4 Ways to Speed Up Your Century Ride

It's critical that you put in 3-4 months of solid training for your organized century ride. But the preparation doesn't stop there.

After all, your day could be spoiled—and your PR hopes dashed—by any number of mistakes you make in the course of the 100-mile journey.

John Hughes is a cycling coach and the author of Distance Cycling: Your Complete Guide to Endurance Cycling. Recently, he presented a Human Kinetics webinar on training for a long-distance event like a century ride. In it, he touches on four things you need to do during the course of the ride to make sure you are able to pedal strong across the finish line.

Here they are:

More: 12 Common Century Ride Mistakes

Nutrition

Hughes sums it up quite well.

"The first thing is to eat," he says. "The second thing is to keep eating."

Century rides can be derailed by a lack of nutrition. You are on the bike for too long. Your body needs fuel. This, Hughes says, is the number one thing you must do during a ride.

Hughes recommends 240-360 calories of mixed carbohydrates per hour. You can use your training rides to figure out what works for you as far as eating goes.

As for drinking? "Drink to satisfy your thirst, but not more," Hughes said.

More: 4 Century Ride Nutrition Tips

Pacing

What's nice about an organized century rides as that there are groups going at different paces throughout the course. One of those groups is a great fit for you.

"Don't get caught up in the excitement," Hughes said. "You'll see people going really fast. Listen to your body or pay attention to your heart rate monitor.

"If you're struggling to hang with a group, it's probably not the right group. Just back off a little. The right group is probably behind you."

Keeping a good pace will pay off at the end of the ride, no matter what your adrenaline is telling you early on.

More: Preparing for a Hilly Century

Time Management

If you're truly shooting for a good completion time for your century, you need to make sure you're chipping away at the route almost the entire time.

Rest stops are fine and helpful, but don't get too comfortable.

"A good goal is 15 minutes off the bike, total," Hughes said. "It's doable. You've got to be organized and multi-task. Don't sit and socialize. Don't think of the stops as rest stops."

More: 6 Tips for Century Ride Rookies

Short-Term Goals

Keeping your mind right goes a long ways. One way to do that is keep your eye OFF the prize and instead divide the 100 miles into little chunks.

"During any rides of 100 miles or longer, It's pretty hard to stay focused," Hughes said. "It seems a long time away. If you focus on getting to the next rest stop or aid station in so many hours or minutes, or something like that, you really start to move down the road."

Don't think about how far it is to the finish, and you'll get there with your mind strong, your legs in tact and a new PR in your pocket.

More: How to Successfully Complete a Century

Ready to ride? Search for a century ride near you.

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For more insight from coach John Hughes, check out his work on RoadBikeRider.com or Coach-Hughes.com.