are challenging in different ways. I found biking to be harder because of all of the mechanical things I needed to know: such as changing tires, shifting properly, throwing my chain, etc. You don't have those kinds of problems with running. For me, I've struggled with more aches and pains with my running and find it to be much harder on my body than riding. I took me 5-6 hours to do my marathons and 9 1/2 hours to complete our century (about 7 hours of ride time-7,000 feet of climbing). It took WAY longer to completed an endurance event on the bike!! The "plus" was that I was able to walk normally after 100 miles-not so after running 26.2miles. The "down side" was that sitting after a century was very painful for me!!! Like I said, they are challenging in different ways. To be honest, I'm kinda "hooked" on the bike, which I've found to be much more "forgiving" on my aging body. While my running days are not over, I'm spending more time on the bike (can also do it with my husband-couldn't get him to run if his life depended on it !!!). Anyway, good luck!! I've found that a running background can really enhance your cycling. And yes, you can "hit a wall" in both running and cycling!!!

Blessings!
Susan

[Wahine]

Others may have different approaches, but on the longer rides I've done, I've tried to keep my stops short. On hilly rides especially, my legs tend to get really tight and heavy if I stop for more than a few minutes. At the Horsey Hundred, I made the mistake of stopping at every rest stop and hanging out for a bit. Not only did it make the day really long, but it made the next few miles after the stop pure torture. Since then, I get in and get out in as little time as possible. A lot of organized rides have very frequent SAGs. It's nice to know that they're there, but you don't necessarily have to stop at each of them IMO.

I agree with Indy, but I'm a horse of a slightly different colour. I'm training for IM right now and as part of my training I've done more than 6 rides in the last 2 months that were at least 6 hours in length. That has translated to as little as 75 miles (hilly and windy 6 hours) to as much as 107 miles (hilly but not wind and 7 hours of riding time, 7.5 hours total). My biggest problem is getting grumpy after a certain number of hours in the saddle. So I like to keep my day as short as possible by limiting my rest breaks. Having said that, I can ride a fair pitch for a long time and still be riding at a conversational pace. When you're riding at this intensity you don't need to break as often. If you're on a hilly ride and not used to it, you'll need your rest more often.

As for food and hydration, I have nothing to add there. I think everyone has covered the essentials. Set a eating schedule and stick to it. I eat 100 cal every half hour and drink nothing but electrolyte replacement. I take in at least one bottle of fluids per hour.

[wiseowl]

Thanks SO much to all of you. Super helpful. After reading these, I think I will scale back to train for 75 miles, but know that if the terrain is hillier than anticipated, I can bail to the 50 mile length. This particular ride has 25-50-75-100 mile loops. 6+ hours in the seat sounds like too much for me for this year, given the lateness with which I am starting real training, and this is a really scenic ride where I will probably be tempted to stroll along more than is good for a reasonable finish time. There is always next year...based on your replies I think I am certainly capable of a century in the future, just not this season.

[DDH]

I learned a lot from this thread too. Thanks for posting it.

You girls who can ride all these miles just ROCK!! You know that right.

I so want to get to the point to be able to do this someday. I just think a lot of weight has to come off first.

[Geonz]

One thing from the position of somebody who's been at those sag stops: if there's running water there, fill up the ol' camelBak... if not, try to do that somewhere where there's running water. A few of the big drains and suddenly you're running a rest stop with no water, calling the sag wagon and hoping they get there soon...

[lynnepin]

The goal is to consume about 40 – 60 grams of carbs/hour when riding.

Normally, this is about 1 or 2 helpings of goo/hour.

A cliff bar has about 48 grams of carbs.

A Gatorade has about 40 grams of carbs.

In addition, consume 1- 2 bottles of water/hour. More if it is very hot.

[Starfish]

On nutrition, I would also add that a little fat can help for the LONG haul of the day. The trick is to take it in VERY small bits so it doesn't slow you down. I like a couple bites of a payday bar, which has higher fat than energy bars. I also like to have a few almonds here and there.

[jobob]

I learned a lot from this thread too. Thanks for posting it.

You girls who can ride all these miles just ROCK!! You know that right.

I so want to get to the point to be able to do this someday. I just think a lot of weight has to come off first.

Hey Donna, we all have to start somewhere!
Here's a post of mine from Jan 1, 2004, with my goals for that year:

- Ride a metric century, either the Cinderella Classic at the end of March, or perhaps sooner than that, do the full length & back of the American River bike trail near Sacramento.

- Get to the point where a 50-60 mi ride isn’t a big deal for me. I'm about at that point with a 30 mile ride, so there's hope.

- Go by the 15 mph speed limit signs on the paths I ride without wistfully thinking “yeah I wish!”. At the very least, I'd like to be able to keep up with my husband (or maybe even start pushing *him*, heh).

- Meet the Bay Area members on this list (and, if I'm really lucky, learn from Kim how to tape handlebars)

- Maybe, maybe, maybe do a 100 mile century ride this year. A girl can dream.

Happy new year,
- Jo.

Some of these things took me more than a year to accomplish (like, getting faster than my husband), but I did, eventually.