A 100 mile bicycle ride is a challenge for a cyclist, but still an attainable goal for a runner.

It is important to prepare. How do you train for a century ride? You will learn how to prepare in the weeks ahead of your 100 miler, how to prepare on the day of, and how to eat to fuel your ride.

image of man on a bike taking a water break
Getty Images/Oleg Breslavtsev

A major endurance event requires preparation.

Time is the greatest gift you can give yourself. A 16-week training plan is reasonable even with a good base fitness level.

If you lack endurance, kicking that time up to 6 months might be a good idea. Plan on building endurance generally with a variety of activities for a couple months before launching into a dedicated cycling program.

It is important to ask yourself a few questions to design a training program.

Do you have the right kind of bicycle?

Depending on your event, you can choose between a road bike with narrow tires, a hybrid bike, a mountain bike, or a gravel bike.

Where is your ride taking place?

What will the weather be like? Is there altitude? Do your research to get a good idea of what to expect from the elements on the day of your event, and train accordingly. If you are training at sea level indoors, and the ride is outdoors in the mountains, for instance, weather and cardiovascular endurance will be key considerations.

Get the right gear

You may think you will be riding your road bike outside for all of your training, but you should consider what you will do when the weather is not nice. It might be raining, snow, ice, or smoky that keeps you inside. Consider investing in a stationary bike or indoor bike trainer.

There are many reputable trainers available to mount your road bike to for indoor use. You can even connect your trainer to an app such as Zwift to give you an immersive virtual ride, competing with and riding with other actual cyclists.

Furthermore, think about the other gear you might need. Not only do you need a good bicycle for the century, but you will want to invest in some good cycling shoes, some padded shorts, and a heart rate monitor. Think about storage on your bike for fuel, and water bottle holders for hydration.

You should have a repair kit on your bike. Make a choice about clips or platform pedals, and get a good helmet.

“It can be intimidating for a new cyclist to ride with clips. Without feeling locked in as a clip, cages can be a bit cumbersome. The platforms don’t offer the smooth ride or secure footing of the previous two, but they allow shoes to be worn.”

Once you are prepared for your century, have the proper gear, and are ready to ride, you’ll need to actually do the work. A good training plan will include various elements, such as a long distance ride, speed intervals, hill climbs, cross training, and some heart rate training.

You can use a more sophisticated training program once you are a seasoned century rider. Getting the miles in with a variety of stressors will prepare you for your first shot.

A basic plan is here.

Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
1 rest tempo ride cross train cadence intervals rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
2 rest intervals cross train hilly endurance rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
3 rest hill workout cross train cadence intervals rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
4 rest tempo ride cross train cadence intervals rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
5 rest intervals cross train hilly endurance rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
6 rest hill workout cross train cadence intervals rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
7 rest tempo ride cross train cadence intervals rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
8 rest intervals cross train hilly endurance rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
9 rest hill workout cross train cadence intervals rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
10 rest tempo ride cross train cadence intervals rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
11 rest intervals cross train hilly endurance rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
12 rest hill workout cross train cadence intervals rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
13 rest tempo ride cross train cadence intervals rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
14 rest intervals cross train hilly endurance rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
15 rest hill workout cross train cadence intervals rest or easy cross train endurance ride endurance ride
16 rest easy ride cross train easy ride rest day Century

Nutrition is an important factor in any endurance event, and your success can ride on this vital element. Knowing when and how to eat can make a difference in your race day intake.

During training

Make sure you are eating healthy meals and not working out with low energy. A heavy meal of food can slow you down, but if you are eating a variety of healthy foods, no major preparation is needed.

For rides or other endurance workouts of under 90 minutes, no additional calories or cabohydrates are necessary. Fueling with water, or in extreme conditions such as heat, a low- or no-calorie electrolyte drink is sufficient to support the work.

If your workout is over 90 minutes but under 2.5 hours, you will want to take in 30–60 grams of carbohydates every hour (1). This is the equivalent of one half serving to one serving of a carbohydrate/electrolyte drink such as Hammer Nutrition HEED (27 grams), 10 peanut butter pretzels (15 grams), and 10 gummy bears (22 grams)… per hour!

Keeping the flow of carbs into the body helps the blood stay flush with glycogen, providing energy for the hard work of riding. Skipping this step can provide your blood and liver of glycogen, causing the body to fail in its production of the muscular fuel adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and therefore causing feelings of fatigue and loss of energy (2).

When your body lacks the chemical components to create work, your work fails.

“Do you want to experiment with what works for you? If you’re worried about excess body weight, you can play around with the low end of the equation (30 grams per hour) and see if you experience the feeling of being bloated. If you find that your energy dips even with 30 grams of carbs every hour, add a little bit and see if your performance improves.”

