Possible to train for a century when you can only ride 2 or 3 days a week

[ny biker]

I usually one ride twice a week, with one long ride on the weekend and one shorter ride mid-week, usually Wednesdays after work. The mid-week ride is generally only 15-18 miles long but it's hilly.

I would seriously consider a mid-week trainer workout if I could only ride outside on weekends.

[indysteel]

I used to do a lot of back-to-back long rides most Saturdays and Sundays. That was the bulk of my endurance event training--and I mostly did just fine during those events. While I did ride during the week, those rides were mostly shorter and faster. Regardless, you should ideally get to a point where you can ride 75-80 miles comfortably before doing a century.

But choosing the right century helps as others have said. Make sure there isn't a time limit that you can't easily meet. If the century is likely to be hilly and/or windy; that's fine, but you have to train for those conditions. My first century was hilly. It was challenging, but I did it. Heat is a factor, too. Doing a 100 miles on a 90-degree day with high humidity is tough, even for seasoned people.

[tealtreak]

Add intensity if you don't have time for length! I had a blast on the Cap to Cap Century (flat) with so little time to "train" it was borderline crazy. In the 2 months before I did follow Chris Carmichael's idea (not his actual training plan) from "Time Crunched Cyclist" to do intense intervals, hill repeats etc to make the most of the few hours I had to ride. I was pleasantly surprised with my time and how fun/easy it was...in retrospect I probably over did the hill repeats but I am now having some super fun pay off mountain biking ease in Charlottesville (: