Another distance/hill judgement question

[teigyr]

I am mixed on my opinion on this so I wanted to see what other people thought.

DH and I are registered for the Tour de Cure in Redmond, WA on 5/19. He has only been able to ride once a week and is up to 50 miles. I am at the same max distance but am doing consecutive mile days and am ok with it. I also have a stronger cycling training base than he does but he is an athletic person in different ways (hiking and baseball). We've done little to no hill training. What we have done is a hill that is 1.4 miles long, 313 elev. gain with a max of 12% and average gradient of 4%. The whole hill is 4.5 miles long and does have a few more climbs but I don't have numbers on it. On sunday, we'll go out for 60 miles and do that hill twice (the 4.5 miles, not 1.4); on the course there are a few short hills also but nothing major.

So on the ride, the options are: 70 miles with 3300', 45 with 2300', or 20 with 750'. We'll drive the courses this weekend to see what's up with them. If the hills are gradual, we will have no problem. We can do the distance, I think, it is just the hills that worry me.

I'm up to riding 125 miles a week, also.

Are we completely undertrained? I want to be challenged but also don't want any injuries, especially with DH. My most difficult ride ever was 50 miles and 5000' elev so I know what those climbs can be like

[tprevost]

seems like you should be able to complete any of those options provided you pace yourselves well and hydrate and eat properly Don't forget to post a ride report!

[teigyr]

Thanks for your optimism! I hope so. We're going to see how it goes on sunday. I was looking at the distance and elevation on other hills and maybe I'm overthinking it. Keep in mind I'm on a double though it's a compact double! I also recently changed the rear cassette to 13-29 because the 12-25 was a wee bit painful sometimes.

I don't know. Part of me thinks it's impossible and part of me wants to look at it positively and go for it. I don't mind being tired or in pain, I guess what worries me is not having the strength to make it up a hill.