My first Half Century

Hurray! I finished my first half century today! I rode in the Tour De Hills, which is run annually in the Hills district in Sydney. The weather was perfect, slightly overcast and cool which was nice, since the weather's been pretty warm and humid.

The only blemish in the ride, was that I was very nervous at the starting line, and managed to fall off my bike. This may sound pretty dumb, but I always find getting on my bike, and starting off, a little tricky, with the clipping in, and keeping balance, etc. Well with the crowds of cyclists on top of that, it was too much and I fell...:rolleyes: (*Any advice here would be gratefully received!*)

Luckily I didn't cause anyone else to fall, so I just waited till everyone else left, and there was some clear room ahead. And I'm very lucky because my hubby who was riding with me, was very very supportative and worried for me.

Other than that little mishap, it was a great ride, and I did it in 2 and a half hours averaging 20kph. I even managed this very steep little bit, which the group I cycle with go on and on about, but with a bit of pre training, I was prepared (and determined!).

Anyway, next year it'll be the Century! Gulp! I can't wait.:p

Congratulations! Don't worry about falling- I've seen people fall at almost every mass start- even standing still- so it isn't just you. What I would do is make sure my bike is in the right (easy) gear to start off, wear MTB shoes with good grip, not clip in until I was sure it was safe and out of the way and had a good rolling speed. You know you can situate your cleats so they don't engage by not having them exactly over the right spot.

Or just position yourself more toward the back of the pack, where people aren't in such a rush. That way you'll avoid the first few bottlenecks at corners, too.

You have to wait a whole _year_ before the next ride??? If you're at 50 miles now- you're well on your way to 100!

Nanci

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Originally Posted by allabouteva

Hurray! I finished my first half century today! I rode in the Tour De Hills, which is run annually in the Hills district in Sydney. The weather was perfect, slightly overcast and cool which was nice, since the weather's been pretty warm and humid.

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allabouteva -- congratulations on the ride. I wouldnt worry too much about the fall Im sure most riders have either been there or seen it many times before. I agree with Nanci make sure you are in an easy gear to start as this seems to help me get off with no problems.

Sounds like a lovely ride. What part of Sydney was it in?

Look forward to hearing about your next ride.

Trekhawk

Thanks so much for the words of encouragment Nanci and Trekhawk.:) They mean a lot to me.

No, no! I won't be waiting until next year to do the 100 (km though not miles! really really respect the 'real' Centuryers), I want to get up to it, and there's another 50 km ride next month, and an MS one in November that's 88km (Sydney to Gong). Not sure how fast I'll improve my stamina, so I might be doing a Century earlier! But definitely want to do it this time next year...Although this year, I probably only saw less than a handful of women who attempted it.

Trekhawk, the ride went entirely throught the Baulkham Hills Shire, so it started at the Dural Country Club, and went through Dural, Glenorie, Maralya, Box Hill, Oakville, Rouse Hill, Kellyville, Glenhaven, Round Corner and back to the Club. So it was very rural, scenic, and lots of rolling hills, with a killer hill on Glenhaven Road... (but I managed!!! Yee hah!:D )

If you did 50 miles at the last Century, you _can_ do 100km right now! I promise!! That's only 12 more miles!

I love to do this thing, at the end of my longest ride ever, whatever the distance. Try to imagine what it would be like to go another hour, or two hours, or whatever. Most of the time, it seems like if I _had to_, I could do it. Probalby wouldn't be pretty, but, I _could_. Add on a couple weeks recovery, and your body is _ready_ for a longer distance!!

Nanci

allabout... CONGRATS! way to go... getting that first big ride under you belt really changes your persepctive and renews your faith in what you CAN do huh? good for you for completing this so well... and for climbing that hill! :D you have much to be proud of...

and I am impressed that your DH was so great and supportive... everyone falls at some point... I almost went down yesterday taking off and trying to talk, clip in and avoid a hole all at once... DOH! :eek: I kept it upright... but it was close...

keep us posted on the 100... we'll be your cheering section! :)

Congrats Eva - isn't it an awesome feeling!!?? as for the falling/clipping thingy - don't sweat it. Everybody else is so jittery on a start they probably didn't even notice. I'm not sure how you "start" but I noticed it was easier for me anyway to make sure 1 foot was clipped in and then sit down just as soon as I pushed off, get the pedals going first Then worry about clipping in the other foot. That way I always have 1 foot unclipped in case of quick stops or squirrly steering. So your next is a metric eh? Enjoy it even more - pretty soon you'll want to try an imperial century (a true 100 miles! ;) )

