jppe

I did an organized 100 miler today that I just found about earlier this week. The 104 mile ride started at 8 am and the 60 miler started at 10 am. I was wanting to test my new bike with some longer saddle time so I opted for the 100 miler. Apparently not a lot of others had heard about the ride either. Only 7 of us started the 100 miler and we were able to line up side by side at the start line. It is very hard to hide in a group of 7!!

Looks can be deceiving. One of the 7 was riding what looked like a folder with small wheels. Another looked to be riding something like a cruiser with fenders. At the start line I was thinking these guys won't be much help and will probably get dropped leaving the parking lot. After struggling to stay on their wheels the 40 mile rest stop was a welcome sight for me. The guy with the folder took off his vest and he was wearing a Paris Brest Paris jersey.....And he had ridden a 1000k last weekend!! The fella on the "cruiser" also did a lot of brevets and while he looked like a linebacker he rode like Ullrich......So those 6 guys drug my overweight butt all over the place.

I chuckled when one of the guys said he bet he was the oldest in the group. While it turned out I was about 3 years older I'll admit that he did look like he had lived hard and fast as he looked a good bit older than me---at least in my eyes!!

Gorgeous roads, great weather and very nice route with a modest amount of climbing. I think it was my first centry since July and my legs were screaming at me around 85 miles.