How To Ride 100 Miles: Made Easy | Conor Shares His Tips & Favourite Training Loop

Cycling 100 miles is a challenge. Whether you’re a seasoned bike rider with years of experience or you’re new to road cycling looking to your first big challenge – riding a century can be tough. But, as with all things cycling, it should be an enjoyable experience. Conor’s here with some handy tips to help you on your way to completing your next 100 mile bike ride.

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Conor: Riding 100 miles for the first time  can be a great breakthrough on your cycling   journey. If you’re new to the sport, then  welcome and maybe 100 miles is your next   step. It can be a big challenge though. It’s  definitely harder on the legs as it’s longer  

And it does bring you further afield open up  the possibility for some epic, epic routes,   just like this. You’re in  for a treat today, folks.  [music] I’m going to share with you   some of my own personal tips on how to best manage  a 100-mile ride whether you’re new to the sport,  

Or just looking to manage your next 100-mile ride  a little bit better. Come on follow me. I’ve been   told to have a good draft, still waiting on some  of the beers I’m owed actually about that good  

Draft to tell you. I will be setting off from home  heading out to Clonmel and the beautiful climb of   The Vee, riding down to the coast and up through  Dungarvan. Quick stop on my favorite beach,   Clonea Strand, before the final leg home. I’m getting ready to leave here. I said my  

First point is to try to leave early if you can.  The reason for leaving early is basically you get   out there, you get a good amount of miles in  the legs and by the time it gets to lunchtime,  

You’ve got a good fair whack of your ride done  so you don’t get two hours in and start feeling   really hungry and want to stop so you can  get the bulk of your ride in the bank. Also,  

You want to get a nice hearty breakfast in you.  I always opt for lovely porridge oats and I’m   going to have about 100 grams, cook it with milk  and water and add a few toppings maybe bananas,  

Cinnamon, peanut butter. Get that energy in  the legs ready for a big day out on the bike.  Most importantly as well, sun cream. Never  leave for a ride without sun cream. Even   when it’s raining, put sun cream on just in  case the sun comes out. Without further ado. 

I’m off. The weather is looking beautiful today  unlike my last long ride where I was absolutely   soaked. Anyway, I’ve chosen a route on commute  that takes in a bit of County Waterford and also   going into County Cork this time. I’m going up  famous Vee Climb. If this is your first 100 miler,  

Try and pick a flatter terrain if possible. A  really hilly 100 miles is a tough ask, so maybe   start out on a flatter route to begin with. There are a couple climb things it does break  

Up the route, it’s nice to have a few downhills as  well to recover on but just don’t go too crazy and   enjoy the view. Hey, finally good weather. [music]  Another little tip as well is maybe start out in  a group if you can. It means you can get a little  

Bit of shelter at the beginning of your ride and  then even if the group isn’t doing the full 100   miles, you can quite easy turn off and finish  up on your own. Now I’d be doing the Isabelle  

Today if I was riding in the group but as you can  see, it’s just . Heigh-ho, solo rides are fun too.  [music] First time   at the county on my bike. There we go and I  [unintelligible 00:03:52] across the county  

Boundaries. New territory the first time in three  months. Right folks, I’ve done 23 miles now,   it’s been relatively easy. I’ve taken a pace down  a notch, save my energy for later on the ride   because I’m about to be going into those mountains  over there, beautiful part of the world to ride  

Your bike. I’m looking forward to showing it to  you. Don’t forget to eat in these early stages,   it’s so important. I can’t tell you how important  it is. Don’t think of your food but ration it,  

You want to get it into you, the more earlier on  the ride, the better. You save it until the end of   the ride, it’s too late. Even if you start to feel  tired and hungry then you have a load of food,  

You’ll probably just feel even more lethargic  as a result, you just end up slogging home.  The best strategy get as much food as you can into  you. Think of it as like filling the petrol tank  

Up, you don’t want to be running on empty for  too long, you’ll just do too much damage. I’ve   had two bars and one banana already first 23  miles just to get an idea for you. I’m having  

Another bar now. Trust me, it will pay dividends  towards the end of the ride and you’ll feel so   much better as a result. [music]  Right here we are at the bottom of the Vee,  one of my favorite climbs actually in the  

Whole world. Just heading up there you would  maybe see the road if there was a car on there   and then we’ll head over the border back into  Waterford. I’ll get going. The jungle up here   I love it. Runs across the [unintelligible  00:05:33]. This is Ireland at its greenest. 

[music] I’m up 35 miles in. I’ve   just taken a little break just to admire the view.  I need to do this on century. I thought I’d just   take a moment as well to explain to you, even  if the weather is amazing when you set off you  

Can’t want to plan just in case it turns a bit.  I always like to bring just a light short-sleeved   jersey– Sleeveless jersey, I should say, not  short-sleeved just for any eventuality. Once you   do start climbing as I am now, the weather might  get a bit cooler. You want to keep the wind off  

Your chest which will potentially give you a bit  of a chill. [unintelligible 00:06:15] the stuff   in your pocket or if you don’t have space in your  pockets, you can just stuff it in the top of your  

Jersey like that, gives you a bit more space. As well, if you’re going for a real long ride,   any long ride really, you want to make sure your  equipment is in good working order. I gave it a  

Good wash before I set off, tires for any slits  or any stones, bits of glass that might have   worn their way in there just in case. Also, make  sure you bring supplies. I always like to bring an   extra tube with me on a longer ride. In here,  I’ve got my [unintelligible 00:06:47] burrito  

Wrap as you can see there. I’ve got two  tubes in there. I’ve got an Allen key set   and I’ve got a chain-link tool just in case  break the chain so I can sort myself out.  I’ve taken the opportunity to have another  little stop here because it is absolutely  

Beautiful. I’m getting more food in. This  is a jam, peanut butter, and honey sandwich.   [unintelligible 00:07:12] a bit of homemade  food because you need your energy in you. Again,   I stress this again you need so much food in  you. Focus on carbohydrates, flapjacks, gels,  

Bars. You just need to get the energy into  your legs if you’re going to make it through   your century. We can take a nice scenic spot to  enjoy a bite to eat, nothing wrong with that.  Energy bars are also great because they are  easily digestible and they’re really convenient  

In a simple packet put them in your pocket,  fit quite a lot in it actually, pack a lot   of carbohydrates in a small package, that’s why I  love them as well especially on a long ride. Just  

Be careful not to stop for too long as you will  find difficult getting going again so I like to   be brisk with my stops and get up and off the road  again. Come on, Conor, on that note onwards we go.  