Well Done

Allabout...
Congratulations! Don't you feel good! On my front… It's been just a year since I did my first ride of more than 20k when I entered the baby leg of the Tour Down Under. I did the 30k as a present to myself so I wouldn't feel too bad about turning 50 a few weeks later. I kept doing around that distance through the year - when the 2006 Tour was announced, the baby leg was only 23k and I knew I could do that easily, so went for the next distance, which was 93k. Big jump! It was just last Nov that I did more than 50k, just riding around the city. In Jan I did the Tour in 40 odd degree F heat, and was elated. Buoyed by that, in Feb I completed the Coast to Coast (120k, Adelaide to Victor Harbor 120k). Hard, but made it. It was just a couple of days before my 51st birthday (Feb 23). Never knowing when to leave well enough alone, I've registered for the Grand Slam through Bike SA. Last Sunday I rode the first event; 80k through the Adelaide Hills, from Mt Torrens through Mt Pleasant (from a cyclist's perspective, appallingly mis-named - LOL!), Crick's Hill, Martin's Hill, Forreston, Gumeracha and Kenton Valley. Aaaargh!!! Temp was about 36F, it took me about 7 hours, and I was completely knackered when I finished (second to last - last was Lil, who is 82!). It's hills, hills, hills, and when the Big Whoever was drawing them, they forgot about the down bits! Just up, then across, up then across - all the down bits were on the drive home. I have to figure out hills - because I've registered for the series and the next one is 100k in the same area (April), then it's 120k (June),150k (Aug) finishing with 200k in Sept. Sometimes I can't believe I'm doing this, and nor can most of my friends, most of whom think I'm a brick short of a full load. But oh Eva, the feeling of absolute satisfaction when you finish! You get out there, do that metric century, and Ride Like A Girl!
A

NOt that I am happy for your fall, as I am not, but I am famous in my little valley for doing the exact same thing! Now I know to be careful on my first century ride (April 1, what a day, it is April Fool's Day! Who's going to look like a fool? Hopefully not me:D ) Excellent job in the first ride. Must be kinda nice to have that under your belt? Mine is yet to come. Congrads girl!

Thanks Ladies! Your words of support mean a LOT to me!:) :)

Arnaew, you're a HUGE inspiration! I can't believe how many rides you've done, and the HUGE improvements in stamina you've made. Where do you get to hear of these rides? There doesn't seem to be so many here in Sydney. There's one next week at Blayney to Bathurst (but the end is you have to do Mt Panorama yikes!) which I can't get to, then there's one in Kariong in central coast, but DH is working....

CorsairMac, I fell with one leg on the ground and one clipped in. I leaned towards the clipped in side (duh) and fell. My bro-in-law had just finished telling me in a kinda jokey way not to fall at the start because of the embarrassment factor:cool: , so I think this may have a bearing on the nerviness. Well the result was a bit of a scraped knee, a bit of blood that's all. But the other scraped knee had just healed so I guess I had to have more war wounds to replace the healed ones:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Anyway c' est la vie.:rolleyes:

eva

Congratulations! Well done, and many more to come.

Everyone falls in a crowd at some point, even the most experienced. For some funny stories about embarrassing moments in riding that will make you feel not-alone, see the following on Bike Forums, called The Humbling Thread:


http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...light=humbling

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Originally Posted by salsabike

Congratulations! Well done, and many more to come.

Everyone falls in a crowd at some point, even the most experienced. For some funny stories about embarrassing moments in riding that will make you feel not-alone, see the following on Bike Forums, called The Humbling Thread:


http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...light=humbling

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Thanks muchly Salsabike, the thread is SO funny:D :D

You've made my day!

salsa... thanks for that link! makes me wanna join just to jot down my own dumb stuff! :D what a great thread!!!

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Originally Posted by Nanci

If you did 50 miles at the last Century, you _can_ do 100km right now! I promise!! That's only 12 more miles!

INanci

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Uh... I can remember rides where that last 12 miles was, well, HELL! :(

I agree if you can do 50, 62 isn't that much harder but there is a big difference in 62 and 100+. Keep training. That 100+ (and I say + cause I've never done a Century that was just 100 miles, they usually ran over and its amazing how that extra mileage even a mile or two is a struggle) will come surprisenly easy.

Allabout…
All the big rides I've done are organised through Bike SA - they organise registration, refreshment stops, SAG wagons etc They charge an entry fee to cover costs which includes insurance. I became a member in January and they let me know via email and quarterly magazine what's happening, including all the regular rides organised by local clubs. Haven't gone there yet, as they're mostly about speed, and I'm a bit of a tortoise. I think Bicycle NSW organised the Tour de Hills (www.bicyclensw.org.au); I'm guessing that's where most of the New South Wales ride information will be collated.

