My first Century Report or a story of a mentally ill person riding her bike.

[Jo-n-NY]

You know I wish you major congratulations. Reading your post I felt like I was reading part of a suspense novel, lol. I knew you would like the p&j grahams. Needless to say, you deserve more than tea.

I hope we both will be able to ride the pumpkin patch and will be able to meet up with one another, although I might have trouble keeping up with you!

~ JoAnn

[eclectic]

Hooray, yip yip yipee, way to go ! ! !

Great recap! thanks for posting it

Rain for awhile I could handle - but the whole time

What I think would be way worse than just the rain is the WIND and the rain Great job to hang in there - every century you do from now on will probably be a piece of cake in comparison UNLESS you opt to do rain and wind again

I'm with KSH I would rather ride in the heat rather than the wind and rain, I can always pour bottles of water on my head ala Floyd to cool off

[redhot3368]

Thank you gals! I am trying to arranged and free up weekend for October 1, pumpkin Patch century, but there definately will be another one. I am still thinking if I should change my name, RainWoman lol ???

Well here are some of my statistics that I forgot to put in my report

103.5 miles, 14.95 average, ride time 8am-3:45pm. No rest stops except for official ones - didn't want to cool off my body
Shorts- 2005 Sugoi RX Flex- considering that they were dripping wet I only have a little chaffing, did not apply any lubricant after mile 67 ( 3rd stop)
Thanks again,

FN

WOW!!!! Great job!! And Great Stats too!! almost a 15 mph average in the Rain? that is AWESOME!!! Great ride report!!

Karen

[maillotpois]

Congratulations!!!

And yes, that WILL make you stronger. What a perfect Mental Toughness Ride. When you are out on another ride, or run or hike or anything - and you feel like giving up, or conditions are bad, you can look back to what you have just accomplished in that century and be bolstered by the knowledge that you survived that ride - in style and at a darned good pace - so you should be able to get through ANYTHING!!!

[SouthernBelle]

One of the best ride reports ever.

Make sure you write a nasty letter to whoever called off the buses. Even if it didn't affect you personally it was a terrible thing to do to people.

[CorsairMac]

and the fans go WILDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!


to not only have done it but in the pouring rain........you definitly deserve the She-Ra Princess of Power Tiara my friend! I am sorry to hear they were packing it in at the rest stops, my last organized century they were still there but they had run out of food (good thing I carry all my own) - I can't even imagine how disheartening it was to see them closing down! but you kept at it and That is what counts. Now you understand - it ain't the miles anymore, it's the time!

Goodonya!

[chickwhorips]

great job! glad to hear you stuck it out and broke down that wall brick by brick!!!

[Bikingmomof3]

Congrats on sticking it out. Way to go!

[AllezGirl]

WOW!!! That's impressive. It's an incredible accomplishment to ride your first century under those conditions! I worked SAG at my club's century event on Sunday (Lake Nockimixon, in Bucks Co.,PA)...and I had to admire the riders that braved that rain! And there were only a handful that stuck it out for the century, and the ones that did were hardcore! You should be so proud!!! (Warning: shameless Suburban Cyclest Unlimited plug) We would NEVER close a rest stop if we knew there were still riders out there!

I love the Pumpkin Patch Pedal, it's my favorite ride of the year! I would be happy to ride it with you and I promise, I won't bail, no matter how hard it rains!

[FreshNewbie]

Thanks to all for your replies! It's so nice to know that people took time to read my report!
AllezGirl I will definatelly contact you if i will be able to ride the pumpkin patch ride, as of right now I am not shooting for 100 miles, maybe 60 and then I will take it from there. Email me or pm me marinakogan@aol.com. Also, as for the girls who bailed out, I don't blame them. One of them barely rides ( I had no idea, she said she is a strong ride) and the second one already did many centuries so I guess she was not as motivated as I was. I hope it's not raining on pumpkin because I want to do it to be able to make up for the scenery I was not able to enjoy.

[Lise]

I am really impressed at how you did with all that rain. I think "Water Warrior" might be a more appropriate handle now! What kind of bike do you ride? How did your wheels feel on the road?

One thing I love about these athletic accomplishments is that they are always in you. You did it, and nothing can take it away.

[Geonz]

In *my* not-so-humble opinion... if I volunteer to do something, I should do it. Period. It's not as if somebody promised to pay me, or promised it wouldn't rain.
Bicycling magazine this month has an article about being at the back of organized rides, mentioning that no, you just *can't* count on the sag stops having food left for you (they didn't mention them just packing it in, but I've known other rides that do that, too), so that if you think you're going to be bringing up the rear, you should pack extra stuff.
They may be volunteers, but the rides are generally to RAISE FUNDS for their club... so they *are* being paid indirectly. (And again, they said they'd do it, though if conditions were really adverse, I could understand thinking"I didn't say I'd do THIS!") If I pay for a supported ride, I should get a supported ride, at least 'til the time they say they're going to support to.
When I hear that a ride does this I don't give it my business.
In contrast, at a sweet ride in South Carolina (I think it was the Bee Buzzin' ride), we *were* the very lastest people (tho' we weren't particularly slow), and they waited 'til we were gone and then packed up... and then caught up to us and gave us another rest stop! (It was brutally hot.) That's the spirit of true service, instead of what my mother called Princess service ("well, I'm giving to those beneath me... until it bothers me, of course!") Somewhere in between would be fine...

But... mainly... AWESOME CENTURY!!!!!

You should really try to do another one... even this year... becuase uyou're already trained for it and it will be a PIECE OF CAKE!!

[Aggie_Ama]

Great report! I have only rode once in the rain and it was a brutal 56 mile training ride. I hated every minute of it, but I remember how accomplished I felt later. You will never forgot the determination you had to complete this ride.

[FreshNewbie]

Thank you! Unfortunatelly, I read today that someone on our ride got hit by SUV 4 miles from finishing 100 miles Fortunatelly, looks like nothing was broken, he only says that he is sore...
As the day passed today, I had flashbacks of the whole ride, and I must say it was the most beautiful route I took so far. I will definately do it again next year if its NOT RAINING just for the scenery. The food that they provided was also very good.

Here are the pictures from the ride, on one its three of us starting out, one of me after the ride, and one of me coming back.

[FreshNewbie]

Lise, I ride Specialized Dolce MultiSport (2005 model- bought this summer) My front tire is the origional one that came with the bike -specialized all condition weather tire and the rear one is Bontrager race lite tire. Since the bike is a tri bike it's a little wobbly if there is crosswind, but overall she behaved well :-) Have to lube everything now.