Take your rubbish home with you, in your pockets.  There’s no excuse for littering. Never ever,   ever. Put it in your pockets. I do not want to  see any littering about otherwise I’ll come and   find you. I’ll be like a big grumpy ugly troll  following you around until you pick your litter  

Up and put it in the bin, you hear that? Back into County Waterford there we go.  [music] Don’t forget to drink. Similar to food really,   little, and often just keep sipping throughout  the day and throughout your ride. If you can,  

Use a drink mix that will replace any electrolytes  lost through sweat and even better use one with   some carbs mixed in as well and it’ll help keep  with those energy levels topped up. It’s just  

Another way of getting the carbs into you which  is so important on a long ride. I think if it’s   really hot, try to drink maybe two bottles  every hour and if it’s mild temperature,   aim for maybe two bottles every couple  of hours but don’t forget to drink. 

Another good quick little tip is to try and find  out, before your ride, if there’s any places   on-route where you can refill your water bottles  for free. Churches for instance are a great little   tip, they often have a fountain on the outside  of the building that you can actually fill your  

Bottle up with. Also, do a quick google search of  your country and find if there’s anywhere where   there’s listings or water fountains where you can  refill your bottles. In Ireland, for instance,   there’s a site called refill.ie that will list  all the stations where you can refill your water  

Bottles. It just saves you having to stop and  going into a petrol station or a shop, buying   single-use plastic to fill your bottles up. It’s  a shame to use single plastics and also, it means   you are wasting time when you could be out on  your bike. Don’t forget to drink. Thought you were  

Going to forget that, sorry. Okay, right. I’ve  been [unintelligible 00:10:06] with you too long   now. Come on, Conor. Time to crack on. How many  miles have I done? 40 miles, so 60 miles to go.  [music] Conor: Ride Resumed. Another day in the country.  [music] Conor: Lots of cows. Lots  

Of sheep. Beautiful air around here. Love to bring  my gravel bike here, actually, and go up into the   mountains. I used to do a lot of my efforts  on this road, actually, especially if I had   a headwind. Actually, a really long climb from  this side and you’d be slogging away. These roads  

Are so heavy. No one really knows until they come  here to Ireland and experience these back roads.  [music] Conor:   I’m starting to feel it in the legs now, but I’ve  just knocked out a good amount of miles. I’ve got  

17.2 miles to go. I don’t think it really matters  who you are. If you do 100 miles on your bicycle,   it’s going to get tough at one point or another,  so you’re going to need a bit of mental strength.  

Just because you’re starting to feel it, don’t  let your head drop. Keep your morale high.  Also, I think the benefit of using a route on  a bike computer, towards the end of the ride,   when you’re beginning to tire, you don’t get  led astray onto any main roads or make any wrong  

Turns. You can plan your route to be on back roads  and minor roads to finish off your 100-mile ride,   which means when you’re starting to get tired and  lose concentration, you’re on quieter roads, not   on busy roads. In my opinion, that’s a lot safer. Last little push now. Better crack on. Come on.  

Come on legs, you can do it. I’m still having  fun though, I promise you. It’s what it’s all   about. It’s kind of like the paradox, the cycling  paradox. We love it but it hurts, but then you  

Get views like that and it all becomes worth  it. Now you are on that final push. This is   a good time to take a caffeine gel. Just a good  way of giving yourself that final little boost,  

Keeping yourself alert. Come on, Conor. Home time.  Hundred miles in the legs. Going to be a good one.  [music] Conor: I feel alive.  [music] Conor: I’ve had to do a little detour.   Roads have been blocked with a load of cows. [music] 

Conor: I’ve actually never been down this road  [chuckles] before. Now I know why there was cows   on it. Proper rough one. I forgot how  hard 100 miles is, but anyone can do it,   especially if you take into account some  of my tips. Especially fuelling, I think,  

In the beginning of the ride. It’s so important  because if you don’t do it, once you get to the   end, there’s no way to reverse that. 100 miles,  I’m still made to bring the bin up. I tell you.  I’ve finished. 100 miles in the bank.  I’m tired but I feel great to finish  

It off. Tell you though, I’m not as fit as I  used to be, but I guess that doesn’t matter   anymore. It’s about the enjoyment. It’s about  enjoying those 100 miles. I’ll tell you what,   I’m looking forward to a post-ride beer  and a bit of a burger or something. 

I’d love to hear from you guys. What was your  first 100-miles and what are your memories of   it? Please let me know in the comments section  below. Also, I think we should get a poll going   on the GCN app. Have you ridden 100 miles  before or would you rather do something a  

Little bit shorter? I’ll be interested to  hear what you all think about that one.  I’m off to find some food. I’m starving. Thanks  for watching, everyone. I’ll see you later.   Got me through legs, thank you. Thank you. [sings] I want to film here but this sheep  

Is standing its ground. It’s seen me and it’s  standing to its– No. See? That’s what you get   when you try and mess with this. Jog on. [00:14:28] [END OF AUDIO]