Catrin, I've changed my fitness goals often enough, which I am certain most cyclists do, so if you decide you are unable to do the brevet it isn't a big deal as most of us have reached similar conclusions in prior years, and adjusted accordingly.

The brevet you want to do is in October, which means the weather will be different and most likely the winds will be stronger and show up earlier. A 125-mile ride with a lot of wind could be similar to a 200-mile ride without wind, if you want to think of it in those terms.

I've done a lot of long rides this year, but my favorite distance remains the metric century of 60-80 miles. If I was faster, or had a group where I could draft and gain speed, I could complete a century before the wind popped up. But since I bike most of the event rides by myself or with just 1-2 friends (who can't do a paceline for anything) I can't complete a century before the wind starts blowing in my face. Cycling the last miles of a full century is never very fun for me, whereas cycling a metric century is complete and total fun. On the other hand, the cylists with impressive average speeds can zip through a century and be back before the wind is a problem.

It is why I keep suggesting that you sign up and do a full century. Once you do a full century you will have a clue about what it will be like to do a 125-mile brevet, and whether it is anything you even want to do.

Also, at this time of year, after months of cycling, fatigue can really set in. The body badly needs 1-2 weeks of rest so the muscles can heal. It is why I do my longer rides in the spring and early summer when I am fresh, then taper off to the metrics or shorter rides as the year advances. You might have reached the stage of needing 1-2 weeks off the bike, and that is what you are experiencing now.

Another nice aspect of the charity ride events over the brevets is that the event rides will typically have 3 distance choices, the full century, a metric century of 60-80 miles and a shorter route of 30-50 miles. You can sign up for the event and on the day of the ride if you can't do the century then do the metric, or if the weather is bad do the short route. Some cyclists don't even make up their minds until the century diverges off the main route. Most cyclists who do the metrics are fully capable of doing a century, but they prefer the metric because it is such a nicer distance to bike.