I joined a small group (10 riders) for a club century this morning. As we started I questioned my sanity - I had already logged 300 miles for the week and my legs felt dead and heavy. I decided to press on to the first store stop and reevaluate myself at that point. A big portion (all but me and the ride captain) took off like bats out of h*ll and I knew I would be riding most of the day solo or in the company of the RC (not a problem for he is a really nice guy). At the first store stop two riders bailed but I decided to hang in there and press on for my legs left a bit better. The next 25 miles were not too bad but I was struggling to find my rhythm. Our lunch stop seemed to help and as we pressed on to cover the next 25 miles my legs came to life and I felt strong. The timing was great for we had several tough climbs and by the time I tackled the last big climb my legs promptly told me they were done, checked out, not interested in climbing another hill! The last store stop was a welcomed sight - both water bottles were empty and the hot sun and humid air had zapped all the riders. We sat for over 30 minutes drinking, eating and I thinking trying to convince ourselves to get back on our bikes. We were one tired group and still had 25 miles to go. Onward we pressed. A group of five quickly formed a pace line to battle the nasty headwind we were riding into and it was an awesome sight. It was a lot of fun to be in this group for everyone took their turn pulling and a fast pace was established. The pace line held together for about 20 miles before one by one the needle went to "E" and a tired rider fell off the pace. The last small climb to our cars should not have been a big deal but it was very evident all sets of legs were drained and one by one we struggled up that tiny hill (I'm sure the cars behind us were not impressed). We pulled into the parking lot a little after four, all were tired, covered in salt but glad to have spend the day in good company and in some beautiful country. In the end we covered 101.61 miles. I posted my fastest century for the season - an average speed of 16.18 mph. I'm tired!