If can do 19-20 on a typical flat training ride without huge effort, how much slower should I expect to ride on a generally flat century?
Training ride for me defined - 20 - 25 miles.
16-18 probably
.
my wife just did her first century last week. her typical training ride was 60 miles in 4 hrs. she did the century in 6 hours. the difference between drafting in a pack and solo riding.
Are you talking about a 100 mile training ride or an organized Century ride?
Solo? 16-18, depending on course, weather elements, etc…something like that.
Organized Century ride? You could probably hang in the 19-20 pack without much trouble…drafting is allowed…and actually integral to many of the weekend warrior 5hr century crowd riding.
today just did one…21.44mph…i am now officilly beat
.
Swami’s long loop from the UCSD campus ~106 miles can be done averaging 20-21. And the route isn’t very flat. It probably depends how fast your group is willing to go. Also, the winds might be a factor.
It depends on if you can and want to hang with the front groups. Almost every century seems to have folks who treat it as a race or a timed event so if you can stay sheltered in these groups you can probably complete this in a much faster speed than your easy training rides with about the same effort.
No reason you can’t go at least as fast as your training ride, assuming:
you don’t mind sucking wheel all day
you eat and drink enough
you don’t push too hard the first half of it.
The (charity) centuries I’ve done, they have stayed as a fairly large pack until about mile 60, then it just implodes, and next thing you know, the peloton is down to a handful of riders.
Stay well fed, keep a steady moderate effort level, and you’ll probably surprize yourself. It’s really not that hard to average 20 mph on a road bike in a pack, even over that distance.