First century FAIL!

[NoNo]

On Sunday I attempted my first century, a route for the MS Society in northern CT. I knew it wasn't too torturously hilly, as I've done the 50 mile route the past few years. Unfortunately, between my schedule and the crappy weather, I didn't train nearly as much as I wanted to. Despite that, I was determined to give it a try.

Weather could not have been nicer. We pushed off at 7, and immediately fell behind the main pack. Whatever, we were determined to keep our own pace and conserve our energy. For once in my life, I was keeping up with my brother and his friends! At the rest stop near mile 30, I had the mechanic look at my seat placement. Things were sore and my lower back was killing me. He pushed it forward a bit, and that seemed to make my back happy.

Pushed on, a little achy, and the sun was getting more intense. Nearly got hit by a car when they decided to pull along side me and then make a right! They weren't even a foot from my tire and I didn't have time to unclip, I was either going to crash or somehow escape. Fortunately, the latter happened, though I'm not sure how. As we rode, my legs started to get sore. My hips weren't happy, my quads ached, and my knees hurt oh so much. Every pedal was agony. Made it to the next rest stop and contemplated dropping out. But my furthest ride ever was a metric, and I wanted to beat that. Stretched, had some PB&J, and rolled on. Within a mile or two the pains returned. Pulled over, stretched some more, and plugged on. The next rest stop was at 70 and I was determined to make it.

By this point I was falling behind my teamates. Between not wanting to hold them up, and the knowledge that the last 20 miles were mostly uphill, I decided to drop out at the rest stop. I pulled in, had them call the SAG van, and wished my team luck. Everything hurt, my pride most of all. I really wanted to finish this and felt awful about dropping out. It took my teamates over 2 more hours to finish, and I know there's no way I could have made it that long.

Positives from the ride: I did my furthest ride ever. I averaged 13.6mph. I was able to stay pretty close to my team. I wasn't crippled the next day. And I did it all on a bike that didn't fit me! Had to bring mom's bike to her LBS to get it looked at, and decided to see why my knees hurt. The mechanic said the seat was too far forward. It was also too high, which is where my LBS had set it. He gave me a fitting, which was nothing like the "fitting" my LBS gave. This guy had tape measures, plumb bobs, and a thing to measure the angle between my hip and leg. My LBS just eyeballed everything and had me out in 15min. This guy spent a good hour with me, constantly making adjustments, and even swapped out my stem twice. I now have a much shorter stem that feels lightyears better! I also learned my LBS had swapped out my carbon seatpost with an aluminum one when they attached my rack. Would have been nice if they told me. I've decided it's time to find a new shop, mine just doesn't cut it.

[Iris616]

I'm sorry you weren't able to finish. It sounds like you walked away with some positives, which is great!

Will you try for another, or is it too soon to tell?

[NoNo]

I'm sorry you weren't able to finish. It sounds like you walked away with some positives, which is great!

Will you try for another, or is it too soon to tell?

I was in tears most of Sunday night, I was so disappointed. I definitely want to try again, but it'll be a bit. We leave for Italy next week, and won't be back until July 3. Maybe by the end of summer I can give it another shot. If I can do 70 with no real training on a bike that didn't fit right, I bet I could do 100 if I prepped and was comfortable. Now if I could get my speed up so it didn't take 7 hours

[arielmoon]

Positives from the ride: I did my furthest ride ever. I averaged 13.6mph. I was able to stay pretty close to my team. I wasn't crippled the next day. And I did it all on a bike that didn't fit me! Had to bring mom's bike to her LBS to get it looked at, and decided to see why my knees hurt. The mechanic said the seat was too far forward. It was also too high, which is where my LBS had set it. He gave me a fitting, which was nothing like the "fitting" my LBS gave. This guy had tape measures, plumb bobs, and a thing to measure the angle between my hip and leg. My LBS just eyeballed everything and had me out in 15min. This guy spent a good hour with me, constantly making adjustments, and even swapped out my stem twice. I now have a much shorter stem that feels lightyears better! I also learned my LBS had swapped out my carbon seatpost with an aluminum one when they attached my rack. Would have been nice if they told me. I've decided it's time to find a new shop, mine just doesn't cut it.

Looks like more positives came from this experience than negative. Good for you!

[KathiCville]

Well, in spite of the fact that you didn't make it the whole way to the 100-mi finish line, I think your first shot at doing a century sounds great! You learned a bunch of really useful stuff about your bike fit (or, better, lack of fit!) Knowing now what needs to be tweaked will pay dividends the next time you set out to do any long ride.

As for keeping up with your team mates, next time you might think about simply 'riding your own ride' at a pace that works for you. When I started riding a couple of years ago and realized (quickly) that I'm a fairly slow rider, I gave myself permission---yay!---not to feel pressured to keep up with anybody else, particularly on long jaunts.

I'm doing the MS150 this weekend and my half dozen team mates all know that I'll be waving a cheerful goodbye to them less than two minutes after we pull out together as a group. Their average is easily 4-5mph faster than mine! I wouldn't make it 10 miles at their pace!

