Century Questions

Whichever is more comfortable.  I'd lean toward the road bike myself, since it likely has more forgiving geometry than a tri-bike, but fit, saddle, etc all come into play.  Go do a couple of 50 milers on each and see how you feel.

For me, centuries don't really start to suck until about mile 80, and then they seem to go on forever.   Good luck!

I have a bunch of bikes and would ride my tri bike as it is way more comfortable going long. My upper body is supported by my skeleton not  the same on my road bike.

I agree seeing which is more comfortable training is a good way to see which will work best for you.

I find most folks are okay with me riding a tri bike doing century rides as the ones I've done I'm mostly riding alone. If it is a huge crowded ride the attitude might be different.

Friel has a couple of books on Bike training and I recall he has a couple suggested training plans for a century. Really it isn't all that complicated as building up time in the saddle isn't hard on your body like running is...it is all about getting your butt and body ready to go long.

I have 3 centuries (may do last one as metric) planned in 4 days in September..want to join me? 

Is it a "race" type century, or just a ride? I did one for charity that was just a ride, with tons of food stops, etc. To be honest - just go out and log the miles. I am a crappy cyclist and didn't train as much as I should have, and with the pit stops for food and stretching, I managed just fine. Was good and pain free until about mile 90. Those last 10 miles SUCKED.

I don't own a tri-bike, so I don't know about comfort on one versus the other. I did it on my road bike, and I was fine.

When I did my century last fall, I built up long rides of 50, 65, and 80 miles in the 5 weeks prior to the ride.  I did OK, but more riding time, and more long rides leading up to it would have been better. 

I rode my tri-bike because that's the bike I did all of my training on (I'd loaned my road bike to a buddy).  Is the Century a hilly route?  That'd be the only other real factor.  As long as you're not riding in a pack, you should be OK on the tri-bike. 

Road bike. There's a reason its called a road bike.

There are plenty of online trianing plans for surviving a century ride. A lot of people go out too quick, that why the last few miles suck so bad. To save time carry your own nutrition with you and skip the first few comfort stops. That way if you are slower you can still make the later stops before the food is all gone and they start diluting the powerade. On your training be sure to get some good hard miles as well as distance. That will allow you maintain a higher pace during the Century.

Here is a random plan:

http://www.maccfund.org/trek100/riders/train.pdf

If your road bike is less comfortable than your tri bike on a long ride you need to get a fit on your road bike. There is no good reason for a road bike to be uncomfortable compared to 5 hours in an aero tuck.

I just did one last weekend and made my share of mistakes. It was supposed to be a hard training ride to help me get ready for my next race. I needed to get some hard miles in to step up my strength on the bike.

Right out the gate I jumped on a train for the first 20 miles. My heart rate was through the roof, but I held on. I realized that I can push and hold a much higher pace on the bike than I thought. That was good to learn. Bad news was that I did pay a big price the last 12 miles (see above).

I was riding my Lightspeed with clip ons. It is a road bike with my position changed (moved forward). Handling in even tight quarters in a pack was fine, and I didn't get any hassle from the purists. More importantly, many times on the ride I rode alone and would ride in my aero position. This was a distinct speed advantage. It also gave me more practice/training in the position I race in.

 My biggest mistake was to dig too deep last Sunday with a race this Sunday.

I don't think it's the not handling well that's a concern, it's the ability to react more quickly for braking.  The tri-bike only has breaks on the horn and not in the aero, so a little more time is need to react to get to the brakes.