Newbie prepping for a century

clarancebulford

Outside of occasional mountain biking and spin classes, I’m a total newbie looking to buy a road bike to ride a century with family.
At 5’3”, the local bike store said I’d likely need a 48, S women’s or XS unisex.
I’m a relatively active person, but would love your training tips for a century (my longest ride has been ~40 miles).
Would also love recs for great bikes (<$1k). Recs for shoes, affordable bike computers, and anything else you particularly love would be amazing as well!
I’m just trying to learn everything I can! Thanks

brundonbianchi

Make sure what you’re wearing is comfortable. Pace yourself, eat before you feel hungry, drink before you feel thirsty. Eat and drink little and often. Try and pick a route that’s interesting, 100 miles of mostly dull grey tarmac will make it more of a chore than an enjoyable experience. It’s often easier if you make your way to a point 100 miles away from where you want to end up, then ride back. If you can’t do that ( because of COVID restrictions and so on ) then you’ll probably find circular routes tend to be less of a mental work up than out and backs. Most normal average cyclists will find they can store about 2 hours of Glycogen ( easy fuel ) in their muscles and liver, when riding at a pace that’s comfortable for them, learn how to ride in a manner that eeks your stores of glycogen out, preserves them for as long as possible, and work out what you can eat that you like (bringing a load of gels or whatever that you find are a chore to eat is not a great idea). Don’t overthink it, most people find that it’s far easier with a buddy / group. Enjoy it. Bring enough clothing with you with a mind to if / when you find yourself stopped with a mechanical issue, rather than while you’re riding along, it’s scary how quickly a warm cyclist can cool down and get into difficulty regarding ‘exposure’ especially at this time of year, something like a pair of arm warmers and / or leg warmers that can be stashed in a jersey pocket are a good idea. If you’re riding your century at this time of year, get some lights that will enable you to see adequately as well as be seen, as it’s all to easy to find yourself running out of daylight.