Texas - Alfalfa Bill Century Bike Ride

I'm going to attempt my first century this Saturday in Tishomingo, OK.

The Alfalfa Bill Century Bike Ride (http://www.tishomingo.com/the_alfalfa_bill_century_bi.html)

This is the route and profile.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2264720

Any other BF-ers going to be there?

Enjoy! The cookies are great. Carry plenty of water... The local water is a bit sulphur-y... I had originally planned to do this ride again this year, but wound up with a commitment in town on Friday night that would have made it tough to get the early start on Saturday. I'm the squinting fellow in the PBA jersey on the bottom of the web page... Looks like you'll get better wind conditions than we had last year.

***Ride Report*** (long)
I was attempting my first century, while also attending my first organized ride so I don't have any way to compare this to others. I've ridden in two Urban Assault Races, but by design, they are anything but "organized."
My wife came with me and hung out in town during the ride, (bless her).

Overall, a great, fun ride but I'm going to start with my two criticisms:
a) Better signage to find the check in, (this was easily the biggest thing going on in town; banners are pretty cheap these days)
b) Port-a-potties

Once we finally found the check in, I got the bike ready to go and hit the road about 5 minutes after the ride started. Several miles in, I hooked up with the Ardmore Cycling Club. What a great bunch of folks. They let me jump into their pace line (a first for me) and we ate up the first 23 miles in less than hour. They were riding the 46 mile route which made me wonder if I was riding too fast to finish the century. Anyway, I was taking a turn up front, at one point and I lost them. They stayed about a half mile back for a while before they went by me with another rider in-tow. He was another first-time century rider, so he and I dropped back and stayed together (I never got his name). We came up on the ACC, on the side of the road a few miles later. One of their members had flatted out and they waved us on.
We stopped at the 35-mile rest stop and grabbed a few Alfalfa Bill Power Cookies and bananas.
My wife met me at the "midpoint" rest stop and I dropped my long-sleeved jersey and tights in the van. The other century rider with me had a loose spoke so I let him use my spoke wrench from the van.
I told my wife to please go find the ACC and thank them for letting me suck their draft for the first part of the ride.

At this point I was starting to tire of bananas, Power Cookies and Sport Beans so I dug around in my handlebar bag for my lunch. I had mixed Stove-Top Stuffing and chicken flavored rice in small zip-lock baggies and put them in a neoprene koozie with a couple of hand warmers. It really hit the spot, but in my fumbling around, the hand warmer fell out of the koozie into my bag. This meant that the next few gels and Sport Beans I consumed were warm (yik).

For the next ten miles, Spoke Wrench and I rode together and picked up another century rider, John. We were all first timers and knew were well behind most of the other centurians.
Mile 62 to 70 was a sporadicly washboard, gravelly mess. I thought for sure I would break a spoke, but we made it through. John was starting to tank, so I hung back to give him a draft and let Spoke Wrench keep going. I guess I got rather distracted though this area and the next hilly ten miles because I didn't eat anything.

After the 80 mile rest stop, I started losing it. Every hill made me want to cry, my lungs felt like they were tearing open and I was coughing up phlegm every few miles. John and I stopped to pee at a gas station around mile 85 and that was the last time I talked to him. He dropped me before we got to mile 90.

At about mile 93, (BTW, this century is actually 105 miles) I got a second wind and began picking up my pace. Two miles later, I got a flat. My tools and spare tube were in the van! I called my wife who drove them out to me. I changed the tube and she headed back toward town. In my hurry to get back on the road, I apparently pinched the tube because I flatted again, two miles later. Grrrrr. At this point, I'm mad at myself for putting my tools and pump back in the van. I called her to come back and while I was waiting, the sag wagon showed up with Tammy, (she made it to mile 82) and luckily, she had an extra tube. She wouldn't let me pay her for it. During these two flat changes, five or six other riders came by and asked if I needed help. The sag wagon driver told me the last two riders were several miles back.

By the time I got back to pedaling, my second wind was gone. So I was petering along at around 14mph. My cyclometer then quit working, so I stopped to adjust the sensor. And just when I got back on the bike, the last two guys were coming up behind me. Mike grabbed my wheel while the other hung back for the last few miles.

As we approached the finish, I told Mike I was going to wait for the other rider. We slowed down and circled through a parking lot to all three finish together.

All in all, a great experience. The riders and volunteers were super friendly and the scenery was beautiful. Thank you, Tishomingo. :thumb:

105 miles @ 16.5mph average, two flats and 8 hours on the road. If I ever do another century, I'll carry my own tools and spend a bit less time at the rest stops.

And what did my wife do all day? There were two teenagers riding the century, so my wife met up with their moms at the park. They hung out and chatted for most of the day. Remember that I told her to go thank the ACC? Well, after they rode the 46 mile route, they went back to the park, popped open the coolers and hung out for a few hours, so she ended up visiting with them for a big part of the afternoon.

Congratulations on your first century! Like you, I haven't decided yet if I'll do another one. It was a fun ride report to read.