For many, the achievement mark of a 100 mile ride is a stepping stone they must take in their cycling career…for others…it is a way to get involved with the sport through large, organized activities (like charity bike rides) for a cause during the year. Either way…if you are working up to a long mileage road bike ride, century road rides are a great way to test your abilities and get more involved with the sport. So you have picked one in your area…what do you need to do to get ready for the road bike ride and how do you need to tackle the distance once you get there.

Preparing For A Century Road Bike Ride

In all reality, about the only thing you can really do to prepare for a 100 mile road bike ride is to put in some miles. I typically do not recommend that riders take on a century unless they have completed 60-70 mile road bike rides without too much issue. The last 30 miles on a century tests your will to keep the legs moving in a way that you really can not experience and overcome without some miles on your legs already. Before you take on the 100 mile route, get out with friends and complete 60-70 mile road bike rides to test your ability to go the distance. If all feels good (or you are just fearless)…go for it…

Luckily, all century road rides also leave you with mileage options (typically 20′s, 40′s and metric century/60′s mileage options), so you can be apart of the event even if you aren’t taking on the 100 mile. Additionally, century road rides are really well supported with SAG stops that provide nutrition and fluids to get you from point A to point B. If you get into trouble…help is not too far away. This makes century road rides the perfect avenue to test your distance abilities.

When you are ready get everything you need on a road ride and suit up for the long haul.

Century Road Rides: How I Ride The Distance

Everyone has their own strategy when it comes to century road rides. If you are shooting for a sub 4 hour on flat courses or sub 5 in the mountains, chances are you already know exactly what you are doing, so you guys are not really the focus here. The following tips and tricks for century road rides are how I personally attack the 100 mile ride.

Keeping Hydrated: Take In Fluids

I start every century ride with two bottles of water. The goal is to consume at least a bottle an hour during the entire ride. Towards the end of the ride, I normally take in more than that as stops at SAGs permit. The trick is to start drinking while you are getting ready and during the beginning stages of the ride when you feel like you really do not need to take in a lot of fluids. If you get to the point where you feel dehydrated 50 miles in, you are working from behind the 8 ball and that can get you into trouble. Two bottles…in most centuries…will get me to the SAG at around mile 50 which works out perfectly with the rest of the plan.

Once I have taken down the two bottles of water, I fill up one bottle with the drink mix provided at the SAGs to get sodium and one bottle with water to take care of my water craving while riding. From that point, I drink at least a bottle an hour and stop at one more SAG based off of that consumption/need.

Getting With The Right Group: Tear Off The Beginning Miles

On most century rides, I am not trying to tear off my best time possible. While there are groups that are trying to hit a time limit, 90% of the riders on the ride are trying to get to the finish in one piece. Now…as you already know…riding in a big group creates a lot less work on your end, so getting with a good, fast group from the very beginning can help you count down the beginning half of the ride much quicker with less energy expended.

When I start a century, I try to find a fast, organized, experienced group to latch onto for the first 50-60 miles. A lot of times, this group is averaging faster than I can sustain for the whole 100, but for the first half…I can use them to get to the first stop quickly. If you are comfortable with pulling (how to pull a pace line) and feel that you can do so without wasting yourself for the rest of the century, get out front and pull your own weight being careful not to waste energy you might need for the rest of the miles. Otherwise, just stick in the pace line (pace line tips) and let the others do the work for you.

Once you have let the strong group pull you for the first half of the route, refuel and find smaller groups you can work with to get to the end. If you have the muscle left, you can also try to stick with the smaller, faster section of the group that just broke up as well.

Nutrition: Keeping The Fuel Going

During long road bike rides, you are going to be burning a ton of calories and releasing a lot of salt. I always carry several packs of Margarita Cliff Bloks (3x sodium) to keep hunger at bay while also replenishing the salt in my body with something that is easy to eat while I pedal. At sag stops, an orange and bananas keep the legs moving throughout the ride. On most SAGs, you will also have sugars (cookies, crackers, etc) and other salt based foods, so you will have to test out what works best for your stomach/body. I generally do not like to eat anything to heavy so the fruits work the best for me.

