Instructed By Clocking 100 miles on your bike is basically a rite of passage as a cyclist. It tops many riders’ lists of goals, because there’s just nothing like scoring the glory of hitting those triple digits!
But why ride a century? For starters, the distance brings on a sense of glory and pride that everyone from a new cyclist to an advanced rider can enjoy, as long as you put in the work.
It’s also a distance that keeps bringing people back, because finishing is never guaranteed. Even if your fitness is great, you could bonk, mechanical issues could derail your day, or your fueling could leave you falling behind.
To help you avoid these mishaps and get you prepared to ride your first 100 miles, we created the How to Master the Century program. Throughout the program, we cover everything you need to get ready for your hundo, including choosing a route or event, picking a training plan and understanding the workouts on that plan, getting the right gear and bike fit, creating a solid nutrition strategy, and more.
Alison Tetrick is a professional cyclist, World Tour racer, Unbound 2017 winner, three-time Gravel Worlds Champion, and lover of all things cycling. As someone who has ridden countless centuries (and then some), she offers the best advice in Bicycling’s How to Master the Century on making it through 100 miles!
Your Experts
David Lipscomb
Performance Cycling Coach with CIS Training Systems
Tara Seplavy
Deputy Test Editor
Isaac Denham
Owner of Befitting Bicycles and Body Geometry Fit certified fitter
Namrita Brooke, Ph.D., R.D.N
Endurance Sport Coach, Sports Dietitian, and Adjunct Professor at University of West Florida
Gabriel Ortiz
Maintenance and Repair Test Editor
What You’ll Learn
How to Master the Century was created with our Bicycling century ride training plans in mind, which are designed to help you crush your first or fastest hundo. We have five plans, spanning different lengths so you can pick the best one for your goal event. Bicycling members get access to these training plans (along with base building, building speed, and more training plans... plus other great membership perks!) when you sign up!
Plus, Bicycling members get exclusive access to a follow-along strength workout (35 minutes), which will help you stay strong and stave off injury when spending all the time on the bike! You’ll get a mix of mobility, glute activation, and total-body strength-building moves, blended into a challenging but scaleable workout. All you need is a set of dumbbells and a mini band (though bodyweight also works if you’re new to strength training!).
Bicycling premium all-access membership offers a tight-knit community that’s as passionate about cycling as you are. Beyond engaging, helpful stories in a magazine and on a website, we offer more benefits to help you ride faster, stronger, healthier, and happier. Along with How to Master the Century, here’s just a glimpse at what we offer:
- Unlock all stories, curated training plans for any cycling goal, cutting-edge tools, and gear reviews on Bicycling.com
- Get every print issue delivered straight to your mailbox
- Receive a weekly members-only newsletter with insight from the Bicycling staff and experts in the cycling community
- Access hundreds of streaming video workouts on demand
- A copy of Bicycling’s Climb!, featuring all the tools you need to master hill training
Brian has spent more than a decade focused on creating compelling news, health, and fitness content—with a particular interest on enthusiast activities like running and cycling. He’s coordinated coverage of major events like the Paris Olympics, Boston Marathon, New York City Marathon, and Tour de France, with an eye toward both the professional race and the engaging stories readers love.
Mallory Creveling is an ACE-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach, who also holds certifications in kettlebell training, sports performance, and more. She has more than a decade of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition for a wide range of publications, and nearly 10 years of experience as a trainer and fitness instructor. Mallory stays on top of her continuing education in fitness, as well as the latest science in wellness. She has worked with some of the best experts in their medical fields, and regularly interviews researchers, trainers, athletes, and more to find the best advice for readers looking to improve their performance and well-being. As a freelance writer, Mallory's work appeared in Women's Health, Self, Men's Journal, Reader's Digest, and more. She has also held staff editorial positions at Family Circle and Shape magazines, as well as DailyBurn.com. A former New Yorker/Brooklynite, she's now based in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Natascha Grief is Bicycling’s Health & Fitness Editor. She started in the cycling industry as a bike mechanic a couple of decades ago, earning a couple pro-mechanic certifications and her USA Cycling Race Mechanic license. She went on to apprentice for framebuilder Brent Steelman in her hometown of Redwood City, California before spending several years working for both large and not-so-large cycling brands. She then switched gears and industries to earn multiple personal training certifications while honing her skills as a trainer and coach, specializing in functional training, corrective exercise, and body positive personal training. She began contributing regularly to Runner’s World and Bicycling as a freelance writer in 2020, and joined the editorial staff of Bicycling in 2022.
Alison Tetrick is a professional cyclist, World Tour racer, Unbound 2017 winner, three-time Gravel Worlds Champion, and lover of all things cycling. Learn more about Ali and her career at alisontetrick.com.
