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04-13-08, 09:16 PM
I've ridden over 100 miles in a day several times in my life, but never at an "official" event and not at all for more than 20 years. So upon returning to biking last year, I decided I had to cross that off the list -- which I did today. Rode a total of 103.5 miles today at the Daffodil Classic in Orting, Wa.; a 60-mile loop and a 40-mile loop plus a little distance getting to/from starting line and some other wandering around.
This ride has the reputation of being the "easiest" century in the Seattle area due to a relative lack of climbing -- there was 4975 feet of climbing in all, nothing too extreme except for a short and nasty 15% grade at mile 97, when we thought any climbing was over. Most of the ride was on rural roads in the communities in the foothills of Mt. Rainier....I stole this photo of the ride from forum member East Hill, who posted it over in the Northwest forum (that's Mt. Rainier in the background).
http://i31.tinypic.com/107mhhv.jpg
All in all, a nice ride (except for too many miles of chip seal road: yikes!)
Some training notes for any 50+'ers thinking of their first century:
- I think I've been doing enough mileage (1500 year to date, before today), but not as many long rides as I would have hoped. My longest ride of the year prior to this was a 63-mile ride back in March; I've done only 5 rides over 45 miles all year. Still, I really don't have much problem with the ride -- the last 15 miles seemed a little long, because we hit some moderate headwinds at mile 85, some rollers at 90, and the big hill I mentioned above at mile 97. I feel pretty good tonight, though I"ll probably drive (not ride) to work tomorrow...
- Kudos to my new Selle An-Atomica saddle, which I installed in March. It's terrific.
I now have 2 months to get ready for the "big" ride of the year (at least for me) -- the 82-mile Tour de Blast, which is a ride from around sea level up to the crater at Mt. St. Helens.
This ride has the reputation of being the "easiest" century in the Seattle area due to a relative lack of climbing -- there was 4975 feet of climbing in all, nothing too extreme except for a short and nasty 15% grade at mile 97, when we thought any climbing was over. Most of the ride was on rural roads in the communities in the foothills of Mt. Rainier....I stole this photo of the ride from forum member East Hill, who posted it over in the Northwest forum (that's Mt. Rainier in the background).
http://i31.tinypic.com/107mhhv.jpg
All in all, a nice ride (except for too many miles of chip seal road: yikes!)
Some training notes for any 50+'ers thinking of their first century:
- I think I've been doing enough mileage (1500 year to date, before today), but not as many long rides as I would have hoped. My longest ride of the year prior to this was a 63-mile ride back in March; I've done only 5 rides over 45 miles all year. Still, I really don't have much problem with the ride -- the last 15 miles seemed a little long, because we hit some moderate headwinds at mile 85, some rollers at 90, and the big hill I mentioned above at mile 97. I feel pretty good tonight, though I"ll probably drive (not ride) to work tomorrow...
- Kudos to my new Selle An-Atomica saddle, which I installed in March. It's terrific.
I now have 2 months to get ready for the "big" ride of the year (at least for me) -- the 82-mile Tour de Blast, which is a ride from around sea level up to the crater at Mt. St. Helens.