So, Unbound Gravel is coming up in less than two months. I’ve been running 20-30 miles (32-48km) per week but not doing much cycling. I have had 1 week where I did over 100 miles (160km) on the bike, but the other weeks have been way less. No structured training and longest ride to date has been one ride of 54 miles (86km). Two or three 40 mile (64km) rides done.
Do I have enough time to be ready and not suffer for the 100 miler? Should I just stick the dates into my TR account and build what I can over the next 7-8 weeks? I hate to give up my running because it always takes my old body time to adjust again (I am 55 years old). I did do the Unbound 100 last year but I had much more cycling training before that event. Thanks.
Should you start cycling training to be ready for a 100 mile cycling race? Yeah, probably. You can replace some endurance rides with easy running (or do brick workout days) and you may be able to keep your running base as well. Really just depends on what you can recover from.
Personally I can run about once a week and my cycling doesn’t fall apart.
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Your aerobic engine should be in reasonable shape from the running. If you have a bunch of cycling history, it shouldn’t take too many weeks on the bike to be able to express the fitness you have. And it really depends on your aspirations for the event. For 100m, it can be done at a pretty casual pace with minimal fitness without too much suffering or risk of blowing up. My biggest concern would be comfort more than fitness since you haven’t been on the bike much and it could be a long day at casual pace. If you are trying to go fast or fight for a certain time or finishing position, that often brings a risk of implosion and/or extreme suffering. Nothing wrong with making a fun ride out an event like that and just enjoying the day at a chill pace. In many ways, it can be more fun than racing it.
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I totally agree with everything that’s been said here already. 
You’re likely in decent shape from all of the recent aerobic activity. Cross-training is a fine tool for building fitness, and running as a cyclist isn’t going to come with too many downsides. Runners who cycle for cross-training need to ensure that they’re still getting enough mileage on foot each week, since it’s really easy to lose those musculoskeletal adaptations that are required for running, but those aren’t as important in cycling, so in my opinion, you’re ony becoming a more durable human by including some running into your schedule.
I’d say start to focus a bit more on following some structure on your bike (a TR plan would be a good option 
) and work on finding time to get a few long rides in between now and Unbound. These don’t need to be 80+ mile rides, but just enough that you start to settle into that long-haul mentality in terms of muscular fatigue.
There’s no denying that you’ll likely have some discomfort during Unbound unless you’re simply touring the race course, so don’t worry about trying to become bulletproof before the race. All participants who push themselves will be uncomfortable by the end.
If you’re passionate about running I’d still recommend keeping a run or two on your schedule each week and focus on balancing some key bike workouts with easier recovery runs to ensure that your cycling fitness is the priority for this event.
Enjoy the process & best of luck!
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That depends on your definition of suffer and it comes to down to how quickly you want to complete it.
A increasingly long ride each week (building up to, say, 80 miles) and two / three trainer road sessions per week (I would stick with two hour tempo workouts personally, but others will have a different view) and you should do just fine.
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Thanks everyone for the replies.
I’ve procrastinated enough that I’m having a hard time motivating myself because I keep thinking “geez, I’ve only got two moths to train so that’s likely not enough to have enough cycling fitness to simply ride at a steady pace”. But, looks like I am wrong and I can get in pretty decent shape before the event. I will certainly ride longer and put a few structured TR rides on my schedule.
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You have an aerobic base with running likely so focus on the bike specific stuff and get some long rides in to get your fueling dialed. You’ll be good.
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