Petrified

[notsportygirl]

So, I'm dating a guy who wants to do the Century with some of his friends. I'd ride the 35 with another woman, which sounds reasonable...but I've never done anything remotely like this in my life, and never thought I could. I'm excited by the thought of expanding my ideas of what I'm capable of, but at the same time I don't want to attempt something way out of my league that's going to make me miserable. I have just less than a month to "train", if you can call it that. Am I insane to do anything over the 15?

I ride periodically, on my one-speed, vintage Schwinn...usually a 5-8 mile ride with one long, gradual, killer hill (I couldn't get up it for awhile with my one-speed, but now I can do it...though extremely slowly) and some smaller ones. I'm borrowing a friend's racing bike to train and do the ride with (so I have to learn about gears, too!).

My biggest concern (other than my basic out of shape-ness) is that I'm pretty sensitive to heat/sun...My head will sometimes feel all clogged when I have to exert myself, with pressure in my ears, and I'll get a headache. I'm hoping that's just a sign that I'm not hydrating enough, and not that I'm hopelessly out of shape. A good sign is that the last time I rode (8 miles), I brought water and a snackbar with me, and I felt like I could keep on going a lot longer. I didn't feel any muscle soreness when I got home or the day after. I have mild asthma, so sometimes my throat constricts a little on really hard hills, but then it let's up when I relax.

I just have no idea how 35 miles feels, and if your average, non-athletic, pasty white, mildly asthmatic girl can do it without training for months ahead of time. Is it possible? Any advice or encouragement would be great!