First century

[Aravis]

A few more thoughts for you to consider/absorb/dismiss as appropriate:

When I loaded your .tcx file into RideWithGPS, it showed as 99.5 miles. I'm sure it still a work in progress, but I'd strongly advise not cutting it too fine. Planning for a mile or two over the 100 is a good idea.

Not everyone will agree with this, but when stretching beyond my usual distance, I've often found it useful to plan a route where I'm not totally committed to the full distance until later on. So, if the route is oval-shaped, that would mean starting somewhere on a flat side rather than at one of the ends. Another way is to plan a route which has a detachable loop towards the end.

Another thing you might do is have an optional extension taking you well over the 100 in case the weather is glorious and you just feel like it.

If you're more comfortable riding alone, then riding alone is fine. But speaking as a lifetime solo cyclist, I've still found it useful on a couple of occasions to enter an organised event when pushing myself that bit further. So no hard and fast rules there.

It's not my patch, but I have some knowledge of parts of your route. It looks pretty good to me, a respectable level of challenge with plenty of interest and variety. Having a big feature like Ribblehead to look forward to is often helpful.

 

[Globalti]

I also can't see your route card but I second The Naked Man cafe in Settle. Also the cafe in Airton just south of Malham is very good; their scrambled eggs and bacon on brown toast is the mutt's nuts. There's another nice cafe at 37 Main Street in Bentham if you're going that way. My advice would be to aim for a cruising 14.5 mph and stop at around 50 or 60 miles for a good meal with plenty of fat and protein, i.e. bacon and egg on brown toast. This is as much for mental refreshment as for energy replenishment.

 

[derrick]

As far as speed goes.you dont want to take it to easy.getting it wrong could be 2 extra hrs in the saddle.easily doable in seven and a half hrs.

 

[si_c]

Nice steady route that, a fair bit of climbing, but best described as rolling rather than particularly hilly. Your eating and stopping strategy is what is going to determine how long it takes really.

I'd suggest around 8 to 9 hours would be about right for a first, solo, century. That would mean an average speed of around 13 to 14ish mph when riding, with a couple of decent stops.

 

[Ajax Bay]

I'll let locals give you a view on the roads you've chosen. May be easier for them to look using this link (to complement the image that @Dogtrousers has contributed):
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27154749
As a minor nitpick, you'd need to extend this route by 1km to make it an imperial century.
I'd descend into Ingleton sticking to the B road myself.
Plan to do 100km (63 miles) at least once a fortnight these next two months and then just do it. Plan to stop and eat twice and carry some accessible 'on the go' food (I prefer a combo of salted cashews, 'big' raisins and flapjack squares), and a banana in the back pocket. Practise this on the 100k rides and stop for a coffee somewhere too.
For your 100 miles, Settle looks like a good first stop and how about the Coop in Caton 109km (just off route) or just along the A683 at 111k, "Amanda's Big Baps" in the layby (last visited with 50k to go on the Mille Pennines (Day 4)).
If you can do 60 miles at 15mph (24kph) then 13.5 is entirely doable (and fine for planning).

 

[Globalti]

I would do that clockwise so as to benefit from the prevailing wind from Elswick through Lancaster and on to Ribblehead. Hopefully, coming back through the Ribble Valley would be a little more sheltered.

There's a decent cafe in Horton in Ribblesdale where the PW crosses the road.

You'll be passing within a couple of miles of my home as you pass Ribchester. PM me if you want some company and perhaps a bit of a draft for a few miles.

 

[si_c]

I would do that clockwise so as to benefit from the prevailing wind from Elswick through Lancaster and on to Ribblehead. Hopefully, coming back through the Ribble Valley would be a little more sheltered.

There's a decent cafe in Horton in Ribblesdale where the PW crosses the road.

You'll be passing within a couple of miles of my home as you pass Ribchester. PM me if you want some company and perhaps a bit of a draft for a few miles.

I dunno, I'd be tempted to do it as is, with that long block of flat at the end. It's easier to get into a rhythm and pace yourself into a slight headwind than doing anything more than light climbing at the end of a long ride.

