Quote Originally Posted by tulip View Post
I'm doing my first century in April...and I have GOT to get myself on my bike more than I am. I've done 80 miles at a time, but not the full 100.

Here's my plan for the next two months:

spinning (1 hour) 2x week
bike rides 3 times during the week for 1.5-2 hours each time out
weekend bike ride of 3 hours (increasing to 4 by the the beginning of April)
another weekend bike ride of one hour easy recovery
pilates 3x week and yoga 2x per week (I do pilates in the morning and yoga in the evenings on alternate days)

During the ride, I'm going to take it slow at first. I'll drink every 15 minutes and munch on something every 30 minutes (powerbar or banana). I'll stop at all the sags and eat and drink, but not for too long and not too much.

I will focus on time and not distance or speed. On my longer rides, it has helped to focus on the drink-every-15-minutes. If it's hot, I find myself drinking alot more than that.
Tulip, if I could offer a few thoughts--unsoliticed. Your workout schedule is really intense--even to me, and I workout quite a bit, too. I'd suggest building in a bit more rest and recovery--in the very least in the week or two leading up to your century. Also, I would do long rides--if your schedule permits--on both Saturday and Sunday. Doing back to back long rides, at least in my experience and opinion, will help you build the endurance needed to do a century more comfortably. Assuming you do that, then use Monday or Tuesday to do an easy recovery ride. Also, I would try to do squeeze in at least one ride in the 70-75 mile range 2 to 3 weeks before your century. Finally, I would suggest drinking more frequently than every 15 minutes, even if it's not particularly hot.

And I'll share this for what it's worth: When I did my first century, I stopped at every SAG (I think there 6 or 7 of them). Usually not for long, but long enough. It was a hilly century, and I regretted stopping so frequently. My legs would get rock hard and it would take the first 5 to 10 miles after the stop to get loose again. On my next long ride, the SAGs were less frequent, and I actually felt a lot better. Just something to think about.

Good luck!