Road Cycling - 100 miles is a long ride...

Yesterday I did the Icare Classic (http://www.icareclassic.org/100mi.shtml) century.
The first 50-60 miles were a breeze, but when we turned around and head into the hills the wind picked up and the ride became wicked. At mile 80 or so things started to hurt :) my hands, wrists, lower back, and my butt. But it was exciting enough to mask the pain and I finish the 100 miles in 6 hours and 10 min (Net riding time) at average speed of just above 16mph. The bike behaved well, and the ride was well organized with 5 rest stops with plenty of food and drinks.. I calculated that I spent 10 minutes average at each rest stop, mainly in line for the porta-potty..

If you would have asked me yesterday if I would do another century this year I would have laughed at you and chased you away with a stick.. But today I feel great and I'm starting to look for the next one.. :)

If you would have asked me yesterday if I would do another century this year I would have laughed at you and chased you away with a stick.. But today I feel great and I'm starting to look for the next one.. :)

Yeah, but wait until tommorrow when the dehydration catches up with you and you feel like you've been on a 3 day drunk. :)

Just kidding... After 20+ years of cycling, I always say the century I just rode is my last but for some reason I always do it again...

Yup, you're turning into a masochist. :p

We're all hooked.

Maybe next year you will be ready for a double century then the fun really begins.

I haven't done a century since 1990 - I'm jealous. Good job.

55/Rad

I'm doing one next weekend. Last weekend I did a Metric this weekend 80 miles. It seems like at about 80 miles it is the hardest. You know the whole psycological thing kicks in. Why the hell am I doing this? Oh yea it's fun. lol

I haven't done a century since 1990 - I'm jealous. Good job.

Your chance to do two in the same weekend is coming up in about two months. ;)

Your chance to do two in the same weekend is coming up in about two months. ;)
http://www.cripplefight.com/smileys/whip_2.gif

Great stuff! I did my first century the weekend before (in about the same ride time as you), and have already signed up for my next one. I think I'm hooked too... :D

Sounds like I should give that twin century a go [STP]. From what I hear its a fairly flat course, no mountains anyway. I know a guy thats done it several times and plans on a one day try this year because he says gets bored over two days. I was thinking of riding with him, but then I thought if there is some kind of camping where everyone yuks it up that might be cool. Anyone here doing Seattle To Portland?

Sounds like I should give that twin century a go [STP]. From what I hear its a fairly flat course, no mountains anyway. I know a guy thats done it several times and plans on a one day try this year because he says gets bored over two days. I was thinking of riding with him, but then I thought if there is some kind of camping where everyone yuks it up that might be cool. Anyone here doing Seattle To Portland?

This year will be my third year. The course is flat to rollers with a couple of medium sized hills. The hill in Puyallup is probably a mile and a half at about 6% or so and the one just outside Napavine is a mile or so at about 4% to 5%. Nothing big. I will be doing it with a group that includes ngateguy and xythen. We will be riding it in two days. I actually think a one-day ride might be boring since it'll pretty much just be all pedalling all the time with no chance to stop and enjoy things along the way since the finish line has a definite closing time. You have the choice of camping or finding a hotel/motel at the midpoint which is usually around the Centralia area +/- a town. You can find my pictures from the 2003 STP on my gallery website (http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/gallery/2003STP).

I'll be doing STP this year... In two days. Can't wait.

Ah, just try to do a 70 miler about once a week..100 is only 30 more miles...I have completed 5 or 6 100 milers...that is not enough...Should try to do a 100 miler about 6 times a year. I do about three 70 milers, each month..
No big deal, when so many cyclists I encounter are working on 200 milers in one day.In fact the Death Valley ride I did last year.
The Saturn team was there...They did 200 miles in slightly more time than I did the 100 miler. For shame.

This year will be my third year. The course is flat to rollers with a couple of medium sized hills. The hill in Puyallup is probably a mile and a half at about 6% or so and the one just outside Napavine is a mile or so at about 4% to 5%. Nothing big. I will be doing it with a group that includes ngateguy and xythen. We will be riding it in two days. I actually think a one-day ride might be boring since it'll pretty much just be all pedalling all the time with no chance to stop and enjoy things along the way since the finish line has a definite closing time. You have the choice of camping or finding a hotel/motel at the midpoint which is usually around the Centralia area +/- a town. You can find my pictures from the 2003 STP on my gallery website (http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/gallery/2003STP).

Hey Khuon, did xythen get a new ride? Looks like a great choice. How does she like it?

Sorry for the off topic post. Just paged through your last tour with xythen and ngateguy. Way cool.

Only 203.83 miles, you didn't ride home?

One day STP, anything else is coasting.

"Great stuff! I did my first century the weekend before (in about the same ride time as you), and have already signed up for my next one. I think I'm hooked too..."

I did my first century this past weekend (about the same ridetime, 103mi 6:15min). Same experience, got fatigued at 80mi. Did better than i thought on the hills. I'm signed up for my next century (Sierra Century) in 2 weeks, (total of 7500ft of climbs). ...Fun.

Hey Khuon, did xythen get a new ride? Looks like a great choice. How does she like it?

Yeah... I took her bike shopping and in the end she bought a Specialized Dolce Elite. Her average speed went up by about 3MPH just by switching from her hybrid to that bike. Also, she's handling the hills a lot better because of it. Teaching her how to use clipless pedals also helped.



Sorry for the off topic post. Just paged through your last tour with xythen and ngateguy. Way cool.

No problem. Did you check out the picture of ngateguy doing his best impression of an early TdF rider with the spare tyre wrapped around him? Maybe I'll let him tell that story. ;)

Yeah... I took her bike shopping and in the end she bought a Specialized Dolce Elite. Her average speed went up by about 3MPH just by switching from her hybrid to that bike. Also, she's handling the hills a lot better because of it. Teaching her how to use clipless pedals also helped.

Cool. She should get many years of service from the Dolce.




No problem. Did you check out the picture of ngateguy doing his best impression of an early TdF rider with the spare tyre wrapped around him? Maybe I'll let him tell that story. ;)

I did look at that photo. Knowing the tire/flatting problems ngate seems to have, I just figured it was the next step in his evolution. :D

Thanks for posting those photos. Its always nice to see.

If you would have asked me yesterday if I would do another century this year I would have laughed at you and chased you away with a stick.. But today I feel great and I'm starting to look for the next one.. :)

I always plan at least three centuries a year just to keep me motivated to train properly. Training for a century was what got me on a bike eleven years ago for the first time in my "adult" life. Yep, I committed to riding the century before I had a bike to ride! Now I keep looking for a bigger and better challenge (such as a double).

Nice web page, by the way. I enjoyed the old "Bicycling" magazine article.

Congrats! Now that you've started down the century slippery slope, it's time to visit:

www.rusa.org

a plan on completing a super randonneur series. That'll give you about 4 double centuries (plus or minus) in three rides, plus a nice 200k warm-up ride. Enjoy!

Congratulations!

I've done over 60 centuries, or longer rides, in the last few years . . . just completed my 4th ride of 125 miles or more since May 1st . . . the more you do, the easier they get. :)

I set my goals a little too low..At least twice a month I do 70 miler...Why not one 70 and one 100 miler...Come so close..So far this year..No 100...