Just rode my first ever 100 mile ride

As all of my friends were busy doing other things, I thought I’d pop out and ride 100 miles this morning

It’s the furthest I’ve ever ridden and it’s quite cool to think about the distance that you cover.

Now, just absolutely shattered and about to go and browse the fridge. Managed to consume 600 calories during the ride and 400 immediately before. The fuelling and hydration strategy seemed to work absolutely perfectly

One thing I did notice, is that there were a lot of road bikes out and my gravel bike was noticeably slower than all of them. I don’t think I overtook a single road cyclist and I was overtaken by tens of them…. I didn’t think I was cycling that slow, but some of the groups of them seem to be really motoring along

Would gravel tires have that much of an impact or is it chainset or is it just me not being fit enough?

They were cycling 20 miles…

Or in a group…

Or, or, or

I wouldn’t worry about it. Congrats on your first imperial century.

Nice one! Quite an achievement isn’t it. Did my first 100 miler a month ago.

Would gravel tires have that much of an impact or is it chainset or is it just me not being fit enough?

Probably the tyres/gearing most likely although out and out roadies can be v quick. They also may have just been doing a mere 30 miler!!! Or they’re chain ganging. Meh, I wouldn’t bother about it. I’m always the slowest and I’ve got road tyres on. It’s leg strength in my case.

Or in a group…

This makes a huge difference.  Imperial century is a proper cyclists ride. Hat.

Does it matter if you had a good time.

😉

Well done, it’s always very satisfying to get 100 miles in by lunchtime. It is strangely addictive.

One of my cycling buddies seems to be obsessed with banging out 100 mile rides this year. He wants to average one a week. Think he is currently on 25 so far in 2024. I only managed 16 in the whole of 2023 and I’ve only managed 5 so far this year.

It is much easier on tarmac roads with slick tyres and also much easier drafting in a group.

Chapeau. I’m still working up to it. It is the only time I find myself wishing I had two by on my gravel bike.

Speed difference with the road bikes will be lots of little factors including…

Us mortals will be riding at lower effort to do a century.

Increased aero drag from riding solo.

Increased rolling resistance from gravel tyres.

Increased aero drag from bike geo, wheels, tyres.

Possibly gearing if you’re hammering it.

etc.

Nice on centurion!

Well done! Very satisfying when you do your first one 👍

Thanks all, I have to say I wasn’t as arrow as I could have been as I was carrying spare tubes, pump and two big bottles on the bike as well as I was dressed according to the weather which was changeable

There was some really nice bikes out this morning though…..

Tyres will absolutely make a difference. As will the bike in general. My top end road bike is at least 2mph quicker than my gravel bike, it’s lighter, far less rolling resistance, more aero. Over 100 miles it’ll be noticeable for sure

also, 600 calories for 100 miles of cycling isn’t nearly enough!I get through that in an hr!

I have a Whyte Glencoe which is an “adventure road” bike. It came with 650b wheels but also takes 700c wheels. Depending on what I’m doing I regularly switch between the 650b wheels with 50mm gravel tyres, a set of 700c wheels with 35mm gravel tyres and a set of 700c wheels with 30mm road tyres. All of my rides from the house follow broadly the same route with the tyres giving me options for gravel etc.

For the 3 wheel sets on the same sections of road, the 700c road tyre setup is 25%+ faster than the gravel tyres. Road tyres at 90psi plus are simply so much faster than gravel tyres even when pumped up pretty hard.

Would gravel tires have that much of an impact or is it chainset or is it just me not being fit enough?

My road bike is easily 2-3mph avg faster than the gravel bike. Mix of riding position, gearing, tyre size & pressure…

Well done on the 💯!

Well done op! Great achievement! 👍

Try the SDW as perhaps a next step, 100miles but off road, totally doable on a gravel bike, I was overtaken by loads of cyclo-cross/gravel bikes on my SDW rides on the MTB.😁

You’ll love it, it’s a bit brutal as it gets into your head. Totally worth it though!

Thank you all for your encouragement, I’m actually booked in in September to do the 100 km off-road ride from London to Brighton

I’m just deciding whether to do it on my mountain bike or my gravel bike…. It’ll depend upon if a mate comes with me as he will be doing it on his mountain bike. But to be honest, I can’t imagine that there’s anything particularly gnarly between us and Brighton, and I think a gravel bike will be perfectly capable

I actually have a spare set of wheels now so I’m tempted to get myself a set of 30 mm road tires and run them at 90 PSI on there and see how that goes… Any recommendations for tubeless road tires in 700c ?

90psi, oh goodness me that takes me back. Your optimal tyre pressure will depend on your weight and size of tyres and if you run inner tubes or tubeless. There are lots of online calculators to work it out I have linked one below

https://oniony.com/cycling/calc/pressure/

Schwalbe the 1, Mavic Yksion or GP5000 all do well for me.

