First Metric Century Ride (Read 906 times)

Way to go! That's a long day!

thats a nice log entry. i was not so smart about my ride today. i got this crazy bug in me this morning telling me to ride to starved rock. so around noon i took off 22 miles into a valley with a nice 10 mph breeze behind me, in about 90 minutes. hiked  a couple miles of technical trails and felt like i should probably save what was left for the ride home. i brought nothing to eat for the day so i just rehydrated and took off. the ride home was totally brutal. my energy level was laughable, however i made it back the whole way (barely) in around 2 hours. once i find the energy to take a shower i might reflect on what a fantastic day it has been.

That's great! A couple more long rides and you'll be ready for that full century. Do you have one on your calendar yet? It won't be long until your ready.

Personally I find them easier do and easier to train for than a marathon. Besides base miles and long rides, the key is hydration and nutrition. Stay ahead on both, ride sensibly and you have a good time. Oh, and take it easy on the hills. If you bonk it's a long, long ride home.

Luckily I'm fairly strong on hills, though Sunday we did a HILLY 40 miler and by the last 5-6 miles I was TOAST.  I'm hoping to do a full century sometime before June ends.  That would be a unofficial sort of ride.  There is a big one in mid-July.  I think that's fairly flat.

 I love hills and normally attack them on any other ride. I'll build my ride around a good hill or two. Here in eastern MA they have a century for hill lovers. When I did this one I charged up the big hill (Mt. Wachusett) and paid the price about 30 miles later. Still, no regrets.