Manage Your Fitness: Taking Care Of The Motor

Before you hit the century road bike ride, study the course and the overall distance (some are in the high 90′s in mileage while some others stretch into the low 100′s). The elevation change at the end and final miles are going to be some of the hardest, so you need to take that into consideration as you hammer out the rest of the route. Always be sure to keep enough in the tank for the end and focus on clean pedal strokes to get the most forward motion with the least amount of effort.

Century Road Bike Rides

Century rides can be a great experience or a complete disaster depending on how you deal with the ride. By keeping these things in mind as you hit the road, you can insure that you get the most out of the experience and figure out your own style of long distance road biking. In the end, these rides can be a great way to give back to a cause by participating in charity bike rides and spend time with new and old friends.

Image by Jon Wick

Why Should You Ride A Charity Bike Ride?

If you are new to the sport of road biking or are looking to increase your mileage limit for your road rides, charity bike rides are a perfect way to increase your fitness and test the limits of your riding with very little risk. Typically, if you are going to try your first century (100 miles or 160 km) or metric century (100 km or 62 miles), you are going to want to try to test your legs ability to go the distance on charity bike rides for several reasons (that you end up paying for with the entry fee):

Charity Bike Rides Are Well Supported

When you ride in an organized charity bike ride, about every 25 miles (if you are doing the century or metric) has a sag stop where you can refill bottles with water or other electrolyte drink, eat a snake (fruit, bananas, cookies), get a goo or two, use the restroom and get ready for the next leg of the ride. Unless you plan store stops into your long un-supported rides, you are never going to have pit stops as good as they are on organized road rides.

Charity Bike Rides Have Medical Support

While you are riding a charity bike ride, (I did the Hospitality Highway Century 2 years running) there are automobiles that sweep the course to make sure everyone is ok. If you get into redzone trouble, help is just a phone call or wave of the hand away, so you can get help or get picked up for a mechanical easily and quickly.

Charity Bike Rides Give Back To A Great Cause

By participating in a charity bike ride, you are giving your money and effort into raising awareness and funds for a good cause. With 1,000′s of road bikers showing up to some of these events, every rider counts in the push to make our sport and the cause better in the long run. Even when most events are now ranging around $45.00 to enter, at least you have a good idea of where that money is going and you end up getting a t-shirt out of the deal.

Where Can I Find Charity Bike Rides In My Area?

The #1 best place to find a charity bike ride in your area is your local bike shop. If they do not already have fliers available, just ask the guy behind the counter and he can point you in the right direction. If there are any local, organized cycling groups in your area, one of the board members will know and you can also check their forum site to see when the next organized charity ride is going on in your area.

What I found is that I actually really enjoy road biking. Will it ever replace the feeling of blasting down singletrack or hucking off a big drop uncertain of the surface below? No…but it does allow me to ride a lot more than I did in the past…and that is a good thing. On top of that…anyone that tells you that there is not a pucker factor to road downhills just is not riding fast enough!

I started my new road biking career with several goals in mind.

• Compete in a local crit.
• Rides the gaps in North Georgia.
• Get in better shape and improve my form for the mountain bike.

Now, I have all but given up on the local crit goal because I just don’t race enough to truly be competitive with those guys. Could I jump out there and try my best? Sure…but the competitive nature that lives deep inside my soul does not let me enjoy getting my ass handed to me like that, so…instead…I let the guys that normally run those races kick my ass on other rides. The third part of my goals started coming true after my third ride on the road bike. Once I got back on the mountain bike, I was in better shape and my pedal stroke form improve dramatically.

Until this weekend…there was only one goal for this year that I hadn’t touched to its full extent. I needed to ride the gaps in North Georgia. I had ridden several of these elevation monsters by themselves over the course of the year, but…to say you rode the gaps means you can not just do one and go home…you need to suck up the pain and hit multiple gaps in succession to truly call yourself a road bike rider in the southeast.