You need to take in 70 grams of carbs per hour for rides over 2.5 hours. If you have to eat a lot, choose options with less calories.

“Look for sports-specific options such as Hammer Nutrition’s Perpetuem, but consider sandwiches such as a peanut butter and jelly and dried fruit, which have less than 50 grams of carbs.”

Two or three small, salted red potatoes will also provide around 60 carbs and can be a nice break from all the sweet foods. There is good research to suggest that adding protein into your fueling plan for workouts over 2.5 hours can also help performance and aid in recovery (3).

Whether or not you choose to practice carb loading (which is not just a giant bowl of pasta before bedtime the night before the race, but in fact a multi-day nutritional preparation), it’s a good idea to keep your diet pretty bland and carb-rich the day before your event.

“You don’t want to make your tummy feel worse than it already is. It is advisable to keep your diet low in fat and fiber and high in carbs and electrolytes to start your race day.”

The hours before the race are important. You want to have a carbohydrate-rich breakfast, such as a smoothie, bagel, banana or raisin bread, watching out for anything that might upset the stomach or slow digestion (4, 5).

This meal can be eaten from 4 hours to 1 hour prior to the start of the race, and can suit your digestion time. If you want to have an additional shot of fuel at the start, you should be able to fill your stores by 4 hours before your ride.

Keeping hydrated is also important. Drinking an electrolyte-rich drink the day before and morning of your race can work to your advantage. Many take salt pills, but sodium is only one electolyte.

Find a source that contains also potassium and magnesium, chemicals that also work in muscle contraction. Taking a more balanced source can help you avoid muscle fatigue and cramping (6).

During the ride

You want to make sure you are getting enough energy from your body to not become fatigued, but you may want to add more calories for the race.

Assuming the ride will take over 2.5 hours, you will need to take in at least the prescribed 60–70 grams of carbohydrate per hour, or even up to 90 grams per hour if it is tolerable for your system (7). You will have tried this out in training when the stakes were lower, and century ride day is the day to make sure you are adequately fueled.

Make sure you hit your hourly target when you start your ride, and keep your stores prepared for your higher efforts during the ride.

Preparing mentally will give you the best chance of success.

Be organized. You should plan the work so that you can do it.

Know the route. The internet has a lot of information. You can see the route, terrain, number of turns and hills.

You can learn the average temperature of the ride location in advance. You can plan your wardrobe in the weeks before the race.

Plan your clothes. Pack your gear. Are you traveling? Plan when and how to get to the race. Know what it will take to get your bike. Having these questions answered in advance can help you relax.

You may still have nerves — you are doing something huge! Prepare to feel unprepared. Know that this will happen, but know that you have done the work. For most people, finishing is the goal. Take your stress about finishing well out of the equation and focus on simply finishing the ride.

Start slowly. The more you ride in the early miles, the harder it will be in the final miles. At the half, you can expect a steady pace of 25 miles and 75 miles.

If you tune into the vibe of steadiness, you can feel peace even if the course is highly textured.

Visualize. Picture yourself on the route, especially if you have seen it. But if not, go ahead and imagine it. See yourself riding confidently and enjoying your effort.

Picture yourself riding a bike. Feel the burn in your thighs and feel powerful. Start a practice of seeing yourself finish a race strong, tired, and full of accomplishment, by seeing yourself confidently taking on these challenges. You can achieve it if you can see it in your mind.

  • Give yourself extra time. Better to be calmly bored than waste your adrenaline on trying to get to the start.
  • Pack enough fuel. Pack a variety of solids and liquids.
  • Use the fuel. If you’re feeling pretty great and more than an hour goes by, you may miss your window to avoid glycogen depletion.
  • Sip fluid frequently. Waiting for thirst to arrive can work against you, not only for the risk of dehydration, but also if you get too thirsty and gulp too much fluid, you may be fighting a sloshy tummy later in the race.
  • Have a mantra. Think of something nice to say about yourself, like “you’re strong and confident”, or something fierce, like “you are dominating this course”, or something otherwise catchy to your own mind, like “I eat hills for breakfast”. It can be whatever lights that fire inside of you.
  • Mind over matter. When you start to hear negative self-talk in your mind, refer to your well-practiced mantra. It can pull you out of a dark place.
  • Have fun! This is something wonderful you will do for yourself. At the finish line, you will be able to say “I rode a 100-mile bike ride.” While people may want to hear about the trials and tribulations you met along the way, the story you tell will be one of perseverance and strength. You are an athlete!

Few riders take on the challenge of riding a century and are less complete. If you are committed, you can create a stronger body, a better soul, and a story that you can tell for the rest of your life. Good luck!