The Chainlink

Somehow I ended up riding 75 miles yesterday -- a new personal best.  I think I could have kept going, but it was dark and I was out of snacks.  I'm now convinced I can pull off a century, especially if it were organized so I'm not carrying locks, food, tools around like normal.  As a frame of reference, I thought I was going to die after a 20 mile ride this Spring.  

How far have others pushed themselves?  

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Hey joel,

keep up the work, yes, you can do a century... once I started hitting 50 miles, 100 was not so hard.

This year I've had issues and about my best is 70 miles, not so much the issue of conditioning but more just time... Last year I started ridding what I call serious, and early in the year 20 miles was a big deal, by the end I did several century.
It's all about perspective. I started a bike trip last summer, fully loaded with food, camping gear etc. We did 26 miles on our first day and I wanted to die. My boyfriend asked if I wanted to stop or keep going that day and I said, "Naw bitch, are you crazy! We're stopping right here." By the 21st day of our trip, we hit the last campground before San Francisco and I said, "whaddya think? You wanna sleep in that tent one more night?" and he said, "How far is it to San Fran?" "30 miles." "Fuck it! Let's go!" So we rode in San Francisco that night and ate home cooked steak at my best friend's house after a 72 mile day.

Gonna do the perimeter ride next weekend? I'm thinking about it.
My personal high was 109 miles, on day two of AIDS Lifecycle.
Old saying among distance riders-- "if you can do 50 you can do 100"-- gots the ring of truth IMO.
My personal "most" was about 120-- I think it was the North Shore Century (rode to and from) but I was downtown on my bike for some reason I can't recall the same day. Not my toughest day by far (that would have either been one of the first three days of the "Great Arizona Bicycle Adventure" when I rode it in '98, or the Wright Stuff Century any year I rode it . . . or any second day of TOMRV in memory.)
125 miles, weaksauce
My most miles = 113 when my friend and I got lost during a century.
Most hours in the saddle = about 75 miles in the mountains in Utah.
I did my first century last yr ( the evanston/ccc pampered century ) almost a year to the day. The longest I had ridden was 35 miles, and did not even have 100 miles in for the season. I had also not ridden a bike for more then 10 miles in over 20 yrs. In the last year I have over 7000 miles in, including at least 10 organized centuries and 2-3 x that is just long rides..... If a 45 yr old 245 lb man can do it, almost anyone can. The longest I can remember was a 160 mile day. My group did a 200 miler but I was racing that day.
400K = 250 miles. It's a better thing to have done than to be doing.
My first century was by accident really. I got an early start and was checking out the various north shore trails and was at about 35 miles before getting on the Des Plaines River Trail. I checked my map and realized I'd be just over 50 miles if I went all the way to the WI border. I did the math and realized I could make it 100 miles round trip before it got too late. I got home and was at 98 miles, so I cruised around the neighborhood until I hit 100.

My next one was the North Shore Century, and I did my personal best of 125 miles. I rode to and from, plus I added a few extra miles when I blew a spoke a few miles into it and went back to the start to see if any of the tune-up guys could help. They couldn't, so I did ~110 on a wobbly back wheel.

I was surprised to find that I was most sore in my shoulders afterwards. My legs were just fine. They get stretched more.
125. If you can do 75 you can do 100 no problem at all, especially around here. Eat before you're hungry and drink before you're thirsty, as they say.
my most is 62+, which is a metric century i believe (100 km), for the boulevard bike tour a couple years ago. i was beat for about 30 minutes as i ate lunch, but then rode home. i was ready to go the next day and have been dreaming of 100+ ever since. my goal is to ride to madison and see how far i can get in one day. but first i have to fix my shifter and get knew handle bars. i'm tired of the striaghty bars.
My personal best was 102 last summer. My problem tends to be my hands and shoulders. The legs do fine...aside from occasional cramping.

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