My North Georgia Gaps Ride

This past weekend, there was a large, organized century in the gaps that has taken place over the past 21 years. The original thought was to participate in that century (6 Gaps, 11,000+ feet of climbing over 102 miles), but time constraints due to Laurie having to pick up Roger from the airport and I had to get home because Jenn was leaving town negated the ability to hang out for the full ride. Instead, 4 of us (Me, Laurie, French and RLaz) decided to head up and make our own 5 Gap version that spanned over 66.5 miles with 7,500+ feet of climbing.

The Gaps are basically the peaks and valleys that circle the Chattahoochie National Forest in North Georgia. When you head up to this area on a road bike (also popular area for motorcycles and sports cars), you can basically expect to climb for miles and descend for miles. This area was also made famous for road bikers across the country (and world for that matter) by testing the strength of pro road cyclists in the Tour de Georgia. It is real mountain riding the way it was meant to be. That morning, I grabbed my Blue Nx7 ready for what was about to be a really long day in the saddle.

The morning started off beautifully. A recent flood that had hit Georgia had left clean roads and a cold front. For the first half of the ride, we were hammering out miles on semi-wet roads with great views as the sun broke up the moisture through the clouds. It was shaping up to be a perfect day on the bike as far as weather was concerned. Our first climb headed straight up and over Blood Mountain. My legs were fresh and we were motoring along at a great pace as we took in the sights. As we came blasting down the other side of Blood, I was having a blast riding the turns like a motorcycle without an engine. Big, sweeping, fast turns make it hard to keep your ego in check and ride within your limits. The temptation is to drop the hammer to see how much stress those skinny tires can actually take, but we had a lot of miles in front of us.

During the next part of the ride, I was seeing some familiar landscape. We were heading up to Brasstown Bald and this is an elevation profile that you have already seen on this site. I have done this ride a couple of times before, and…most recently…during my trip to Lake Chatuge. The Brasstown climb spans for several miles but without any extreme pitches, so you just settle in for the ride as you inch your way up the mountain. Once at the top, we…once again…blasted down the other side enjoying the payoff for all of that elevation gain. At this point, we were expecting the A group from the organized ride to catch our front wheel, but it didn’t happen until we peaked the climb. We must have been keeping an ok pace.

The Pain Begins – Hog Pen Gap

All of the rest of this ride is really irrelevant as we continued to go up and down. Irrelevant…until you hit Hog Pen Gap. Hog Pen sucks. I’ll just be as blunt as I can about it. If you can not tell which peak Hog Pen is on the elevation summary from my Garmin Edge 705 GPS, it is the one with the most elevation change that looks like an elevator. In all reality, I brought the wrong gear for this climb (that is my excuse and I’m sticking to it!). My rear cassette’s largest cog is only a measly 23T. While this is great for 99% of my riding, when it gets pitched up like it does on Hog…my bike can’t go under 7 mph without rolling backwards. As it turns out…my ideal speed on Hog Pen is more like 4 mph. What did this equal? A lot of stand and hammer climbing that made me have to stop several times to regenerate power. Luckily, I didn’t walk a single step of the climb, but I would have liked to not have to stop at all. Next time, I’ll have to bring up a larger cassette and go find my ego on the side of the road…where ever I left it out there. I think it is somewhere close to where one guy said “if my 52 year old ass with MS beats you up this climb…that is a bad thing.” Yeah…no shit…thanks for the encouragement! heh…its all good…I know what he was trying to do. I just wasn’t too happy at that moment.

Once at the top, you are greeted by screaming spectators with cow bells cheering you on. It is really surprising how deep you can go when you don’t want to look like the idiot standing next to his bike on the climb. It almost makes you forget that your teeth are tingling and you now have to go back down and find where you left your legs on the road. I am pretty sure my body was about ready to disown me at that point in time. Hog Pen is one of those that you hate while you are on it…but you are glad you did when the ride is done. It is climbs like that…that make you a better rider and stretch was you consider normal.

