A century ride (100 miles) is a major accomplishment for a cyclist. Below is a week-by-week training plan that will help you reach that goal of riding your bike a hundred miles in one day.
Training Concepts
- The main principle of training for a century is to increase your milage gradually over a number of weeks. By doing it that way, you help avoid injury, burnout and over-fatigue. Plus you will also be able to detect any issues with your body or your bike that you want to discover before the big day.
- To set in motion your training plan, pick a known date for your century ride and count back from there to determine your start point. This ten-week training plan below assumes you are in shape at the start to be able to ride 20 miles comfortably. That's a two-hour ride at a very easy 10-12 mph pace. If this is more than where you are, consider a metric century (100 km/62 miles) as another potential goal.
- The best way to learn training, hydration and eating tips is to ride with people who have done it before, but you can certainly do it on your own.
- As you prepare, aim for the targets as laid out in the table below to get you ready. It shows the distance of your longest ride each week(typically on a Saturday or Sunday) plus a cumulative milage total for the week that you reach with your other riding.
Century Training Plan
Century Training Plan Week Length of Long Ride Total Miles/Week 1 25 55 2 30 65 3 35 73 4 40 81 5 45 90 6 50 99 7 57 110 8 65 122 9 50 75 10 Century Ride Yeah!