Congrats on your first effort!! (And thank heaven that ditzy driver didn't do you in!)

[Crankin]

It's only a ride and you did more than 99% of the population could do. Plus, now your bike will fit correctly!
My suggestion would be to try a flatter route for a century, don't try to keep up with anyone, and enjoy. I did a flattish century with no special training, other than my usual hilly rides and a few 65 mile rides. Very few. While there were no big hills, there was a vicious headwind, rain, and thunder. Our goal was to finish in 7 hours and we did it in 6.5, about the same average as you had. If you can find one person who you can ride with, at *your* speed.

[Andrea]

Just kidding... no big deal- you'll get it next time!

[NoNo]

Thanks for the encouragement ladies! I definitely want to try again, but I think I should get in a few more long rides beforehand. I am very excited about my bike finally fitting right. In two years, it's never felt just right.

I didn't feel like I was overexerting myself to keep up with them, and I definitely think they were holding back to conserve their energy. It's just that in past years when we've done rides, they usually disappear and I'm riding by myself for several hours. Even my brother (whose friend noticed would leave me for dead on the side of the road) commented on how well I rode. But it would be nice to find someone that was more at my pace and also a hill slug so I'd have some companionship on these long rides. Oh, and the route wasn't too horribly hilly. It's about as flat a ride as you're going to get in Connecticut. I've always thought New Jersey would be a great place to try a century

[tulip]

NoNo--congratulations on a Great Ride! You made a supreme effort, and on an ill-fitting bike, no less. I'm so glad you gave it your all. You should be very proud of yourself.

Can you ride your bike (or a bike) in Italy? Wow, there for three weeks--gotta go for a few bike rides, you know!?

[Cataboo]

Nono, you made 70 some miles on a bike that didn't fit - I get incredibly whiny going 10 miles on a bike that doesn't fit or feel right.

Did your rack attach to your seatpost? I don't think you're supposed to clamp racks to carbon seatposts, but I could be wrong.

[berkeley]

Ha! I could have totally written this post!

Same day, same ride, nearly same result! Except I got dropped by my team, got LOST and ended up on the 50 mile route somehow and didn't realize it until I was nearly back to the start.

I had myself a good cry too. When I got lost, when I got home... pretty much the whole afternoon I was in a pissy mood.
'
Don't worry, you'll get your chance to do it! I'm determined to get a century done this season now.

[uforgot]

Hey, you did a METRIC century! Congrats!

[NoNo]

I missed the party the first time I did a metric two years ago. I was so hungry and there was none of the food I had been promised! Glad I'm not the only one here that gets dropped right away. I had wondered if I shouldn't even try until I could get my average speed up, but it's nice to know others do these rides at their speed, no matter what that may be.

[Jiffer]

Congrats on the longest ride you ever did on a bike that didn't fit you!!!

I know what it's like to decide whether or not to do a ride that you don't feel you are really trained for. I've been there at least twice. The first time I opted to do the Metric instead of the full century and was glad I did. The other time, I went for it and found I was stronger than I thought. So, sometimes you just don't know until you try. It's also possible that you were having a bad day for other reasons. We all do better some days than others. I've dropped out of long club rides that I was just having a hard time on for ... "whatever reason". And then really surprised myself on other club rides, even getting accolades from "the guys".

I think the more you ride, the more you'll know what your body can handle and not.

Sounds like your LBS did what a lot of LBS's do when they sell a bike. Just do a quick general fit to get you going. I'm assuming you paid money to get the great fit at the other LBS? I went through the same, only my original quick fit was much better than yours, apparently, plus my dh is pretty good at knowing bike fit, so he tweaked my bike a bit more before I got around to paying for and getting the more precise and, ever so helpful, fit. Mine also included tips on riding technique, including my position on the bike, how I was pedaling, verses how I SHOULD be pedaling, etc. My bike fit guy is a cycling coach, so he incorporates more than usual into his fittings, depending on how much you want to pay. He was extremely thorough and it made a big difference in my performance, as I'm sure your fit will make in your performance.

I would say before you attempt another century, make sure you can ride at least 65 to 70 without too much misery about 2 weeks before the event. That's when I knew I shouldn't do a century. When I had done about a 60 mile ride a couple of weeks before and was completely miserable. My back ached and, in general, my body just wanted to be off that bike so bad. I couldn't imagine doing an additional 40. That's when I got my bike fit ... and then did the metric instead. Both were awesome decisions. I then did my first full century less than a month later and, though there was some misery, it was much more doable.

The next time I had to make a decision if I was ready for a century, was in March, when I hadn't been riding a lot since November and this one had a lot more climbing than I'd ever done. I was so close to only doing the half, but decided to go for it. This time, even though I hadn't ridden as much as I thought I should have in the previous couple of months, what I DID do, combined with the base miles I had obtained from all the riding last season ... helped me not only do it, but fairly strongly. I was SO glad I did the whole thing.

Like I said, the more you ride, the more you'll know what you can expect from your body. Learn to listen to it. And if you're really not sure, there's no harm in at least trying. Kudos to you for having the guts to try.