More miles were pedaled out and we eventually made our way back up and over Blood for the trip back to the car. On the way home, I stopped my McDonalds and picked up the greatest cheeseburger ever invented…the Double Cheeseburger hold the onions. I am pretty sure I earned the pleasure of stuffing a couple of those down my throat!

From Deep Inside the Cranium of 198

There are many riders out there that simply ask…why? Why would you go out and ride something that you know is going to absolutely kill you?

I start every year of my cycling career with the same goal. I want to expand what I consider normal riding in the quest to become a better cyclist. For this year, that meant getting on an unfamiliar bike and achieving the goals I had set for myself. Most of the time, these goals almost seem unattainable at first, but through increased spin time and hard work, I normally end up achieving them by year end. What I am left with is a greater appreciation for cycling and a more well rounded resume that helps me out on the trail. This past weekend, I was able to check another one off the list and for me…that is a great feeling of accomplishment. It was a “killer” ride and I had a blast flying down the mountain descents. Now…I just need to sign up for the whole 100+ and rock it out next year.

All of the pictures that have “Chocolate Girl Photography” in the bottom right hand corner were taken by Laurie (mylifeonabike.com).
Summaries captured with the Garmin 705.

After a quick post on a local forum, I had a gpx file uploaded to the 705 and I was ready to head out on my early solo ride. I hit the road at about 6:30 in the morning to beat the heat and be back in time for pancakes. Leaving in the early morning in the mountains is surreal. The fog is lifting off the lake and into the mountain range as the sun tries to break the clouds and rise. This situation creates a red and orange glow around everything as you hear your breath and heart pump out the pedal strokes. The early mornings in mountain towns are crazy quiet. You are really able to concentrate on the road ahead while at the same time clear your mind and enjoy the ride.

Circling The Bald – Brasstown Bald – Hiawassee, GA

I started off feeling fantastic and settled in for a spin. Having never done this route before (or any road riding in this area for that matter), I was not sure what to expect. All I knew was that there was going to be one long climb and a total of 3,000 of elevation gain. I tried to settle in a pace that would leave me with some in reserve in case I needed it. When you don’t know exactly where you are going, it is always good to leave some “getting home” juice in the tank in case something does not go as planned.

The ride started off on a large 4 lane road and eventually broke off onto the twisty mountain roads that circle this area. As I pulled off on the first turn, about 1/4 mile in I saw this scene to the right. The sun was just breaking the mountains so I had to stop and take a picture with my iPhone.

One of the beauties of riding by yourself is the ability to really enjoy being outdoors. You are your only competition as you spin through the mountains, so when you see things like this…you can really stop to enjoy it for a second. When you ride through the back roads of the north Georgia mountains, you get to see some houses, animals and junk cars that you really can’t see anywhere else. I would stop and take pictures of all of them, but then the ride would take all day. It is interesting to see the contrast in how people live out in the mountains. There is a drastic difference even between neighbors and that makes for an interesting backdrop as you continue your ride.

I continued to wind around the turn filled roads until I eventually came to the long climb that I knew was on the horizon. I used a combination of sit and stand climbing and kept a pretty good pace all the way to the top. I was actually up a lot faster than I thought I would be as I saw the Brasstown Bald sign slowly get closer. Once at the top, I took a quick picture of the bike and got ready for the descent. Right next the road, there was a sign that read…”steep grade…trucks use low gear”…so I knew I was about to have some fun.

And have fun I did! This was the longest, fastest road downhill I have done to date. With a top speed of a shy over 50 mph, I was entirely tucked and spinning out for several miles of s turn filled mountain road. I would have been able to tick the mph up a little bit more, but with my current gear ratio, I was tapped out. A larger big ring might be needed if I plan to hit more roads like this one. It really was a blast. Very rarely do I have to think on road downhills, but this time…I was picturing myself as a Formula 1 racer just ripping up the street. It was a great ride.

