10 Mistakes You Are Making On Century Rides – What Are They
You are a century-riding lover. But, do you know about 10 mistakes you are making on century rides? They can hinder your ride. Let’s find out what they are.
Introduction
Century rides are a challenge for your persistence, ideal for keeping your riding motivated. You can receive both physical and mental benefits when making century rides. It also gives you impressive feelings after conquering a long journey.
However, century rides are not an easy feast. There is a good chance you’ll commit common mistakes when riding. These blunders are the main reasons for your riding failure.
Whether you are an expert cyclist or beginner, avoid ten mistakes you can make in this article. Scroll down for details.
What Is A Century Ride?
A century ride is 100-mile cycling that tests the cyclists’ endurance, the most popular among the rider community. In countries using the metric system, a century ride means a road cycling of 100 kilometers in the distance.
Cycling clubs sponsor a century ride as an annual event and a fund-raiser. This event inspires participants of different ages to achieve their badges. It is often a one-day or multi-day event with the name “cycle tours”.
A cyclist takes about 7-8 hours to complete a century ride course. This time can vary due to the different skills and physical conditions.
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10 Mistakes You Are Making On Century Rides
Don’t Wear A Helmet
Not wearing a helmet is the most common mistake a cyclist makes. There are hundreds of different reasons you don’t want to wear a bike helmet. It can tangle your hair or make you uncomfortable. You will look cool with your favorite hat instead of headgear when cycling.
Like some other cyclists, you also think that helmets can hurt and discomfort your head. The concern of the poor-quality models is also a reason for riding a bike without a helmet.
These concepts are wrong. Not wearing a helmet can cause lots of greater risks. You can suffer serious head injuries that cause brain dysfunction. These symptoms decline your health and burden your routine life.
Thus, you need to avoid this mistake when riding a bicycle to protect your head better.
Insufficient Training
Training is important to any cyclist before starting a long ride. It gives you significant health benefits and makes the event more interesting. However, inadequate or wrong training is the basic problem you can face.
A general time for a new rider is about 3 – 4 months to practice the different levels. It is enough to boost your endurance and improve your physical fitness. Because of some reasons, you can train as long as planned.
Some might practice only at the first stage and stop early. This inefficiency makes you fail in the long-road cycling event. Try to make a sufficient training plan to strengthen your muscles and build up energy.
Effective training comprises three stages, endurance ride, hard-intensity, and easy recovery. About 4-6 days per week is ideal for your successful preparation.
Don’t Eat And Drink Enough
Your century ride is not complete without food and water. They are essential to fully pack you with energy for a far distance. Not eating and drinking enough cause fatigue of muscles and the body when high-intensity riding.
To restrict this fault, you should feed your body and stay hydrated before cycling on the long road. Bring a water bottle and a few food pieces to maintain the energy and resistance during your trip. Aim to supply at least 40 g of carbs and 500 ml of water every hour to keep your riding constant.
Hard Training Intensity
If inadequate training makes your century ride fail, hard training also causes the same outcome. Some cyclists rush in practicing and stretch themselves too thin. You want to shorten the training time to be a well-trained cyclist.
This is why you skip the base phase with the endurance and go to the long and recovery ride. Such hard intensity training tires you out and discourages your cycling. It even injures your muscles and health.
Thus, gradually increasing the training intensity is a good way to prevent this fault. Let’s start with the base phase to train your endurance for the long journey.
Don’t Warm Up
A warm-up is necessary to restrict physical injuries when cycling. Some common thoughts: I don’t need a warm-up, or I can do it when riding. If you do think so, you are wrong. Your long ride is not effective without warming up.
Most good cyclists do the pre-race warm-up exercises. They can be simple stretches or slight exercises. A proper warm-up will trigger your energy, boost blood flow, and strengthen your muscles. It plays an important role in the better performance of your long ride.
The further the distance is, the longer the warm-up exercise should last. About 20-40 minutes are suitable for the 100-mile ride. Don’t ignore the practical benefits of warm-up exercises if you want to be an expert rider.
Use Unfamiliar And New Gear
This simple issue also contributes to your fault when riding on the long road. The old bike gear is too boring or uncomfortable despite still working well. Thus, you want to change new products to inspire your century ride.
New gear is unfamiliar, so your bike may be more difficult to control. This problem can interrupt the big riding events and prevent you from excellent achievements.
It also wastes your entire training time with the former gear. For example, you have to retrain to get accustomed to a new saddle. Some unanticipated risks can occur if your new saddle works wrong.
Try it several times in re-training to use it correctly during long riding.
Wear Wrong Clothes
Another mistake is wearing the wrong clothes when cycling. The most popular question is, “Can I ride the bike in casual clothes?” Yes, you can wear regular outfits but for the short ride only. For century bicycles, they are not safe for you.
A few items you shouldn’t wear if making a long ride are jeans, loose clothing, or tight underwear. Jeans’ thick and tough material obstructs your knees and hips’ flexibility. Your riding can slow down if you wear loose clothing.
Wearing underwear beneath riding shorts can trap dangerous microbes and sweat. It causes inflammation and itchiness for your skin when rubbing with your thighs.
To avoid these risks and ensure your safety, you should wear cycle-specific outfits. The cycling shorts, underwear, and cycling gloves need to be made of flexible and breathable materials. They are versatile enough and well-fitted to support your century cycles the best.
Don’t Plan The Riding Route
Not planning is also a common mistake you can not ignore. A good strategy is essential for a successful riding route. Setting a clear route with the specific beginning and ending points will help you secure and save your time.
Getting lost and wasting your energy can happen if you don’t plan before cycling. Besides, a poor scheme also results in the same fault. In case your route is too complicated, you can divide it into small sections to simplify your long ride.
Ride A Wrong Bike
This fault is also common among cyclists. It originates from choosing an unfit bicycle with your body and skill. Riding such a wrong bike can affect your appearance or physical condition.
The pains and aches can occur due to poor postures on the wrong bike. It has potential injuries if you are unlucky to get a fall.
Pick a bicycle that is proper with your preference and ability. A matching bike is a good means you would rather use it more than a cool or dedicated vehicle.
To choose a well-suited bicycle, ask yourself how you want to ride a bike and where to use it. Consider a road bike when you make a century ride. It has good features such as fast speed, efficient components, and slim tires that allow you to ride on rough terrains.
Set Improper Goals
Setting a goal is significant to achieve what you want in a long ride. Yet, an improper target is different to help you progress and succeed in your event. It is not clear and realistic.
Your goal should be attainable to stay motivated and interested but challenging enough to make an effort. Outline the key steps to set a perfect goal for your cycling tour. Start with the goal identification to have good preparation before your riding event.
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Conclusion
The above are 10 mistakes you are making on century rides. They are the main causes that impair your enjoyable riding tours. These faults are common such as not wearing a helmet, insufficient or hard intensity training, poor plan, or wrong clothing wearing.
You will never succeed in your century riding event however you try. Thus, correcting these mistakes is principal to enhance cycling performance and achieve the best goals.
Consider them, look for simple solutions to prevent these faults, and complete your century cycling tour at large.
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Jame K. Thomas
Hey guys, I am an avid cyclist who have raced competitively in the amateur ranks until my mid 30s. I love cycling because it offers both physical and mental challenges, as well as the sense of freedom that comes with riding outdoors. I have devoted myself to the communities and shared all that I know about this supper-duper lovely cycling. Hope that my experience in this blog could give you help.
