Rode my first Century yesterday. Well actually......

[roadie gal]

Impressive!

Was this an organized ride or just you and a bunch of friends?

[SpinSpinSugar]

It was a shop organized ride. Here's what the invite said:

"Lady and Gentlemen:

Please consider joining the 4th Annual unsanctioned and unsupported Winona Bimodal, wherein the audacious excursionists will board the morning train from St Paul to Winona, then ride home on bicycles. The date for this ride is July 18. To hold your place for the ride, simply buy an Amtrak ticket from MSP to WIN for July 18, 2010 and get to the station with your bike at least an hour before departure time. While on the train, we will enjoy a hearty breakfast (optional, costs extra) and beautiful scenery before de-training in Winona for the exercise portion of the day.

While I won't tell anyone how or where to ride, historically this has been a group ride with a strong social component, occasional regrouping, and a few food stops. It's not a race, nor is it all that fast by "roadie" standards. If you can maintain 15 mph on flat ground with no wind for an extended period of time, you'll be plenty fast enough. Please keep in mind that there is no sag wagon and no support of any kind beyond what can be found along the route or arranged as needed. I will construct a lovely and challenging route that is a little bit devious, but with lots of downhills, some "rustic" roads, and a few surprises (I hope for the best). Beyond laying out a basic route, which is subject to change according to the whims of the group for any reason or no reason, I, as author of this email, provide nothing but jovial company and maybe some help fixing your bike should the need arise. Food, bail-out rides, motels, medical issues, etc, are the responsibility of each individual rider."

The train ended up running 3 hours behind schedule so that plan was ditched at the train station and a new route was loosly sketched out over breakfast. The ride we ended up doing was slightly shorter than the original but much more challenging due to the non-stop rolling hills, headwind, gravel, ATV trail, etc. and high speeds.

SpinSpinSugar

[buffybike]

AWESOME!! I'd love to see a pic of your steelie.