It actually was the local Rotary Club, arnaew. But after the ride, they had lots of brochures of other imminent rides.

We have the bicycle NSW website, that lsits all the local clubs that do rides, but not the full on organised ones. I just bought a bike (a nice pink Orbea), and the LBS said that they have rides for newish riders every Sunday. I think I'll try that for a while.

But geez, I don't know how you do it in the heat! And did you say Lil was 82???:eek: :eek: I'm shocked and amazed and humbled!!!

Lil came in about 30 minutes behind me, with the SAG wagon following her for her last 30k. She was quite cheerful when she turned up and pleased that she had finished. Apparently she has been ill a lot over the past year, and wasn't able to ride for most of that time. This was her longest ride since her illness, so everyone was looking out for her. She's apparently been riding for years, and has been quite impatient to get back on the bike!
Humbling moment: I passed Lil at about the 30k mark - she'd been ahead of me until that time. Why did I pass her? She had to stop because her chain came off. Probably wouldn't have caught her up otherwise. Sigh.
A:o

Isn't it a shock to find out Centuries are really 102, 104, etc? But I think after it happens to you the first time, and you aren't all keyed in on _100_ miles, and you know it could be a bit further, then it's not such a shock. It's 95% mental, anyway. I abandonned a Century last fall at 104 miles. It was cold, raining, super hilly course, the guy I was riding with and I couldn't follow the course correctly, (why do clubs mark courses with orange, choice of highway/utility company markings?) and when we looped back on a five mile section we had just finished, and it appeared the arrows were sending us back through it again, we were both like, that's enough, and got out the cell phones. We could _see_ the point we were trying to get to, marked by a large tower, but we were just _done_. Boy did it feel good to get in the car and strip off my soaking wet clothes and crack open a choc milk and have BF drive home!

Nanci

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Originally Posted by Nanci

Isn't it a shock to find out Centuries are really 102, 104, etc? But I think after it happens to you the first time, and you aren't all keyed in on _100_ miles, and you know it could be a bit further, then it's not such a shock. It's 95% mental, anyway. Nanci

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Thanks for posting that, Nanci--I thought these rides were pretty precise. Last summer's metric century was 66 miles, not 62.13 miles, and it felt like the last 3.87 miles were a steady uphill grind! In Illinois! I mean, where do you find a steady uphill grind in Illinois? :p Now I know, and will be more relaxed about it next time.

And, allabouteva, congrats on your first century! It's quite a feeling of accomplishment. I'm looking forward to doing my first 100 miler--with all the knowledge here, I'll be well prepared.

You should see how upset people get if they don't get the full hundred miles, though, like Six Gap last year. People were going out and riding two more miles so they could say they did 100!

I was doing a ride by myself a couple Saturdays ago, scouting part of the 400k route of this coming Saturday. I missed a turn, and figured it out about two miles later. So to back track would add on 4 miles, total, or I could short cut and get back on course, but miss the part I wanted to see. I had to have this little mental arguement with myself- (I'd ridden about 90-100 miles, already) the whole point of the ride was to familiarize myself, in daylight, with a part I would be riding at night. Like, if I'm doing a 110 mile ride, an additional four miles is really going to kill me...I went back and did the correct course.

Nanci

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Originally Posted by Nanci

Isn't it a shock to find out Centuries are really 102, 104, etc? ... I abandonned a Century last fall at 104 miles.
Nanci

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Nanci, I'd feel mega ripped off, if I did 104 miles in a Century and didn't 'finish' officially!:mad:

What's with the officials, can't they measure properly, or make a course more accurate! Maybe a mile or two at the max but FOUR miles over!!:eek:

Lise, I'm a bit embarrased to admit, that I accomplished only a metric half century, so still have a ways to go. But considering I only started cycling seriously last Oct, I'm pretty thrilled with my progress!;)

The route planners are at the mercy of the roads which are already built. It is a rare ride that is exactly a metric (62 miles) or a century (100 miles).

