Increase Distance - 100Km Goal - Advice Needed

I'd strongly recommend a good bike fitting, not the sales folks at your local shop but find a shop that does professional fittings in addition to selling bikes or find a dedicated bike fitter. It'll cost you some money and will take an hour or two but it's well worth the investment especially for someone who's rides are currently limited by discomfort as opposed to aerobic fitness or endurance.

In terms of training, consistency is really the starting point that everything else builds upon so if you want to comfortably ride longer distances or want to ride faster then you should get on your bike for at least a short ride on a regular basis. Three evenly spread days per week is probably the minimum for someone that hopes to improve their ride times or distances. Four days per week is better so you're training on more days per week than you're resting and most serious amateurs see really big improvements if they can work up to five days per week. Some of these days can be as short as twenty minutes or half an hour of easy spinning, some could be an hour or so of riding at a quicker pace that gets you breathing deeply and steadily and requires some focus and some could be longer rides at an enjoyable touring pace perhaps on weekends when most folks can carve out more time.

The main point though is to ride frequently and mix up the rides to fit your schedule and not to beat your body up too badly on each and every ride yet challenge it from time to time with more intensity or more distance or both. Do that with a well fitted bike and the muscle soreness issues should resolve themselves as your body gets accustomed to the stresses of riding and your speeds and comfortable cruising distances should increase over time.

Your limited outdoor riding season isn't too unusual for someone living in Northern areas, but if you want to go quicker or longer from year to year then consider some indoor riding either on an indoor trainer using your own bike or on an indoor bike at your local gym this coming winter. Indoor riding isn't nearly as fun as an actual bike that goes somewhere but a few short and focused indoor sessions each week throughout the colder months can do wonders for your outdoor fitness and conditioning come spring. If you belong to a gym then just make a point to do some gym bike cardio a few days per week for half an hour to an hour per session and make them worthwhile by riding at a high enough bike setting to work up a good sweat and to get yourself breathing deeply and steadily. Don't just spin the pedals easily while reading magazines or chatting about sports as many folks in the gym seem to do if you actually want to improve your fitness with indoor training. That's a lot like doing bench presses with a pair of two pound hand weights, it might take you through the motions but isn't likely to produce much in the way of training adaptations and improved fitness.

But bottom line focusing on this season, get a good bike fit from a professional fitter to resolve any big position issues and then ride on a regular basis with varied rides and your fitness will improve.

Good luck,
-Dave

25km/hr is about 15.5mph. That is a reasonable goal for 100K.

Your bicycle seems to be able to get you there that fast. Make sure your tires have enough air pressure. Make sure the wheels spin easily and nothing is rubbing.

I think most of the aches you have are caused by not moving around on the bike enough. Change your hand position from time to time. I mostly ride with my hands on the brake hoods, but I find myself sitting up with my hands on the top of the handle bars on a regular basis.

As for doing 100km. Map out a nice ride. Someplace where traffic is tolerable. Scenery is pleasant. A place with convenience stores maybe 25 or 33km apart - either 3 or 2 stops for water and a break. You might find a club ride posted on the internet - might even find people to ride with this way. One day you will wake up and think you are ready to try the ride. Take the ride easy.

If your big toe hurts then it sounds like you have the wrong shoes for you. It goes against initial thoughts but having your bars a little lower than you have it now will likely help reduce the amount of weight your wrists have to support. This will probably also help your neck too. You can try out this theory by either riding in the drops or by riding with your elbows bent more while riding with your hands on the brake lever hoods... If the roads are pretty bad, run 95 to 100psi max in your tires. If you have 19mm rims then I wouldn't go much lower.

I was reading Sheldon Brown's comments on bike fitting.

I guess casual riders want a bicycle that fits when they are seated. Bike fitters can do that. But I must have 4-5" of difference between having my hands on the hoods or on the tops. Aside from setting seat height there is so much variation in where my hands can be placed that any bike with the right seat height is comfortable while sitting.

On the other hand many riders spend their important time in sprinting out of the saddle or climbing in or out of the saddle. Bike fitters have much more difficulty making a bike fit these people.