Planning a Century Bike Ride Route
by Dr. Kurt Grabfelder on August 20, 2014 in Adventure Cycling, Dr. Kurt Grabfelder
Completing a 100 mile century ride on a bike is something cyclists start thinking about doing shortly after they find out that there are people who will ride that far on purpose. First, the cyclists think ‘why’, and then start to think ‘why not’. He starts to take his average speed on his longer rides and extrapolate that out to 100 miles, maybe then he goes back to thinking ‘why’, but soon is again thinking ‘why not’.
How to go about planning a century ride can be intimidating and raises many questions:
Is it best to sign up for an organized charity ride, travel to the start location and pay an entrance fee?
What if you get lost on unfamiliar roads?
Will the course have too many of those nasty things called hills?
Could it be better to plan a route close to home and do the ride with your friends?
Below, is my experience planning the first of three century routes and some suggestions on how to plan your own.
When I lived in the Endless Mountains of northeast Pennsylvania, I rode with a small group of bikers who were around 50 years old. We would get together Sunday mornings and ride. Sometimes we would do 40 or 50 miles, but mostly our time constraints kept us to two hours of riding and 30 mile routes. Most of us were able to get in one or two additional rides during the week. Basically, we were a group of casual recreational riders who decided to do a century.
Our goal was not to set any records or climb a bunch of mountains, but to ride 100 miles and prove to ourselves that we could do it. We set a date, far enough in advance, so that we could prepare ourselves and plan a route. We decided to ride the roads that we were familiar with, which would be less intimidating and make planning easier.
The first leg of the century was 25 miles to our favorite convenience store, which became the ride’s home base. The next leg of the route would leave the store and go 20 miles out and back on a familiar road, with a chance to rest and have a snack at the turn around point. I knew I needed another 30 miles for the third part of the ride, so I planned to go out and back on another road, with a break for lunch somewhere near mile 60. The final portion would be the 25 miles from the convenience store back to my place, where refreshments on the back porch were planned.
The ride went well, the weather cooperated, we all stayed together and we all finished. Here are some of the key points that made this ride a success:
We had a small group of friends who had ridden together for several years. We were used to riding together, we worked well as a group, and we encouraged each other.
We set a goal: to complete a century ride. We planned a route to meet that goal. Although it wasn’t easy in our mountainous area, we chose flattish, familiar roads, so we knew what to expect.
The route incorporated convenience stores where we could rest and replenish our drinks and food. This helped to minimize the supplies we needed to carry with us.
We planned the route on familiar roads that kept us fairly close to home.
The ride was broken into shorter segments, which we had done previously on our Sunday rides. We knew each segment was doable.
If you are thinking of doing a long challenging ride, maybe a full century or a 62 mile metric century, and want to plan your own route, try some of the these suggestions. Hopefully, they will make your ride a success.
Most importantly, get out, ride and enjoy the day.