A 100K ride, otherwise known as a metric century, is a benchmark accomplishment for many riders. This distance, at 62 miles, and 50-mile rides are often offered in conjunction with century rides. Distance cycling newbies often begin with these two distances before tackling a full century, or 100 miles.  If you are a fit athlete looking for a new cycling challenge, the 100K might be just what you need.  

PROFILE: This plan is designed for an athlete that is currently riding three days per week. The weekday rides might be outdoors or might be in an indoor cycling situation, solo or in a class. Those two rides are 45- to 60-minutes long. You ride a third day, at least 1:00 and maybe as much as 1:30. At minimum, you can commit to spending three days each week cycling.  

GOAL: Your goal is to complete a metric century, 100K, or a 50-mile ride at the end of eight weeks of training. Your event can be self-designed or you can shop for an event that is hosted by someone else. The plan is written for someone that will average between 12 and 15 miles per hour for the event. Your 50-mile ride time is estimated to be between 3:20 and 4:10. If you are doing the 100K, your ride time is estimated between 4:08 and 5:15.   

TRAINING PLAN OVERVIEW:

The plan has you cycling on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. If three other days of the week work better for you, move the rides accordingly. It is best if these rides are separated by at least one day.

There is a fourth cycling day listed Sunday on five of the weeks. This ride is optional. If your current fitness is on the low side and you are aiming for 50 miles, you can comfortably complete the event by doing the three assigned workouts in the minimum time noted on the plan. You can eliminate the optional Sunday ride.

If you are aiming for the 100K, consider your fitness to be high and you have good recovery from workouts; consider doing the highest volume noted on the plan if you have the time available to devote to cycling.

On most Mondays and Wednesdays of the plan, it notes “Day off or strength train”. If you are currently strength training, you can keep your current routine. You may find that you have to modify the routine, reducing sets, repetitions or weight so strength training does not negatively impact your cycling.

If you are not currently strength training, but would like to incorporate a weight room routine in your workout plan, it is possible. I suggest beginning with the AA Phase of strength training and keep the weight relatively light for the first two weeks.

As your body adapts to the routine, you can increase the weight slightly and reduce the number of repetitions to 12 to 15. You can keep both days at the 12 to 15 rep. range or have one day at 12 to 15 reps and the second day at 15 to 20 reps and less weight. You might have to experiment to see which routine works best for you.