I recently bought the first bike I've had since childhood and have been absolutely loving it! Since I'm mostly interested in biking for pleasure and exercise I bought a comfort-style Schwinn. I bought Schwinn because it was a brand I knew from friends and years past as quality bikes and the price range fit what I was looking for (no sense in spending a thousand dollars before I was sure it wouldn't just be a passing fad). Right now I am riding mostly through neighborhoods in the small town I live in, just taking my time and enjoying the ride and scenery. Unfortunately for my poor bike, I also ride it on our farm - mostly sandy trails with some rocks and plenty of hills, which it does suprisingly well on.
However, I've also been looking into 30- and 60-odd mile events in my area as a future goal to work up to. A close friend does several half-marathons a year, and while I love the idea of accomplishing something like that, running is definately not my thing. Which is where the local events come in. Since these events are not "race" events, but more of a community/sense of accomplishment in participating type events, is there any reason I couldn't participate with my current bike?
When shopping, I did look at road and mountain bikes, but the comfort bike was just too, well, comfortable to pass up.
Your bike should be just fine for these events. There are a lot of people doing century rides on comfort bikes and even mountain bikes so the shorter distances are definately doable on your current bike. The main idea is just to build your endurance for the events you want to do by just getting out there and riding, adding time and milage little by little.
The good thing about these events is that all kinds of cyclists sign up so there's a good chance that there will be people there with the same goals and experience as you.
I just started riding a couple weeks ago and plan to ride in the Tour De Toad in Conway the first weekend in May. I haven't decided if I'm going to do the 33 or 46 mile loop yet, but I'll determine that based on my weekend milage at that point. Later next year I plan on doing the full century route in the Big Dam Bridge 100.
As you keep riding and building endurance, you'll realize that 30 miles really isn't as far as it seems.
Sounds like you bike should be fine. I've ridden similar events on anything from a pile of junk huffy mountain bike to a decent Schwinn Racing bike.
If you are riding your comfort bike regularly and are in tune with it, you should be good to go. The levels of riders on these rides are quite varied and the bikes will vary as well.
Have fun, and keep it rubber side down!
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