Quote Originally Posted by makbike View Post
Slowly increase your mileage by about 10 - 15% each week. Work toward long rides on the weekends. Do you know what the terrain of the century will be? If it is hilly make sure you incorporate hills into your training rides. I found it helpful to keep a riding log (bikejournal) for it allowed me to see the progress I was making as I worked toward my first century. Since it is an organized ride make sure you learn to ride in a group. See if your local bike club offers a "new rider clinic."

Think of your century as being 4 twenty-five mile rides back to back. If this is an organized ride they should have SAG stops about every 20-25 miles. Keep your stops short but long enough to get off your bike, grab something to eat/drink and visit the restrooms. I try to keep my stops around 15 minutes or so. If they have a true lunch stop keep it to about 30 minutes.

The biggest thing to remember is to have fun! It is no a race so ride your ride. Don't allow yourself to get caught up in a pace you can't maintain throughout the day. If you start out to fast you will be dead early in the day.

Hope this helps. Just know once your are bitten by the "century bug" you will be infected for the rest of your life! It is a great infection to have.
Makbike,

I LOVE SWISS ROLLS TOO! haha

Anyways, when you say increase 10-15% per week, do you mean if I am riding 20 miles, three times a week and then doing a 25 miler on that weekend, the next week I should ride 22-23 miles during training rides and 27-29 miles on the longer weekend ride? Is this correct?

Jen