42 miles...Should I?

[goldfinch]

I did my first long ride as a charity ride with a group after riding about five/six months. It was 48 miles. I also used a hybrid bike but put slick tires on it. I worked up to it, my longest ride was about three weeks before the charity ride, at 37 miles. It was a tough ride for me and I ended up riding alone most of the time because I am slow. Having the rest stops with food and water helped tremendously. The ride was flat and there was almost no wind, which also helped a lot. I also was helped by the fact that there was a 25 mile group that started after my group so there were plenty of people around and it wasn't like I was the last person to the rest area, coming in late and discovering that all the food was gone. My ride had a recommendation that you be able to average at least 12mph, otherwise you might not finish before the rest areas closed. I wasn't quite averaging that speed before I did the ride. But riding a group ride does make you faster so I averaged above 12mph, actually close to 13mph.

My rear end got a bit sore and I certainly was glad to have bike shorts.

I am much older than you and totally lacked any fitness when I started biking . So, for me I seriously doubt that I could have ridden 40 plus miles without having ramped up slowly over several months. I think a younger person who is more fit might be able to bully there way through such a ride. Or not. You might end up being just too uncomfortable on the bike with that length of time in the saddle. I agree with those who suggest trying out a 30 mile asap and see how it goes. It is simply too hard for us to guess whether the ride makes sense for you. I remember that you had problems with the fit of your bike only a few weeks ago and your bike isn't quite the right size. That might also be a limiting factor for you that could show up on a longer ride.

Training for the metric is a great goal! I did my first metric this June and was in good shape for it. It made the ride a lot more fun than my ride last fall.

[marni]

in addition to all of the good advice you have had so far, and regardless of whichever ride you decide to do, bear in mind that once you have the right shorts, the right fit a way to carry adequate hydration and nutrition, it's all about TITS time. Build up the time that you can spend in the saddle between breaks. This should also, obviously, lengthen the distance between stops. Depending on the speed you can achieve, this can mean the ability to ride 20-30 miles at a shot between stops. Sometimes the saddle time is almost as important as speed.