Hey jazzythumper. I'm really sorry to hear about your dad and I can only imagine the stress.
In terms of the ride, try not to worry about it too much. In the grand scheme of things it's only riding your bike. I know the distance sounds daunting if you're not used to it (and apologies if my assumption is wrong), but it's very doable with even a modest amount of fitness. The important things on the day will be not to go off at a pace you're not comfortable at and to make sure you eat and drink little and often.
Try not to panic and 'crash train', as most likely all you will do is injure yourself and have a fairly miserable time. The most important thing to do now is ride as much as you can and make sure the miles you can squeeze in count. If you only have an hour free, find a hill and get some hill repeats in at a level that pushes you. Eat and recover well too.
I'm doing this ride too and am struggling through a knee problem that's dramatically reduced my mileage over the past several months. I know that a century ride is going to hurt and that I won't be riding it at a pace I'd normally expect to, but I'm going to just try to enjoy the event and those closed roads.
If you fancy a Sunday morning stretch at some point let me know.
Take care,
Tom
Thanks for the reply Tom, would love to get out on Sunday, but am stuck down in Somerset, there are lots of Hills around here, to I have started to do an hourish loop that takes in about 400mm of climbing.
It's all I can squeeze in, but it's not enough prep for the big hill.
I cycled the Olympic Road race course last year, could manage Box Hill, but not Leith Hill!
Thanks for the reply Tom, would love to get out on Sunday, but am stuck down in Somerset, there are lots of Hills around here, to I have started to do an hourish loop that takes in about 400mm of climbing.
It's all I can squeeze in, but it's not enough prep for the big hill.
I cycled the Olympic Road race course last year, could manage Box Hill, but not Leith Hill!