By Ken Schwarz, CRW Century Coordinator
This is the third installment of a four-part series of articles on preparing for a century ride. Are you thinking about tackling your first century this year? Contact ken.schwarz@crw.org if you are interested in joining the Century Training Program in August to help you prepare for the October 18 CRW Cranberry Century.
In Part 2 of this series of articles we talked about training your mule (namely, YOU!) to handle a 100-mile ride, this time we’ll focus on what we will ask that mule to carry. Naturally, this should be: “As little as possible, but no less.”
A checklist will help you plan ahead and reduce anxiety on the day of the event that you omitted something important. Exactly what you need will depend on the day’s conditions and how self-sufficient you really need to be. Let's look at three distinct scenarios that can help structure your approach:
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A supported daytime ride, such as the CRW Cranberry Century. You will be riding on a vetted route, in daylight, with other riders, with SAG support, and water/fuel stops along the way. You’ll need to dress for the forecast weather and range of anticipated temperatures.
Bike
Inspect your bike closely a few days before the ride, leaving yourself enough time to make an emergency bike store purchase as needed. Check tires for cuts or sidewall damage and replace them if you find anything that compromises their integrity. Avoid using tires with knobby treads on paved centuries; smooth slicks put up much less rolling resistance. Fix brake rubbing or shifting issues, if any. Lube your chain lightly and wipe off excess. Dry lube works great and is less messy if you get it on your hands but easily washes away with rain. Use wet lube if you need it.
Day or night, ride with lights as a basic safety precaution. They need to be rated for 8-10 hours of continuous flashing, but aging batteries may not hold their rated charge so be willing to replace an old one now if needed. For night riding, carry two headlights and a spare flashing light for the rear. When your first light expires—and in my experience, anyway, it will—you can quickly swap to the backup and be on your way.
A dedicated navigation computer is not required if you have a phone with the equivalent app, but on an unsupported ride, a dedicated navigation computer reserves your phone in case the navigation computer fails or you need it as a phone.
If rain is forecast, fenders will help keep your butt dry and spare the rider behind you from mouthfuls of road grit.
Finally, a lightweight lock, while hardly enough to stop a determined thief, can reduce anxiety when making quick rest stops on an unsupported ride.
Food, water, sunscreen, and emergency information
In principle, on a supported ride you might not need to bring any food or electrolyte if you plan to “live off the land” with event-provisions. However, if you have trained your gut on particular favorites that you find easy to digest, bringing them with you reduces the risk of gastric distress after ingesting unfamiliar energy bars or sports drinks. Large lunches, while tempting, should be avoided. Nausea, gas, diarrhea—these three are traveling companions you do not want.
On unsupported rides, identify stores, water fountains or other dependable stops in advance. You’ll need to carry full day’s nutrition, resupply along the way, or combine the two. Call targeted restaurants or stores a few days before to confirm that they are open. Especially in the off season, many are closed even when they are “supposed” to be open.
Sunscreen, identification, emergency contact information, a charged phone, and money or a credit card are all essential. Emergency information should be accessible without requiring someone to unlock the phone.
Tools, parts, and first aid
Even on a short training ride, never mind a century, everyone should be prepared for the inevitable cycling gremlins, so always carry flat-repair kit with tire levers and a pump or CO2 cartridges. Even in a supported century, help may be several miles away, and volunteers or fellow riders should not be expected to solve every routine puncture. Tubeless riders should carry the appropriate plug tool and plugs but should still bring a spare tube for a puncture or tire failure that will not seal. Practice changing an inner tube at home (on the rear wheel, so you master the tricks of getting it back in) if you haven’t done this before. A razor-sharp mini Swiss Army Knife takes up practically no space but can be a lifesaver. Choose one with tweezers: you can use them for removing thorns from tires that fingernails can’t grip and can be incredibly valuable first aid tools as well. Carry a few pairs of nitrile gloves and you can keep your hands clean. (The recommended microfiber cloth also works wonders at getting black grease off of your fingers.)
For the unsupported rides, the kit becomes more complete: two tubes, patches, extra CO2 cartridges or a backup hand pump, a tire boot, a multi-tool that covers all of your bike’s fasteners, and the correct quick link for the chain. A small chain tool can turn a broken chain from a rescue call into a roadside repair. Everyone should have a spare derailleur hanger for their bike frame, but yours is no good at home; keep it in your saddlebag just in case.
A compact first-aid kit might include adhesive bandages, a handful of alcohol wipes, and gauze—enough to clean up a scraped knee or elbow.
Clothing
The longer the ride, the more complicated the clothing can become. Be prepared for a wide range of temperatures, especially on autumn rides where frosty mornings give way to summer-like mid-day sun. Think gloves, hats, arm warmers, layers—they can all come off as the day wears on. A lightweight rain shell provides quite a bit of warmth on top of multiple layers.
Be cautious about nighttime temperatures as darkness can quickly turn a what was moments earlier a comfortable ride into a shivering nightmare since your body is wet with sweat and you start radiating heat instead of absorbing it from the sun. A hat and an extra long sleeve layer might be essential. Wear reflective bands on your ankles. You will soon forget they are there but they are amazingly visible to drivers approaching from behind.
Luggage
There are many options here, but beyond the usual saddlebag you can incrementally add space beyond your jersey pockets with a bag on your handlebars and a top tube bag. The handlebar bag might interfere with your headlamp, so this is a consideration. Extensible and potentially quite large saddlebags that stick out over the rear wheel can hold quite a bit and when cinched up tightly are secure and don’t interfere with bicycle balance or riding.
As an alternative to an extensible saddlebag, a small backpack, such as those made for ultra-endurance runners, are extremely lightweight and can be comfortable enough that you can forget you are wearing one and have convenient strap pockets for a phone and fuel. Many hold 1-2 L bladders that you can fill with water, an electrolyte or a carb mix.
