I rode 100 miles today — woo hoo! There’s a century route that leaves from my town with arrows pointing the way painted on the roads, so I followed it, for the most part. There’s a northern loop of 80 miles that I did first and that returns me to my town, and I figured that if I felt up to it once I returned home, I could head out again for the remaining 20 miles, a loop that heads south over roads I’m very familiar with. I’m rather proud of myself for heading out again after having ridden 80 miles — it’s not so easy when the comforts of food and a hot shower beckon.
I had a bit of a hard time on the first 40 miles, as it was quite windy, and I was heading straight into it. There’s little that’s worse on a bike than riding straight into the wind, especially for a distance as long as 40 miles. Things turned around completely, however, the minute I hit the halfway point of the northern 80 miles and started to ride with the wind at my back. My pace picked up considerably and so did my mood. I’d rather have it this way — a rough section early on and then ease after that.
It was on September 1st that I decided I’d try to do a century this fall. I was aiming for late October or early November — I had no idea at the time that by the end of the month I’d be able to complete one. I guess what this means is that my health is fully back to normal, and I can’t use it as an excuse to wimp out on anything I don’t want to do. This is the first time I’ve done a century all on my own, without the support you get from an organized century, and I like doing it this way — no driving to the start point, no crowds, no people passing me, just me and the road and a couple markets along the way. (Although organized centuries have their benefits too, not least of which is people to draft on.Β I’ll be doing one of these in two weeks.)
Here are my stats, for the curious:
- Distance: 101.2
- Time ridden: 6:29:27
- Total time, including breaks: approximately 7:00
- Average heart rate: 147
- Maximum heart rate: 170
- Calories burned: 3,355
- Average speed: 15.6
- Maximum speed: 36.5
You’ll see from the numbers that I didn’t rest for terribly long; if I remember correctly, I stopped 7 times (not counting traffic lights), and each time was quite short. I stopped twice at a market to resupply with food and water, three times to eat bites of Cliff bars (eating a whole one at once would be too much), once to find a water bottle I accidentally dropped, and once at home. I hate stopping for long because then my muscles get cold and it’s very hard to warm them up again. So I’ll stop, wolf down some food, and start pedaling again while I’m still chewing. Seven hours is plenty long to spend on a bike ride anyway, no need to make it longer.
And all those calories I burned? I’ve replaced them already. Emily, Hobgoblin (who did his own long ride today), and I just got back from dinner at an Italian restaurant, where I stuffed myself with pasta. I had a lovely time hanging out with Emily, and now I’m very sad because she’s moving this week and will no longer live up the road from me. I’ll miss you Emily!
Of Books and Bicycles 
Congratulations! Wow–100 miles and over 3,000 calories. Now there’s a day not to feel guilty about eating pasta! π Glad to hear things are back to normal and you achieved your goal. And to think I was happy with myself for buying one of the pilates balls, today–hah! What will you do for the rest of your cycling season?
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Whew! I think I just burned fifty calories just reading your stats. That’s my workout for the year! Thanks, Dorothy!
Seriously, congratulations. If I ever did something like that, you’d most likely find me curled up in a fetal position next to a wrecked bike, clutching my side and having a seizure. π
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Congratulations on your century, Dorothy. Glad to hear you rewarded yourself with a good pasta meal.
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Fantastic! Congratulations!!!
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Good for you! That is really an accomplishment to be proud of!
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100 miles, wow, that’s over 160 kilometers! I feel good when I keep up my 10 km a day. You’ve just raised my bar. Congrats.
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Congratulations on a great ride – that’s really an accomplishment to be proud of!
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Woo! Congratulations on the century. You sound very happy. Thanks for sharing your happiness. One question though, aren’t you supposed to eat the pasta the night before a big ride instead of after? π
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I’ll miss you, too! But what a wonderful distraction it was to get together with you both to eat too much and talk about books. And congratulations again on doing your century (my new home is only about two centuries away).
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Congratulations on your Century ride β better than this old man could ever do!
Eddβ¦
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Wow!!! That’s amazing, dorothy, you deserve a nice, big plate of pasta after all that π
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Thank you everyone! Danielle — I plan to continue riding regularly for another month or so, mostly easy rides and distance work, then to take a few weeks off, and then, believe it or not, to begin training for next season’s racing. The first races begin in March!
Thank you Brandon; trust me, I had to work up to this slowly! But I do think anyone could do it, with enough time to train.
Stefanie — well, the truth of the matter is that I ate a big plate of pasta the night before AND the night after …
Emily — oh, interesting, I’ve been thinking of training for a double century … I could just ride to your house!
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Not knowing in which country you reside, I’ll have to guess that your speeds are in miles/hour. Looks like you are doing fine if you keep up a 15+ mph average for 100 miles. Although I ride around the area to run chores, I haven’t been out for a fun ride in many months. Your post is inspiring.
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Bikkuri — I should have given the units I’m working with for my international readers! I’m from the U.S. by the way, so it is miles per hour. I’m very glad to be inspiring!
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