Road Cycling - My first century

I participated in my first century and loved it. I finished a hard ride with 10,000 feet of climbing in a little over 7.5 hours with energy to spare. I think I was a little to worried about burnout...but I felt prepared and felt good about my ride. I learned a lot. Thanks for all the advice given to me on this forum.

I'm planning on doing another century in September. I hope to push it a little more and work on getting a better time. I love this sport!
Thanks!

One last thought....where are all the female cyclists? There were so few in the century. I think only about 40-50 out of about 450. What is with that!!! Come on ladies!

CONGRATS on your 1st Century!!! The first one is the most daunting and you rose to the occassion in Grand style. You're now a member of the Elite.
Too bad there aren't more women like you to accept the challenge.

Congratulations on your first century. Sounds like a stremuous one!!


One last thought....where are all the female cyclists? There were so few in the century. I think only about 40-50 out of about 450. What is with that!!! Come on ladies!

Come to Colorado. Lots of women bikers here!!

Congratulations on completing the first of many centuries. :beer:

Originally posted by Betta
One last thought....where are all the female cyclists? There were so few in the century. I think only about 40-50 out of about 450. What is with that!!! Come on ladies!
I don't see that many female cyclists around here either. Most ride mountain bikes or hybrids and do only recreational rides on Saturday or Sunday.

Too bad. They are missing out on a lot of fun and healthy exercise. :)
And all the guys are missing out too. :( ;)

Bravo! Bravo! Bravo-o-o! Hats off to a great effort. Thanks for the inspiration.

Woody

Congratulations. Don't worry there are other women doing centuries--I will complete my first century in September.

Wow!!! 10K feet of climbing. This is really something.

Congratulations !!!

Congrats on your first century!! A wonderful feeling to finally have it behind you, and look forward to doing another one!
I had the chance to ride with two ladies on a tour last weekend, and they were a blast to ride with! They were both excellent riders, and the lady who was riding the hybrid was awesome on the hills!
Of course, I think more males and females should be riding....but I'm a little prejudiced that way!

10,000 feet of elevation gain in 100 miles! That's incredible that you finished with better than a 13 mph average speed. Congratulations!

I like to climb too, but 10 grand in under 8 hours is way out of my league. Maybe 5 grand in 8 hours, but 10? Wow! Way to go.

Congrats Betta...I will be doing my first century in August!

way to go Betta! I did my first in June and loved it too. Yeah, I'd say there are more men out there...but then again, it can make for some enjoyable scenery ;)
I too would like to do another one...

Thanks for all the great energy!

Since I got my rode bike I have recruited 2 other women to join in. We have created our own little team. On the next century I hope to ride with more women and represent the power of the female thigh :D

I'll have to agree about the scenery....it was pretty impressive on this past century.
;)

Let me add my hearty congratulations. That's a real accomplishment. Maybe one day I'll be able to boast the same. My women friends aren't really interested in my cycling accomplishments. In fact I can't think of anyone I know personally who seems to really understand how much of an accomplishment it is for me to reach road goals, including family members. If I tell them I did a 30 mile ride and had a great time doing it, either they say I'm crazy or I get a luke-warm what's for dinner kind of reaction.

Yesterday, the 4th, I saw a lot of women on the road. More so than I usually see. In fact, I saw one heck of a lot of bikes on the road.

Yes, it is hard to get feedback and encouragement from those that don't cycle...or sympathy when you really want to ride and it's raining. They just don't understand.
I am currently suffering because it was storming earlier and I couldn't ride. I'm very frustrated, but trying to be realistic about it and know that this isn't a life or death situation and to just enjoy the break. But it's so hard.:(

How long have you been riding? What convinced you that you were ready? Look forward to my first attempt!

I commuted to work 11 miles each way on my mountain bike for about 2 years. Then moved to the mountains....realized I needed to ride more to get use to climbing...met some cool riders and got a rode bike about 4 months ago. I ride for fun. It's a social event. I love climbing....sounds sick, but I love feeling my heart work hard. I found out about a century in the hood and decided to do it and trained for it. Got some great advice here at this forum and did it. I knew I was ready when I went on an 80 mile ride and hit a wall at 65 miles, but mentally made myself finish. That is when I knew I could do 100. I love getting on my bike...and I love long rides. I really want to ride every day. So, training wasn't that big of a deal.

ive had my new, 10yr old road bike, for a week now. 2 centuries done already.

Originally posted by Betta
One last thought....where are all the female cyclists? There were so few in the century. I think only about 40-50 out of about 450. What is with that!!! Come on ladies!

Isn't it a shame that what you say is so true.

I think that a lot of women are missing out on a lot of fun....and I don't know why!

As with many hobbies that are male dominated, cycling seems to generate a kind of fetishistic interest/devotion (lots of bits, info and ooh, tooools....) of a type almost wholly absent from the female psyche. See also football (American and proper), records, hi-fi, cars etc. etc.

why aren't women in the Tour de France??? this may spark a debate.

Originally posted by Bbmoozer
why aren't women in the Tour de France??? this may spark a debate.
Women ride the Tour de France Feminine. I don't think you'll get any more debate than if you asked why there aren't any women in the NHL...

Originally posted by WorldIRC
ive had my new, 10yr old road bike, for a week now. 2 centuries done already.

I see you are from the great white north. So are those 2-Metric Centuries or one hundred miles?:confused: