My first Century and a thank you

[Jsnyd]

I signed up for the Tour De Lion (Charity ride for Children’s Hospital) a few months back with the goal of riding 75 miles. As some of you know I’m new to cycling so 75 miles seemed to be a realistic goal without being easy. This morning I took the family and drove down to Ashburn, VA totally prepared and excited to finally be in my first entry. I tagged along with a small group of guys I met while riding and 30 miles into it, the course split. 100mi riders go left, everyone else go right. The guys I was with were doing the century ride so I figured I would stick with them. After all, we had a nice pace line going and what’s an extra 25 miles when you’re in the saddle for that long (HA!). The ride was great. I had a blast rolling through the back roads with everyone, joining in my first pace line (and taking my share of pulls), in general just riding with other cyclists! Including our stops which were semi-frequent, we finished 102mi in 5:42:36. Give or take a minute or two. Sorry this is getting lengthy, Ill finish up. I’d like to thank everyone for all the support and information that has been put out about the sport. I thought about putting this out a few times before but wanted to wait until I reached my big goal which was ride a century before the year ends. I’ve sat back and absorbed as much as I could from all of your posts and I think I have learned a massive amount. I feel like I’ve done it all today and I would have been completely lost and would have made a fool of myself, and most certainly dropped, if it wasn’t for you all.

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[Brent]

Congratulations! I’m doing my first century tomorrow in Reston!

[SteveTheTech]

Congrats.

That should tell you how far you have developed as a cyclist if you look at 25 miles as not that much more.

Are you planning on a recovery ride tomorrow? (unless the happened a while ago and I’m just last to the party) That would have

I personally can’t wait till my next ride. So far looks like it will be bikems 2011 but that seems like a really long time away. I’ve got a bad itch.

Were you riding your commuter?
If so did you make any pre ride mods?
If not would you next time?

Kudos to you sir for completing your goals.

[Jsnyd]

The 25 more was more sarcastic then anything. I figured it wasn’t much in the beginning of the ride but after some time it seemed as every mile was dragging by. A huge mental challenge. Good thing I had the pace line to keep me going. I am still thinking about a recovery ride, but my butt is SORE! Maybe some time on the trainer. I rode my Vilano Forza 4.0. Just an entry level, amazon.com road bike. I have gotten it fitted and changed a few things out (Stem, saddle, clipless pedals) for a better ride. It’s my everyday rider. Really the only bike I have. There is the Novara but that just sits in the corner.

[StopMeansStop]

Nice job! I’ve been biking for about a year and 50 miles kicked my ass.

[Jsnyd]

Well.. we took our time. The first 50 miles we had an average speed of 19mph and then we figured that we had a ways to go and slowed down to 16 or 17. Something like that. Plus there was the paceline and regular rest stops where we enjoyed bananas, oranges, pb&j’s, gatorade and water to name a few.

[Dirt]

Nice! That is a great way to do a first Century too. Sounds like you’ve got a good bunch of people to ride with.

[skreaminquadz]

Congrats!!

[creadinger]

Congrats man!

It must be interesting to think back to the split in the route where you made the decision to go for the 100 instead of the 75 you were expecting. Also, you didn’t have the cue sheet for the 100 mile ride right? So you had to stick with the pack you were riding with. No falling off the back or you’d be screwed. Haha.

[Jsnyd]

@creadinger 7402 wrote:

It must be interesting to think back to the split in the route where you made the decision to go for the 100 instead of the 75 you were expecting. Also, you didn’t have the cue sheet for the 100 mile ride right? So you had to stick with the pack you were riding with. No falling off the back or you’d be screwed. Haha.

Haha yea exactly. The split was at 30mi so there was a great sense of the unknown ahead. I felt good though and didn’t want to end the day thinking “I shoulda”. The thought of not finishing never really entered my head and I’m lucky nothing happened to my bike. I just rode in the moment and enjoyed every bit of it. I say that now, but there were some painful bits in there haha. I’m glad I did the whole century. Pushing your limits and surprising yourself is always good.

[Author]

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