A gravel bike can be anything from a slightly more robust road bike to a mtb with drop bars. I’d say a fast gravel bike on fast 35mm tyres isn’t hugely slower. There will be a significant difference though. Not all road tyres are created equal either.

I think it’s been pointed out already, but most of us mere mortals cannot maintain anything like the kind of pace on a century ride that we could doing a distance less than half of that. Your legs just start giving up eventually. Even keeping a consistently high zone 2 can be difficult over that distance in my experience, regardless of how fit I am. Those riders passing you might be at z3… 4… 5…

Will road tyres make you faster? Yes, they will. Whether it’s enough improvement to make a significant difference for you depends on what you want to get out of it.

Also, if you’re talking about groups, that’s something else entirely, the benefits of drafting are huge and can increase pace dramatically. Even then you’ll often find a bunch of those people are fighting just to hold the wheels despite the benefit and there’ll be a couple of super strong riders pushing the pace at the front.

Long rides are all about going steady. Enjoy it.

Any recommendations for tubeless road tires in 700c ?

Continental GP5000s in 30mm Tubeless flavour – between 65 and 70 psi depending on total weight of you and the bike. Lovely and comfy, v fast. 😎👍

Congratulations. Longer rides are exercises in eating 🥣 n a bike. You’re down about 2500 calories at least!  Groups are faster as only the front riders are working to break the wind. It’s about 25-40% easier out of the wind. And GP5000’s are great tyres. An easy 1mph gain there.

fantastic effort, well done. a ton aint easy ever.

42mm G Ones here………….  comfort over speed anyday for me.

It’s a huge step doing 100 miles – congratulations.

I’m tempted to get myself a set of 30 mm road tires and run them at 90 PSI

Don’t. It’s now well established that unless you are on perfectly smooth roads lower pressures are better. I’m over 90kg and I run 60 or sometimes 58 in my 28c tubeless tyres. It’s a lot faster and more comfortable.

Well done OP it’s a good feeling. Did 100kms/60 miles today and feel like I’ve got rigor mortis.

I’m just deciding whether to do it on my mountain bike or my gravel bike…. It’ll depend upon if a mate comes with me as he will be doing it on his mountain bike. But to be honest, I can’t imagine that there’s anything particularly gnarly between us and Brighton, and I think a gravel bike will be perfectly capable

I think there’s just the descent off the North Downs where you might prefer a mtb.  I’d take a gravel type bike any day.  But if you’re mate’s on an MTB and you’re doing MTB speeds, why not have MTB comfort? Especially if you’ve got some fast tyres for it.   If he’s an absolute machine though, stick with the gravel bike!

Nice one on the century! Is there anything left in the fridge? 😃

You can’t really compare your speed as a solo rider to a group. You are constantly cutting through the air, the group takes turns on the front (They may also be fit and have expensive road bikes!)

Well done on the 100.  It’s a goal I have for this year. Had a slow start but working on it.

Verdict on 30’s seems to be go down to 28s if you want some weight saving and a bit of aero, or just skip to 32s for comfort without giving up much, if anything, on rolling resistance. And for 100 miles I’d be looking at 32’s and dropping the pressure into the 50s (based on 80kg rider) for comfort.

GP5000 S TR are excellent tyres.  GP 5000 AS TR for the all season version for slightly better puncture protection at the cost of a couple of Watts per tyre.

https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure

Well done OP on 100 miles 💪

I achieved my first 100 miles at this year’s RttS on a Genesis DayOne Alfine 8 and thoroughly enjoyed the vibe of the event.

One of the things that stuck in my mind was that as I cleared another hill just after the Devils Beeftub I was level with a lady on a road bike. As the decent started she steadily moved ahead of me, I shouted out something about I’ve run out of gears as she continued to pull away, though I was referring to my lack of gears as an excuse, in reality I knew, she was simply a lot quicker and stronger than me .. .. fair does. I hope the fast lady enjoyed the event as much as I did.

As for the team of four guys on road bikes from a cycling club that passed me later on at, probably, twice my speed .. .. wow, I’ve never seen anything like it 👌

There is always someone faster and stronger, just enjoy the moment 😊

Well done.

I’ve not done a 100 miler since BoZo BolloxBrains Johnson pressed the British self-destruct button, taking my health fitness with it.

Here’s to you getting many more in 👍

Hail Centurion! Great effort.

I’ve only ridden 100 miles once. Anything more than 60 and I’m bored senseless.

For reference, I rode 40 miles solo yesterday on a top end road bike with only about 1700 foot of climbing (ie hardly hilly), averaged about 3 watts/kg and averaged 19mph. So good luck getting anywhere near 20mph for 100 on a gravel bike!

I think I’m getting my threads confused! You can ignore my 20mph comment, someone else posted a Thread about that! Sorry