I rode my first century yesterday. It was great! I rolled out at 7:15 am in order to try and beat as much of the heat as possible. And wouldn't you know it, the batteries conked out in my cyclocomputer after 17 minutes. (My own fault for unplugging the cradle to charge my mp3 player and forgetting to turn the unit off). Riding without the computer was both nerve-wracking and kind of liberating. I had no way of ever knowing how far I'd gone, or how much further there was to go to a stop. By the same token, I'd done 35 miles before I knew it, and then 50 also completely snuck up on me.
I was riding alone, although at two different points I wound up kind of swapping positions with two other solo women riders. After lunch, I kind of glommed onto a group of 5 guys who were riding in a loose paceline. I didn't join their line, or even really draft off of them (although they very graciously invited me to, which I appreciated), but I decided to just stay behind them for a while to help regulate my pace and maybe take a bit of wind-shield now and then. I was behind them for about 15 miles, and then I pulled their paceline up a big hill and for the last 5 miles until the final rest stop. It was actually quite fun, although at times they went maddeningly slowly. Actually I have no idea if they were going slowly or not, because I had no computer! I think if I hadn't forced myself to keep their pace, I would have spent all my energy much too early, because I'd been really dropping the hammer up until I joined them.
I forgot to eat at the final rest stop (mile 78), so mile 80-90 were kind of painful. I felt myself bonking a bit, and generally running low on enthusiasm. Fortunately I think I took in enough calories from Gatorade that by mile 90 I tapped some final reserve of energy and the last ten miles went pretty well (and quickly). All in all, I consider this experience a huge success. Not only did I achieve my goal of finishing, but I did so way faster than I had anticipated (16+ mph average, calculated only by start and finish times, minus lunch and rest stops). Plus I finished feeling pleasantly tired and not sore, as opposed to wrecked, and all of the tweaks I had made because of the bike fitting last week really paid off. No saddle soreness, no neck pain, only minor hand and foot numbness. Also, I cannot say enough good things about the Louis Garneau Neo Power shorts. They were fantastic.
I also learned a lot about how I'd do it differently next time:
1)I discovered that I have trouble eating solid food after about 50 miles. I ate my Gu Chomps and Clif Shot Blocks first, and saved my Clif Builder's Bar and cheese crackers for later. I should have reversed it.
2)I am not coordinated enough to swap the position of my bottles in their cages while actively maintaining pace. I thought I'd pulled it off and then dropped one of my brand new insulated water bottles :( Oh well, I'll just consider it an offering to the cycling gods. So I really need to figure out a better hydration system. I have a camelback, but it's so much nicer not to have anything on your back for all those hours.
3)People on these rides are typically pretty friendly, so it's not a bad idea to join someone's line or find another solo rider to swap pulling with. I don't have a lot of experience with pacelines or drafting, but it's a good way to learn. And it does make a big difference in terms of conserving energy and increasing speed. That being said, I really am a solo rider when it comes down to it. I like doing my own thing, keeping my earphones in, and so on. If someone wants to draft off of me, no problem, but I don't like feeling responsible to others on my ride (aside from my general responsibility to be a conscientious rider, of course).
I have to say, I am completely hooked on centuries now! I'm registered to do another one in Virginia in mid-September. It's going to be logistically difficult for me to pull that off, although I really hope I can figure out how to do it. And in August I'm relocating to Tampa, FL, so hopefully there will be some centuries later on in the year that I can do down there. My goal for the next one is to finish in under 6 hours, and my ultimate goal is the 5 hour century!