 

[Globalti]

Going clockwise there are several short sharp hills between Sawley and Bashall Town and then as you pass south of Longridge Fell. From Longridge it's flat as you've reached the Fylde.

 

[Racing roadkill]

I’d be careful about building in ‘quit points’. The biggest thing that most people struggle with on a century plus ride, is the mental motivation to keep going when they hit their ‘twighlight zone’ ( usually late into the ride ) where the body is producing all sorts of strange compounds, to switch its fuel supply equilibrium, and the soft bits are starting to ache / hurt a bit more than usual, and the brain is trying to convince them that ‘they’re at 80 miles, and that’s just fine, there’s no need to keep going, it’s fine to call it a day now’ and ‘didn’t they have something really urgent to do, that involves not cycling?’ That said, you’d be ill advised to ignore any serious signals being given by your body. That’s part of the ‘game’ and only experience over time will allow you to make the correct calls. This is why riding as a group helps a lot, if you have other ‘idiots’ being as ‘daft’ as you are, the motivation to keep going is easier to find.

 

[Racing roadkill]

As for direction of the ride goes, anti clockwise is usually preferable, purely due to the fact it tends to minimise the number of right turns across carriageways, which require more concentration, and the concentration may be diminished late into a long / hard ride. I’m a British Cycling Ride leader, and we are encouraged to ride anti-clockwise routes, wherever possible, as ( typically ) the risks are reduced by riding anti clockwise routes.

 

[Ajax Bay]

rr was countering @Globalti 's clockwise suggestion to take advantage of a SW wind to blow the rider to and through Lancaster as opposed to having it on the nose for 110-145km. A clockwise route involves one more right turn every 25km, for a circular route.

 

[PaulSB]

Living in Chorley I've ridden most of these roads, some very regularly, over the years. I can't recall the Settle to Ingleton section though I know I've been there a couple of times. When I began to follow it round my first thought was clockwise might be better but that was my first reaction to the long slog up to Wigglesworth which I never enjoy. On balance though I think your anti-clockwise choice is correct as once you hit Lancaster those last miles home will be relatively flat. Enjoy - it's a good route, I'm going to "borrow" it!!!

 

[Globalti]

If I was the OP I would reserve my decision until I saw the speed and direction of the wind on the day.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

If I was the OP I would reserve my decision until I saw the speed and direction of the wind on the day.

Definitely. With a few DIY 200+km Audax routes I have built, I have made sure one goes in the opposite direction to take any strategic advantage of the wind on the day.

 

[Aravis]

I’d be careful about building in ‘quit points’. The biggest thing that most people struggle with on a century plus ride, is the mental motivation to keep going when they hit their ‘twighlight zone’ ( usually late into the ride ) where the body is producing all sorts of strange compounds, to switch its fuel supply equilibrium, and the soft bits are starting to ache / hurt a bit more than usual, and the brain is trying to convince them that ‘they’re at 80 miles, and that’s just fine, there’s no need to keep going, it’s fine to call it a day now’ and ‘didn’t they have something really urgent to do, that involves not cycling?’ That said, you’d be ill advised to ignore any serious signals being given by your body. That’s part of the ‘game’ and only experience over time will allow you to make the correct calls. This is why riding as a group helps a lot, if you have other ‘idiots’ being as ‘daft’ as you are, the motivation to keep going is easier to find.

A couple of years ago, when stepping up to 150 miles for the first time in over two decades, this tactic really worked for me. My route that day is shown below - anticlockwise, starting in Gloucester:

Cheltenham, at about 110 miles, was the point at which I could very easily have headed for home. Realistically, I was never going to do that, but it was a great benefit earlier on to know that I wasn't yet committed to the full distance.

@Dogtrousers was saying further up that it's all in the mind. Quite right, and this is one way of getting the head right. It won't work for everyone.

As for the OP, I have the impression that after 80 miles he'll be wondering what all the fuss was about.