Well yesterday was my first century. I really enjoyed the first seventy miles. I was riding with some great pacelines running in the 23-24 range and really enjoyed pushing myself. But by mile 70 I had pushed too hard early and the last 20-30 miles was no longer about going fast but simply survival. Somehow I managed to find a second wind at the end and did a solo 23 mph run for the last four miles, but by the time I crossed the finish line I was truly dead. I ended up crossing the line in a 5:50 total time, and 5:03 on the bike with an average speed of 19.9, come on just one tenth more!
I stopped at five rest stops, but never for very long. I stayed at most 5 or 10 minutes, but at the stop at mile 70 I needed some recovery time and probably spent 20 or so minutes there. I have never ridden longer than 55 miles before so I needed to get off the bike and stretch more often as the ride went on. Overall I was very happy with how it turned out. At the end I kept thinking I never want to do this again, but now looking back, I am ready to do another.
The start and waiting was really interesting. It was amazing to me having never done that to see so many people. We got there at 6:15 to get a decent place in line, but we still didn't cross the start until 7:15. We really pushed hard the first 30 miles to get in front of the slower riders. The boombox guy was funny. We passed him on a hill though and he was going slow so I didnt get to listen to it for more than 5 or 6 seconds.
I think the experience overall was great. I was starting to get a little cocky thinking I was getting king of fast, but that sure put things into perspective for me.