Pacing a century

p.k. said:

Any ideas on the correct or sensible pace to set for a century-in-a-day
ride: London - Marlow - Oxford - Chipping Norton for a mixed group of
45-50ish blokes on Mountain bikes with semi slick tyres?

Work it from the slowest one, I guess. Beyond that, "45-50ish
blokes" doesn't actually mean much: I'm fairly sure my pal Finlay
has had a free bus pass for a while and could wipe the floor with
forty year old me on a long bike trip quite easily, and while I'm
hardly a great athlete I'm not a wholly useless blob either.

In summary, I think more info would be helpful: distances travelled
before, typical speeds etc.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

In summary, I think more info would be helpful: distances travelled
before, typical speeds etc.

The group has done the C2C, South downs, and regularly (ie twice a week for
some once a week for others) does a 25 mile gravel track/towpath circuit at
11mph average (cycling time) and occasionally does a 35 mile circuit at the
same average

I guess the hills are up to everyone to get up at their own speed, I'm
looking for a "cruising speed" guide on the long flat bits to avoid blowing
up!

pk

Quoted message said:

Any ideas on the correct or sensible pace to set for a century-in-a-day
ride: London - Marlow - Oxford - Chipping Norton for a mixed group of
45-50ish blokes on Mountain bikes with semi slick tyres?

Average speed will prolly work out somewhere between 10 and 12mph. Prolly
nearer ten if some of them aren't as fit as they should be. Lots of cafe
stops to gobble up beans on toast etc is prolly a good idea - it'll stop
people getting too knackered, and give the weaker ones a chance to recover.

If taking it easy I always plan for 10mph, but expect 12mph. You can carry
on all day/week/month at 10mph.

p.k. said:

Any ideas on the correct or sensible pace to set for a century-in-a-day

Metric or imperial? Let's assume imperial; well, a 200km (around 125
miles) audax is considered brisk if done under 10 hours, this would
include food stops. So a hundred at ten hours sounds OK to me. Bear in
mind though that it's the stopping that slows you down. Cafes are very
nice but they don't half loose yo time. However, pace is down to
individual riders and what they want out of their ride, some riders want
a very fast pace with lots of exertion whereas others want a slow tour.
Both are correct and sensible. It depends on one's point of view; Jens
Voigt would be pretty [censored] if he took ten hours for 200km ;-)

hth,

Tony B

"Tony B" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

p.k. said:

Any ideas on the correct or sensible pace to set for a century-in-a-day

Metric or imperial? Let's assume imperial; well, a 200km (around 125
miles) audax is considered brisk if done under 10 hours, this would
include food stops. So a hundred at ten hours sounds OK to me. Bear in
mind though that it's the stopping that slows you down. Cafes are very
nice but they don't half loose yo time. However, pace is down to
individual riders and what they want out of their ride, some riders want a
very fast pace with lots of exertion whereas others want a slow tour. Both
are correct and sensible. It depends on one's point of view; Jens Voigt
would be pretty [censored] if he took ten hours for 200km ;-)

hth,

Tony B

Coming in at the leisurely end of the speed spectrum and assuming that the
ride's an imperial century - around 158km, I've budgetted ten hours
including breaks for the distance next weekend in an Audax. I could do it
more slowly but the ride would qualify as a 'finish'. If you allow ten
hours for riding time plus breaks and have an early start you'll just get
the ride done in daylight.

-=V=-