The rest of the ride back to the driveway was pretty bland in comparison as I road through the town of Hiawassee and back to the house. At the end of the ride I had completed 3,031 feet of climbing over 37 miles with an average moving speed of 17.3 mph. I was incredibly happy with the stats seeing as I was out there by myself without any draft.

I thought this was a mountain biking site!

I know what you are thinking…why the hell is he out on this skinny tired machine so much these days? As this ride has proved, the road biking I am putting in lately has drastically improved my endurance for all aspects of cycling. Several months ago, there is no way I would have been able to complete this ride in that amount of time. The time I have been spending on the road bike has brought my mountain biking to new levels as I have a much bigger endurance base to pull from and this allows me to pull off tech riding on the mtb much easier. Ever have those rides that you wish you could have hit those last dh’s harder or those technical obstacles late in the ride, but you were just too tired to do it? Road biking can bring your endurance to the point that you are hitting those trail features just as hard at the end as you were in the beginning. That was my goal with the light, skinny tired sled and so far…it is paying off in spades…

Anyways…the increased road riding has given me the time to really test out the mapping features on the new Garmin Edge 705. A couple of friends of mine decided that they wanted to try out a new route on Monday that was a charity ride in our area. Normally, I hate doing new routes or trails without the aid of someone who has ridden it before. I am not a fan of wasting time with a map as we try to figure out if we are actually lost or the next turn is really just at the end of that next hill. Some like the adventure of that kind of riding…I just like to ride. With road routes, you have the increased stress of traffic and even when it is a known route (like this one was for a charity ride with multiple mileage options), you won’t know if it is well marked until you get there.

Google Maps and Garmin GPX

View Larger Map
Jeremy went to the ride site and found the Google map (zoom out on map above to see route) that gave the exact turn by turn directions for the route. Sweet! At least we have a map! As I sat there starring at the Google Map, the thought occurred to me…there has to be someway to get that map on the Garmin Edge 705. With the 705, you have to export maps, like the Google Map, to a GPX file that the Garmin can read as a course. Luckily, this Garmin came with the street mapping accessory, so I would be able to get turn by turn directions as we rode.

Problem #1 – As it turns out…Google likes to keep their maps pretty close to the chest, so there is no export option…what you see is what you get.

Solution #1 – With a simple Google search (the irony!), I was able to find a java script code that would take the map you see above and turn it into a GPX format! Sweet! You can find the code here. All you do is drag that simple code to your bookmarks bar and when you are on the page of your Google Map route…click the GMAPtoGPX link in your bar. When that new window shows up, click the full button. Take that code and save it in a text editor as routename.gpx. Once you have that file, upload it into your Garmin Edge 705′s GPX folder and you will be able to load the route and get turn by turn directions. It is really that easy.

The Road Ride with the Garmin Edge 705

Having done this for the first time, there are some things I am going to do differently next time around.

Modify Google Map – For this route, I did not modify the Google Map to our actual starting point. I left the official route loaded. Now, I was able to start the timer on the Edge 705 to record the entire ride, and the turn by turn directions started as soon as we hit the route…but it is very easy to modify the original route.

Change Settings – In its current configuration, the Garmin Edge 705 beeps every time you turn. This is perfect for when a turn is coming up as it alerts you without the need to stare at your stem the entire ride, but it also beeps when you change compass directions. I need to dig into the settings and see if there is a way to turn off the beeping for the compass heading changes. It can get annoying to hear something off your bike every time the road bends.

Other than that…everything worked perfectly. We had a great ride on a new route without having to wonder where the next turn was or look at a paper map. We didn’t escape the rain though as we ended the last 5 miles in traffic and complete down pour. Oh well…at least we were out riding…

Side note: There are two sites that I currently use to upload data from Garmin units…Garmin Connect and Motion Based. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses and I am going to get into that specifically in a future post. The screen shot above is from Motion Based.