Coach’s Corner: The Best Advice For Riding a Century

The Best Advice for Your First Century

Our Coach’s Corner series is your chance to have your biggest cycling questions answered — right from longtime cycling coach Darryl MacKenzie. In these short Q&As, Coach Darryl speaks from his 35+ years of cycling and coaching experience to help you become a stronger, smarter cyclist. 

Eager Cyclist:

Coach, the week of our century has finally arrived! What is the best advice I should remember during this big milestone? 

Coach Darryl:

In the excitement of the big event day, many new century riders make the mistake of starting the event too fast. When this happens, they often run out of energy well before they’ve pedaled 100 miles.  

The farther you’re pedaling, the slower your pace should be, both in terms of miles per hour and your heart rate. For instance, four of my last five double centuries had the same average heart rate — a low 117 beats per minute over the 200 miles. 

So, the Thinking Cyclist knows that the most important piece of advice to remember when riding that first century is to pedal it in the same manner in which you prepared for the event. This includes riding no faster — or rather with a heart rate that is no more — than that at which you trained.  

Pace yourself. Possibly even go slower for the initial two-thirds of the distance or more. If you have some energy left at the end, you can gradually increase your pace. 

Follow this simple rule, and you’ll set yourself up for success on your first century!

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