Long distance rides question..

[Crankin]

I sort of did the same thing. This summer I never did any rides over 50-60 miles and I did a century in September, with no special training. The day I wanted to do a longer ride of 80 miles, I was sick. I had never ridden more than 70. But my rides include a lot of climbing and the century I did was fairly flat. The last ten miles were very hard, but it was more because of the 30 mph headwinds and a freakish microburst of very cold rain.

[CR400]

Ok first off I did I see you are from the southern hemishpere? Then It is summer and you are able to ride more, even in the heat. So adding on the ability to do a 100k next month is not a problem. You may even want to consider that ride in September, it gives you almost 9 months to build your riding distance. It's easier to do in metric numbers then in English units because when we say a hundred miles it means for most people 6 to 8 hours in the saddle or more.Where it is much closer to what you will see distance wise to the 200k. So you only have to prepare your body for 3 and a half to 5 and a half hours depending on your speed and the conditions. As far as getting your body ready to sit in that saddle that long don't worry about it you will adjust. Part of being a cyclist is being able to ignore all but the pain that means you had better stop or you will need medical attention.

[Geonz]

The solution to the speed problem for the rides around here is simple: start earlier. (Most of our long rides don't have a mass start.)

I've also heard the "Rule of 3" and it makes sense to me: on a supported ride you can go 3 times as far as you can go on a "regular" daily ride.

Generally, the people who worry about whether they can do it most don't need to worry

What I would do is start with the 100km - pace yourself and see how it goes. Then think about the 200 and the 250. Of course, 200 km feels like ten times as long 'cause you've already done 100kmwhen you started! As somebody already said, though, at a certain point the seat's most important.