Century ride on a MTB?

100Km - Yes, i have done 70 miles in a single ride.

100Miles - no..

cojosurfer said:

Anyone have any experiences or know of how a MTB rider has done in a century ride?

Sure, just put on skinny tires and have fun! You might want to change your cassette too. Of course you won't be as fast as on a road bike.

Back in the day, when index shifting first came to department store bikes, I did a century on a Huffy MTB. I think I was around 15 years old (early-mid '90s). I was biking a lot prior to the 100, most of the family vacations were to bike paths (Root River, Elroy Sparta,...). I think it took me 8 hours, and it was an organized ride with plenty of sag stops.
After that ride I got my '89 C'dale M800 that was the lbs owner's wife's, what a difference!

I did a race in Pennsylvania last year that was 101 miles. It is called the Wilderness 101. It is a blast to ride. The winner did it in a bit over 7 hours, took me 11 hrs.

Ron

Yep- just put on some 26x1 slicks and you should be good to go...

Done it myself. I just put some slicks on and went for it. I am not a well conditioned rider either. I am 30+ with kids so if I can do it, anyone can do it!:p Though I sure would love to try it on a road bike someday.

Dian

Yes Have done Round the Bay in a Day which is 220km a number of times. Just put some slicks on and go.

Heck yeah! Been there and done it. You might get some strange looks, but it only adds to the fun.

Thanks everyone. I can imagine looking out of place. Who cares? I would be doing it for endurance and training fitness. I got 26X1.125@100psi on both wheels now. I like the idea of 26X1@115-125psi (that's the deal for me). I'm not interested in passing roadbikes (LOL) but I'm sure I will get my fair share of passing people. 😉 I'm looking forward to the Solvang and Santa Barbara century rides, in California so far, for next spring. I like the idea of lots of hill and mountain road climbing in Central Coast area's for training and fitness, combined with century rides, should make me a good beginner racer; the goal. I'll have to throw in interval sprint training up mountains too....sheesh...hope I can throw in fun rides too. Thanks everyone....it's been encouraging reading your posts....

It sounds like you have a good plan, both physically and mentally. Have a lot of fun, and good luck with your goals. Keep riding!

[quote="cojosurfer"] 😉 I'm looking forward to the Solvang and Santa Barbara century rides, in California QUOTE]

I have done the Solvang and the Amtrack Cen on my mtn bike. Both are great rides and having a mtn bike didn't matter in the least.

Dian

I've unintentionally done 125km (approx 70% paved, 30% singletrack) on a MTB with 26x2" semislicks @ 60psi

Despite being an accident (it was one of those "I wonder where this trail goes" things that leads you 30+km from where you wanted to be) it didn't feel too bad, I was knackered, but have felt much worse after long rides all the same..

I took a few years off from riding and now that I'm back all I have is a MTB. (I'm still a roadie at heart.) I rode two metric centuries this summer and averaged 16 to 17 mph on them. That's fast enough for me these days and with more miles I'm sure I can pick it up another mph or two. I enjoyed the odd looks and comments like "mountian bikes don't go that fast" the couple of times I'd hang with a group of roadies going 20 to 25 and me on a MTB.🙂 Next summer I'll probably do the full century at the Hotter N' Hell.

cojosurfer said:

Anyone have any experiences or know of how a MTB rider has done in a century ride?

Well there is the Durango MTB 100 where you can do 100 miles, 100 k, 50 k. It's pretty much all off road, I think I'm going to try the 50 k while my boyfriend is thinking about doing 100 k next year.

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