Rode my first Century yesterday. Well actually......

[SpinSpinSugar]

It was 132 miles.... :D;):p

Boy is my butt sore!

Tired, but dang proud and happy!

SpinSpinSugar

[ny biker]

Congrats!!

[OakLeaf]

That's some first century! There's a LOT of difference between 100 and 132, that's for sure. Congrats. :)

[SpinSpinSugar]

Thank You ladies. It was a long day for sure. The rest of the group consisted of my boyfriend who had done a few centuries last summer, and 6 (male) experienced long-distance/ Brevet riders. They dropped the hammer from the very get-go and I had to maintain average speeds of anywhere from 13-20 mph just to keep them within eyeshot. This is on a vintage 35lb fendered/steel bike with 3-5 lbs of gear, and It was hot, with temps in the mid 80's.

The first 100 miles were primarily steep rolling hills (river valleys) with a headwind for 60 of it. And of course, the guys could not resist following every gravel road we came across that went the general direction we were heading. (in rural Wisconsin there are a LOT of gravel roads!) A 2-3 mile patch of unbroken ATV trail was a rather fun addition to the ride as well. The ride leader is well known for his affinity for pain..lol..

Thankfully 22 of the last 31 miles were on relatively flat paved MUP trails, so the guys took the opportunity to turn on the afterburners - at an average speed of 22 mph, I could only keep up at that point by drafting. We hobbled back in around 11pm after I don't even know how many hours in the saddle.

My previous longest ride ever was 78 miles which I did last summer. This summer my longest ride was 75 miles done 10 days before this. I'm learning that mileage is largely mental :)

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[chicagogal]

CONGRATS!!! That sounds like a super hard ride with all the carzy terrain (hills and gravel road)! I wish I had been there too :-)

By the way, no shame in drafting. Sharing the work like that is one of the beauties of group riding!


Thank You ladies. It was a long day for sure. The rest of the group consisted of my boyfriend who had done a few centuries last summer, and 6 (male) experienced long-distance/ Brevet riders. They dropped the hammer from the very get-go and I had to maintain average speeds of anywhere from 13-20 mph just to keep them within eyeshot. This is on a vintage 35lb fendered/steel bike with 3-5 lbs of gear, and It was hot, with temps in the mid 80's.

The first 100 miles were primarily steep rolling hills (river valleys) with a headwind for 60 of it. And of course, the guys could not resist following every gravel road we came across that went the general direction we were heading. (in rural Wisconsin there are a LOT of gravel roads!) A 2-3 mile patch of unbroken ATV trail was a rather fun addition to the ride as well. The ride leader is well known for his affinity for pain..lol..

Thankfully 22 of the last 31 miles were on relatively flat paved MUP trails, so the guys took the opportunity to turn on the afterburners - at an average speed of 22 mph, I could only keep up at that point by drafting. We hobbled back in around 11pm after I don't even know how many hours in the saddle.

My previous longest ride ever was 78 miles which I did last summer. This summer my longest ride was 75 miles done 10 days before this. I'm learning that mileage is largely mental :)

SpinSpinSugar

[Aggie_Ama]

I feel kind of wimpy for grimacing when my first century was actually 102 miles instead of 100.3 as advertised! Congrats that is some crazy mileage, I would wonder if you were human if your butt wasn't a little sore.

[malaholic]

From 75 miles to 132...that's quite a jump! Especially given the wind and terrain conditions and being on a heavy bike. Awesome job! I bet it feels great to be off the saddle by now...I think the leg muscles can adapt to the longer biking sessions more easily than the butt can, at least for me. :p

[Bike Chick]

Good for you! Great job!

[Catrin]

Congratulations on the great ride and being able to bump up the miles so far! I am impressed you were able to keep up with them on a heavy bike.

[SpinSpinSugar]

Thank you for the kudos everyone :) It's day two since the ride and I can finally sit without a pillow..lol... My seat post slipped down quite a bit from all the bouncing around which put me back on the frame of the saddle for 80+ miles or so (Brooks B17 Imperial) That's probably the reason why there are actual bruises on my tush.

I'm looking at a Selle SMP TRK as an alternative, although the brooks was pretty good during the ride even sitting on the frame. I had a backup saddle with me (Bontrager something with gel padding and a big cutout) but never felt like switching it out. Plus I didn't want to look wimpy in front of the guys...lol...

But seriously ladies, if I can do this kind of mileage jump, anyone here can too. All you have to do is not give yourself the option of quitting period, (in my case there was no one to call!) and keep drinking and drinking and drinking. Seriously... I drained my 24oz water bottle every 45 min the entire day. (electrolytes added every bottle or every other bottle) If I started to feel the slightest bit fatigued, time to drink. I personally went through 1.5 gallons of water throughout the day.

Thankfully my BF is a strong enough rider to carry all the extra for us, and we used every bit.

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[Tri Girl]

WoW!!:eek:
Impressive, to say the least. I've never ridden further than 114 in one day.
You are an animal!!! Congrats!!:):):):):)

[roadie gal]

Impressive!

Was this an organized ride or just you and a bunch of friends?

[SpinSpinSugar]

It was a shop organized ride. Here's what the invite said:

"Lady and Gentlemen:

Please consider joining the 4th Annual unsanctioned and unsupported Winona Bimodal, wherein the audacious excursionists will board the morning train from St Paul to Winona, then ride home on bicycles. The date for this ride is July 18. To hold your place for the ride, simply buy an Amtrak ticket from MSP to WIN for July 18, 2010 and get to the station with your bike at least an hour before departure time. While on the train, we will enjoy a hearty breakfast (optional, costs extra) and beautiful scenery before de-training in Winona for the exercise portion of the day.

While I won't tell anyone how or where to ride, historically this has been a group ride with a strong social component, occasional regrouping, and a few food stops. It's not a race, nor is it all that fast by "roadie" standards. If you can maintain 15 mph on flat ground with no wind for an extended period of time, you'll be plenty fast enough. Please keep in mind that there is no sag wagon and no support of any kind beyond what can be found along the route or arranged as needed. I will construct a lovely and challenging route that is a little bit devious, but with lots of downhills, some "rustic" roads, and a few surprises (I hope for the best). Beyond laying out a basic route, which is subject to change according to the whims of the group for any reason or no reason, I, as author of this email, provide nothing but jovial company and maybe some help fixing your bike should the need arise. Food, bail-out rides, motels, medical issues, etc, are the responsibility of each individual rider."

The train ended up running 3 hours behind schedule so that plan was ditched at the train station and a new route was loosly sketched out over breakfast. The ride we ended up doing was slightly shorter than the original but much more challenging due to the non-stop rolling hills, headwind, gravel, ATV trail, etc. and high speeds.

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[buffybike]

AWESOME!! I'd love to see a pic of your steelie.