how do YOU recover after a century

Welcome aboard to the Century club! It's a great feeling to meet that goal, isn't it?
Great advice already here in reply to your 'what do I do to recover well post-ride question'. I'll just reinforce how important it is to eat within what's called the magic window afterwards: about 45 min - 1 hr after finishing your ride. Even better if you can include some protein in your post-ride meal too.
I didn't know about the 'eat within an hour' rule of thumb, until I had been riding a bit and got into the habit of heading to the shower first (doesn't brushing your teeth after to get rid of all the grit mouth feel great too?!). Then I started to pack a cooler with a recovery drink (I use Cytomax during the ride and have Endurox waiting for after long rides) and snacks (tuna sandwich, PB&J on a bagel or the like, unless there's a post-ride meal already waiting), I found that I felt much better. The recommendation to stretch after is great too and it's really more beneficial to do it post-ride; during the later miles I'll sports massage my quads, calves and glutes to keep them from tightening up and pooling lactic acid. Just jostling the belly of the muscles really, nothing deep. It only needs to take 30 sec or so roadside and you'll have fresh legs again to keep going. You're right about the "mind game" part too; at some point it all becomes mental and then you can play games or count or do whatever to get to the finish.
An easy spin the next day is perfect...if there's a flat trail or easy loop you can do, not even looking at mph or heartrate during it, but focusing on a nice, easy, cadence, that works great.
My PT recommended all of the above and it's worked great for me. I remember completing a double century in 1 day a few years ago, for the first time, following her directions and I amazed myself and some buddies the next morning, when I took an easy spin then walked to an outdoor concert and picnic, feeling super.
Check out whatever works for you; your body will let you know what to keep doing and what to discard. Happy trails!

Thanks for more good tips. I will put them to work in two weeks when I have another lonnnnng ride planned!

Chrisanna, congrats! A first century is quite an accomplishment.
It sounds like it was a fun ride, too. Good sag stops help a lot on a long ride.

I just did a 175-miler this past Sunday, across Wisconsin, from Iowa to Lake Michigan in Racine. It was awesome! It's the longest I've ever biked in day. It was only supposed to be 150 miles, but turned out to be more. We had a support driver, but he got lost so we ended up going the last 50 miles with no support, no towns on the route to stop in, and even hoarding what water we had left, we were out before we hit town and could stop and re-fuel. Now I want to do a double century. It's funny, till you start doing long miles, it's difficult to imagine doing it. But once you get out there, you find out that it's possible. Quite a feeling, isn't it?

Anyway, one of the first things I did when we got done (went with 2 others) is mix one scoop of Endurox into my water bottle, shake it up well, and drink it. NOT my favorite stuff, but I have found that it really helps me feel better the next day after a long ride than if I don't use it. I don't use it after short rides, only the long, endurance type rides. I recover much better. I've also tried using the companion product to Endurox, Accelerade, for during the ride. If you can stomach the flavor, I believe it helps, too, to extend endurance. You can usually find it on sale from one of the big mail order bike places, and sometimes, your LBS will give you a good price if you mention the prices online or mail order.

Again, congrats!