My goal this year is a Team in Training century.

For the summer season, the two choices are AMBBR in Lake Tahoe and the Cross Timbers Classic Bike Rally in Ft. Worth, TX. While I would love love love to do Lake Tahoe, for family & financial reasons, Cross Timbers is a more practical choice. It's closer and the costs of getting dh and kids there would be much less.

So I had it in my head that I would pick the Cross Timbers ride. I saw last night, though, that I would be expected to complete the ride in 6.5 hours (or, at least, they close down the stops at that point). If I only took 30 minutes total in breaks, I'd still have to maintain a 17+ mph pace. I'm pretty new, and I still have to be careful with my neck, so I wanted to make sure I could properly stretch out and take my time at the stops. And if I had to do it today, there's no way I'd be able to maintain 17+ mph over that distance. I might be able to do it by then, who knows, given how much my speed has improved since starting. But I don't know if I want to commit not knowing whether or not I'll be able to do it safely.

I could do one of the shorter routes for Cross Timbers, theoretically. But I was kinda hoping that if I wasn't doing the full 100 miles, that it was because I physically couldn't do it at all, not because I couldn't do it on those terms.

The fall events are either crazy (seriously, I'd love Hawaii but I don't see it happening) or the timing is off, and that would leave me waiting for Tuscon in November.

Thoughts? Experience? Thanks for letting me vent? Maybe I'll be able to do AMBBR.