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Originally Posted by arnaew

Last Sunday I rode the first event; 80k through the Adelaide Hills, from Mt Torrens through Mt Pleasant (from a cyclist's perspective, appallingly mis-named - LOL!), Crick's Hill, Martin's Hill, Forreston, Gumeracha and Kenton Valley. Aaaargh!!! Temp was about 36F, it took me about 7 hours, and I was completely knackered when I finished (second to last - last was Lil, who is 82!). It's hills, hills, hills, and when the Big Whoever was drawing them, they forgot about the down bits! Just up, then across, up then across - all the down bits were on the drive home. I have to figure out hills - because I've registered for the series and the next one is 100k in the same area (April), then it's 120k (June),150k (Aug) finishing with 200k in Sept.
A

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Hey arnaew I use to live in Gumeracha (not next to the giant rocking horse though I do have some taste). LOL about Mount Pleasant not the prettiest place, pretty rough roads there too.
Congratulations on riding those hills in that heat. SA not the coolest place in summer thats for sure. Looking forward to hearing about your next SA adventure.:)

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Originally Posted by Trekhawk

... in Gumeracha (not next to the giant rocking horse though I do have some taste

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I remember that Giant Rocking Horse! It was there when I was a Uni student and went to a student convention in Cudley Creek, and we toured around (about 25 yrs ago). I confess my SA geography is not so great, even though my brother lives in Uraidla in the Hills. Oh so pretty! Visited there last year about August... Adelaide and SA is a place I wish I visited more, have been only 3 times. Clare Valley is supposed to be a great place to cycle. Hope to get there one day!

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Originally Posted by allabouteva

I remember that Giant Rocking Horse! It was there when I was a Uni student and went to a student convention in Cudley Creek, and we toured around (about 25 yrs ago). I confess my SA geography is not so great, even though my brother lives in Uraidla in the Hills. Oh so pretty! Visited there last year about August... Adelaide and SA is a place I wish I visited more, have been only 3 times. Clare Valley is supposed to be a great place to cycle. Hope to get there one day!

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SA is a great place. I was based there for ten years and its where I met my husband. We laugh about it because Im from Perth and he is from Cairns so its like we met in the middle. Uraidla is a very pretty spot , how lucky you are to have someone to visit there. The Clare Valley is very pretty I wasnt cycling when we went there but Im sure it would be a good spot and you could nip into a winery or two along the way.

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Originally Posted by allabouteva

Lise, I'm a bit embarrased to admit, that I accomplished only a metric half century, so still have a ways to go. But considering I only started cycling seriously last Oct, I'm pretty thrilled with my progress!;)

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Embarassed? No! I nearly croaked on the metric century I did--before that the longest I'd ever ridden was 26 miles in a triathlon. I wish I'd done shorter distances first. Be thrilled! It's thrilling! :D

Take care, L.

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Originally Posted by Lise

Embarassed? No! I nearly croaked on the metric century I did--before that the longest I'd ever ridden was 26 miles in a triathlon. I wish I'd done shorter distances first. Be thrilled! It's thrilling! :D

Take care, L.

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You went from 26 miles to a metric century!!:eek: :eek:

I'm not worthy !!
<getting off the floor after bowing down on hands and knees>

You're a legend, Lise.

eva

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Originally Posted by Nanci

- if I'm doing a 110 mile ride, an additional four miles is really going to kill me.

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I have to laugh at this one! It is so true it is 95% mental! I had a simular experience with a training run for a marathon. My friend mapped out a 18 mile run. When I arrived at her house she said "Well, it is actually more like 19" hehe. I didn't find it funny! I planned for 18, that was all I was going to do, like the extra mile made any big difference! :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by allabouteva

You're a legend, Lise.

eva

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Well, in my own mind, at least! :p

So Lise,

How come you went from 26 miles to a metric century? Were you confident? Or nervous?

Yesterday, one week after my 50kms organised ride, I did 44kms just casually with DH, and then backed it up with a 19km MTB ride in the afternoon, so I know I've got stamina to do more. But 100km :eek: :eek: dunno!

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Originally Posted by allabouteva

So Lise,

How come you went from 26 miles to a metric century? Were you confident? Or nervous?

Yesterday, one week after my 50kms organised ride, I did 44kms just casually with DH, and then backed it up with a 19km MTB ride in the afternoon, so I know I've got stamina to do more. But 100km :eek: :eek: dunno!

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Mainly, I was ignorant. I had no idea what that distance meant. I had been training for an Olympic distance tri, and then was going to train for the marathon after the tri was done. I just wanted to get in one good, long bike ride first. It was an American Cancer Society fundraiser. You had the option of doing 10 mi, 25 mi, or the metric century, which was really 66 miles. I asked a friend to do it with me. I think I was just so proud of myself for doing the tri, and signing up for the marathon, that I thought I was, as they say, "all that". My friend's a guy, and has a really nice bike, but hadn't been riding much that summer. We were both dying by mile 50. But part of the route was a beautiful ride through rolling country side, and just today we were talking about doing part of that ride again this summer. I will, however, make sure to gradually increase the distance this time!

It's a case of DAIS, NAID (do as I say, not as I do)! Take care, L.