July 12th! I am going to do it!

[Jen-Jen]

I will be riding my first 100 at the Chelsea One Helluva Ride. I will not be the only TE'er there. Becca B and her hubby Tim are also going to join. I am very excited about tomorrow and I hope to meet Becca and Tim, as well.

I hope to snap a few shots of my ride and share them with you all.

Hope to find me breathing and standing after my ride!

[sundial]

Good luck with your ride and hope you have lots of fun! We'll be cheering for you over here. http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/party/party0011.gif (http://www.mysmiley.net)

[sgtiger]

Good luck, Jen-Jen! You'll do fine.

[RoadRaven]

Well done for committing to this JenJen
How was it

Looking forward to your report :)

[Jen-Jen]

I did it! It was a nasty century for my first! It was humid and then 35 miles into the ride to sky opened up and poured rain for the 10 miles or so. DH and I were soaked through, we even had mini lakes in our shoes! But, I kept on going and finally the last 50 miles it started to heat back up and the sun came back out. I then ended up with a nasty sunburn due to my last 50 miles in the sun since my sunblock washed off form the rain.

DH said we finished it in 6hrs and 45mins on petal. My average speed was 14.7. It was GREAT! Can't wait to do it again.

OKAY! I AM HOOKED!

[beccaB]

I did it too, but a shorter distance. It was interesting to see where I fit in with a group, since it was my first group ride. I do know one thing, I will have to get different shoes because my feet were really hurting. Nobody else had the same kind of shoes I do.The snack breaks made it all seem more do-able.

[RoadRaven]

Yay Jen - you did it - rain and sunburn - if you can survive that 100... just think how much easier your next 100 will be.
Congrats!

Jen, I found a sunscreen sold as army issue. It has to be washed off at the end of the day in the shower, and stays on through sweaty hot races, and several hour rides, and in rain. Its very thick and makes the skin look pale, but none of us have been burned while wearing it, and my part of NZ has some of the hottest summers and highest sunburn rates in the country. have a look around and see if you can find something like that.
Alternatively, there are sport specific sunblocks available - designed for all sports - runners, swimmers, cyclists - and these are good for 3-4 hours - despite water or sweat.

And becca, do get different shoes - and make sure you don't do up the velcro/straps too tight, cause that can be pretty painful too. well done you for completing your distance too - did you have shoe lakes like jen, or did you avoid getting rained on?

[beccaB]

I got rained on too, and had wet everything, but I was glad there wasn't any lightning. A few turns felt a little slippery, but I stayed upright. I will definately do one of the longer distances next year.

[Jiffer]

Congrats on your first century, Jen Jen!!!

Love your name, by the way. I'm a Jen Jen too! :D In fact, I have a friend name Jennifer and we call each other Jen Jen. Together we are "The Jen Jen's". We are both doing our first century on a single together next month (having both done one a tandem).

Our first century involves about 4,000 feet of climbing, which I'm so not looking forward to, but I hear it has super great scenery, so hopefully that will distract me from any pain and misery I might be in. :confused: We're working on our hill climbing, so hopefully we'll be ready.

Good for you on finishing your first, rain and sunburn and all! I hope I can get a similar time as you got, but I'm thinking not with all those hills. I just want to finish it and not be dying at the end. I want to "want" to do another one.

[Jen-Jen]

Thank you all and yes I will be doing another century this summer. It's taken me a bit to get back. Not everything in life rolls smoothly.

RoadRaven- can I get that sunscreen? What is the name of it?

Jiffer & Jen-Jen- Have fun with your century!

BeccaB- Happy with your ride and hope to meet you still!