Century Ride Strategy

Century Ride Strategy

Now that you've decided to do a Century, are you're just going to show up and ride without a strategy?  Bad idea.  Athletic events require a strategy in order to maximize your effort and minimize your chances of failure.

Professional football teams approach each game with a strategy.  That's because they evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses, and how they'll match up against a particular opponent.

A Century ride is no different.  Your team (you) is competing against a 100 mile ride (the opponent), and you need to assess how you're going to conquer it.  Using the football analogy, the best strategy for a Century is to break the ride down into 4 quarters.  Each of the 4 quarters requires a different approach in order to be successful.  This is something that you'll learn from experience.

1st Quarter

You've gotten up early; made it to the ride on time; got your bike ready to go; and now your off on the course.  But wait.  Here's what you're not thinking about.  You didn't get a full night's sleep; your body's not used to starting a ride this early in the morning; and you probably didn't have your normal breakfast.  So now you plan on riding 100 miles real fast?

Here is the single most important advice for riding a Century - Do not start out riding faster than your normal, comfortable pace. You will be all amped up, and ready to go fast out of the gate.  Don't do it.

As soon as you start riding, someone faster than you is going to pass, and you are going to speed up to stay with them.  Don't do it.  The reason they passed you is because they are faster than you.  Live with it.  In any cycling event there will be people faster than you and slower than you.  Do not worry about any of them.  Worry about you.  They will not push you up the hill on mile 88 when you're wiped out from starting out too fast.

Your goal for the first quarter is to warm up.  That's right, this is a 25 mile warm-up.  You won't reach the first rest stop for an hour and a half (or more).  Take this 90+ minutes to get your legs loosened up and enjoy the scenery.  You don't want to race to the first rest stop and arrive exhausted.  This will most likely ruin the remainder of your day.

It's also very important to get out of the saddle as much as possible during the first quarter.  Your legs have a limited amount of energy for the day, and your bum has a limited number of hours that it can tolerate a saddle.  If you wait until later in the ride to start standing (when you become sore), the damage has already been done, and the soreness will not cease until you take a hot bath at home.

When you reach the first rest stop, take advantage of the bananas, sports drink and other energy foods.  This snack is very important to fuel your muscles.  Even though you may not be hungry, do not skip the food here.  Eat something.

2nd Quarter

A 50 mile ride is an accomplishment in itself, and it's probably closer to the distance you regularly ride, than a Century is.  So treat the first 50 miles as a separate ride that you want to finish strong, without pain.

Your goal in the second quarter is to make it to halftime without soreness. You need to be very cognizant of anything that just doesn't feel right. And the 2nd quarter is when you'll begin to notice things. 

If your toe is squished in your shoe, or you're beginning to get saddle sore; these things need to be addressed.  Any slight irritation in the 2nd quarter, is going to become more pronounced as the day goes on.  Fortunately, the 50 mile mark is back at the High School, where you can make adjustments.  You can put a band-aid on your toe, or apply chamois cream to alleviate soreness.

And remember to get out of the saddle as much as possible.  Stand when climbing; lift up while descending; slide forward and backward whenever you can.  If you don't do this during the first half of the ride, the second half will let you know.

At the halfway point, fuel-up with food and drinks.  Change clothes if necessary, and get ready for another 50 mile ride.  Just be sure you don't get too comfortable and rest too long.  Fifteen to twenty minutes is okay.  Thirty minutes or more, and your muscles may tighten up.

3rd Quarter

Now that you've convinced yourself to do another 50 miles, it's time to get going.  You'll probably be a bit tired and need a little encouragement.  We've got just the answer.

Consider the 3rd quarter, the "tomato sandwich ride".  Your goal is to make it to mile 78 where the world's greatest sandwiches are served.  It can't be explained, only experienced.  For some reason, tomato sandwiches (with cucumbers and other stuff) are the most delicious, refreshing, invigorating, food that you'll ever have.  After hours of riding, they hit the spot, and give you that extra burst of energy that you'll need to finish.

Also, there's something very psychological about being less than 25 miles from the finish.  Once you've reached the sandwiches at mile 78, you're practically home.

During the 3rd quarter, consider taking breaks more often.  For example, stop every 10 miles for 5 minutes and have a drink.  Getting out of the saddle and stretching for just a few minutes, will go a long way in making the second half of your ride more comfortable.

4th Quarter

It's often said that the 4th quarter of a Century is both the hardest and easiest part.  It's hardest because you'll have cycled a distance, that you may never have gone before.  It's easiest because you're on the home stretch, and "nothings gonna stop you now".

Any mistakes that you made earlier in the day or any soreness that you feel, can't be corrected at this point in the ride.  You've just got to gut it out with whatever you can give.  Your adrenaline will take over and you'll begin to stare.  You won't be staring out into space, but you'll be staring at your odometer.

Only 22 miles to go, only 17 miles to go, only 12 miles to go...  The counting will continue to the very end.  And you know what, you'll begin to forget about your pain - it no longer exists.  The only thing you can think about is the finish line.

As you roll through those last remaining miles - 6 miles to go, 3 miles to go, 1 mile to go..., you'll realize what an incredible accomplishment you're about to achieve.  Very shortly, your odometer will read "100 miles".  

Yes you've done it - 100 miles. And you can brag about it for years to come.  Now go celebrate, you've earned it!