Horsey Hundred Log - The First Century

[Mr. Bloom]

Well, We Did It!!!

We started by meeting makbike and truly enjoying her company for the first third of the ride...(until she moved on at a faster pace). She's a very good and experienced rider



As noted above, this was MUCH more hillly than I expected. Therefore, I started with a great deal of apprehension. Our goal was to average a 14mph pace

First 18 miles, rolling hilly and very scenic - averaged 15.8mph.
Next 14 miles, intense hills...couldn't enjoy the scenery, but raised our overall average speed to > 16mph.
Next 12 miles, hills were easier, but some were still tough. A highlight for me was hitting one of the tallest peaks right at noon when the chimes at the North Fork Baptist Church were peeling out hymns. It was really cool...because at that moment, I knew I was going to be able to make the century!! Really, Really Cool!
The rest of the ride was beautiful. This is some of the prettiest country side in America. Beautiful horse farms, rolling hills, unbelievable architecture.
After about 80 miles, a "group" formed and we stayed together for several miles. It was cool too.
But, for the last 10 miles, we were able to fly. I was feeling very strong and pulled way ahead.

Our goal was to average a 14mph pace and overall, I showed 14.9mph at the end. Silver was still feeling a little puny from her illness, but she stuck in there and finished strong.

So, I've completed my first century. It was a tough one. But, I feel good (and my knees only hurt a little!).

The only bad things:
- zipper on saddle pack broke and so I couldn't access anything inside.
- serious eye allergies...they're so red right now that, if pulled over, a cop would have thought I was stoned
- brought a bad camera battery, so I couldn't take several pictures.

[Fredwina]

Congrats all!

[Zen]

Good lord, man!
I looked at that elevation graph, that's a LOT of climbing for a first century
Fantastic job!

[makbike]

Mr. Silver/Silver - great job! It was a pleasure meeting you guys and I hope you enjoyed your brief stay in Kentucky. I'm off to get ready for the second day of the Horsey Hundred. I'm not sure which route I'll ride at this point but whichever one I select will be a winner. I'm sure my legs will let me know early on what I can and can't do today.

[SouthernBelle]

Very impressive with the hilly choice. I choose the one I did specifically because it was relatively flat. & I can't say I finished strong!

Good job.

[Mr. Bloom]

SouthernBelle, there's a really intense one sometime soon at Land Between the Lakes. I hear it even includes a 15% grade!

Silver and I pondered signing up for about 10 milliseconds

[silver]

silver's observations:

Mr. did awesome for his first century.
makbike is sweet, kind, and an awesome cyclist
my hind shorts with the black stitching are the ones that chafe
cyclists in Kentucky are friendlier than cyclists in Indiana
The Goergetown, KY area is beautiful
a century in southern Indiana does not equal a century in central Kentucky (flat versus hilly)
The "plague" that I had last week took more out of me than I thought
I love cycling!!!

[SouthernBelle]

SouthernBelle, there's a really intense one sometime soon at Land Between the Lakes. I hear it even includes a 15% grade!

Silver and I pondered signing up for about 10 milliseconds

Come on down here & I'll take you up a 22%'er and not that short either. When I dl'd my info off my Garmin, it said max grade was 22% for yesterday, but it must have been short because I don't remember it.