Training for a century?!

[tygab]

Thank you for your .02 cents worth. Unfortunately not all of us can afford a new bike and I have seen some expensive road bikes. Plus, I have carpal tunnel and cannot use drop handlebars. I guess now I am feeling discouraged about doing longer rides because it seems that everyone thinks they can only be done on road bikes. I have ridden 20+ miles on my hybrid in an afternoon ride and the only discomfort I have had has been my seat, which I changed out. And yes I live in Florida, so I guess our bridges do not count as “hills”. But they are still a challenge. I guess I will keep training for the MS150 because it is a major goal I have set for myself, but some encouragement would be nice.

I'm sorry if you took my answer as not encouraging. I am sure you can ride a century on a hybrid. But you wanted to know why many people prefer road bikes for longer distances, and I tried to outline some reasons... I commend you for setting a goal to ride the MS150; I think you will get a great deal out of it, and it will be a tremendous accomplishment. I have seen people riding long distance rides on hybrids successfully.

[wildhawk]

Thanks for the encouragement. I am just getting back into riding and I was feeling overwhelmed by all of the long distance threads I have been reading - this site is amazing with amazing riders! However, we are on a very tight budget and cannot afford to upgrade. Plus, I love my hybrid - it is by far the best bike I have ever owned. Riding is great stress relief and I really need that - especially after a hard week at work. Last year at this time I was diagnosed with benign positional vertigo and when I went in for my annual checkup the doctor discovered an irregular EKG - sent me for heart tests and we found out that one of my arteries was nearly completely blocked. After recovering from stent surgery, I was told to become more active and walking and biking was recommended. I figure if I can do something healthy for myself such as biking, why not make it count and help out others? So I started looking up charity rides - my husband has always wanted to complete the MS150 again (he had ridden it years ago) so we set that as a long term goal. He is also training on a hybrid. I understand the reasons why road bikes are preferred, I just can’t afford one right now. Best of luck to you all in your riding endeavors and thanks for the kind words.

[PscyclePath]

I have a hybrid and I am training for the MS150 next spring. I am curious why I see so many of you switching to road bikes and not riding centuries on hybrids. Is there something I should know about?

Riding the Hotter 'n Hell Hundred last weekend, I saw Folks riding just about every kind of bike... triathlon/TT bikes, road bikes of almost every flavor, hybrids, recumbents, tricycles, fixed-gears, mountain bikes, you name it. And they all made it through Hell's Gate, and on to the finish.

The best bike to ride is probably the bike you have, provided that you're comfortable and confident on that bike. I tend to use my road bike for these sorts of events, mostly to hang with the group I'm riding with, who are on road bikes... it's lighter and faster, takes less energy to motor along, and it's very comfortable. But I do my day to day riding and training on my steel tourer/commuters, and so when I move to the road bike, I feel like I can nearly fly ;-)

tom

[Thorn]

Wildhawk, you want to be riding the bike that makes you happy. If it makes you happy, you'll ride it more; if you ride it more...well, that's what the doctor ordered.

If at some point you want to travel a little easier, you might want to look at this other thread ( http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ghlight=slicks ). Tires make a difference, particularly if your hybrid was configured for trail. Consider it a face lift for your bike--it will still be your trusted steed, just with a new pair of "dancin' shoes".

[wildhawk]

Thanks Pscylepath and Thorn. I checked out the other thread and I will look into getting some new shoes for my trusty bike. My hubby’s bike has knobbier tires than mine and it does make a difference. He had switched from Old Blue - his trusty old drop handle, ten speed racer, to his new hybrid so it was quite a change for him. He does love the fact that he can now ride on hard pack trail as well as paved trail - but the speed is the biggest difference for him. I had switched from my mountain bike which was never fitted to me (I bought it on a whim and it was the wrong size) to my new hybrid in 2001, but barely got 100 mi. on it when my knee went bad. So the bike just sat in our living room for several years while I spent most of my time recovering with walking only. So my bike is practically new, but yet, still an older bike. We had our local bike shop go over it stem to stern and tune it up before riding it again. I will ask my bike shop guy about the slicks. You folks are the best!!!

[TrekTheKaty]

It's Cunningham Air (I'm in the aviation industry). Thank you everyone!