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04-13-09, 01:33 PM
Well, I finally did my first century this past Saturday. When I started riding in January of 2008, I really wanted something to work toward and drive toward goal wise. I had set a goal then to do a metric century last fall and the full century this weekend. I was ready for the metric century last September except that my gallbladder decided to make other plans, so I had to put it off. I finally decided a few weeks ago, that I had to get the metric out of the way, so a buddy of mine and I went out and did 64 miles one Saturday. That was difficult but easily doable, so I decided to go ahead as planned.
The Natchez Trace Century Ride starts in Ridgeland, MS (North end of Jackson) and winds through Ridgeland for a few miles before joining the Natchez Trace Parkway for an out and back route. The scenery is wonderful, and the terrain is fairly flat. It is actually one hill after another, but it is a very slow roll with shallow grades.
One of the things that I have learned about myself so far is that I over think event plans and then ignore them once I get there, this was no exception. The Natchez Trace Century had a 7.5 hour time limit on it, so I had planned to ride 4 segments of around 25 miles each. At a 15 mph average and 10 minutes at each rest stop this would give me about 7 hours total. The problem is that I love starting a ride in a group of a few hundred like we had Saturday. I get caught up in the excitement, and I just go ride. I kept telling myself that I really needed to conserve some energy, but I was not listening. I decided to stop at 40 miles for the first rest stop, and at that time I was averaging 18 mph.:innocent:
The road had been smooth and wonderful up through 35 miles, but then it turned to old chip seal pavement that was extremely jarring. So from miles 35 through 65 , I got pretty tired. By this time, I was hitting rest stops about every ten miles. By the time it was over, my average speed for the ride had dropped to 16.3 mph. I finished the day with 101.7 miles in 6:14 on the bike, and 6:50 total. I was very pleased, although I was extremely exhausted.
_______________________
My beautiful bride. She rode the 25 mile option with my parents. This was my wife's first group ride, but she has done longer distances with me. This was not only my parents first group ride, it was there first ride ever that was longer than about 12 miles. They finished in just under 4 hours. I was so proud of them.
http://www.nationfamily.net/photos/ntc-01.jpg
This is me before the start of the ride.
http://www.nationfamily.net/photos/ntc-02.jpg
This is early on. By the time I got toward the end of the ride, I did not see many cyclists.
http://www.nationfamily.net/photos/ntc-03.jpg
Once you hit the Natchez Trace, you are along the shoreline of the Ross Barnett Reservoir for about the next 15 miles.
http://www.nationfamily.net/photos/ntc-04.jpg
One of the many available rest stops. This is the only one that I used one on the way out. It was the only one I skipped on the way back.
http://www.nationfamily.net/photos/ntc-05.jpg
The Natchez Trace Century Ride starts in Ridgeland, MS (North end of Jackson) and winds through Ridgeland for a few miles before joining the Natchez Trace Parkway for an out and back route. The scenery is wonderful, and the terrain is fairly flat. It is actually one hill after another, but it is a very slow roll with shallow grades.
One of the things that I have learned about myself so far is that I over think event plans and then ignore them once I get there, this was no exception. The Natchez Trace Century had a 7.5 hour time limit on it, so I had planned to ride 4 segments of around 25 miles each. At a 15 mph average and 10 minutes at each rest stop this would give me about 7 hours total. The problem is that I love starting a ride in a group of a few hundred like we had Saturday. I get caught up in the excitement, and I just go ride. I kept telling myself that I really needed to conserve some energy, but I was not listening. I decided to stop at 40 miles for the first rest stop, and at that time I was averaging 18 mph.:innocent:
The road had been smooth and wonderful up through 35 miles, but then it turned to old chip seal pavement that was extremely jarring. So from miles 35 through 65 , I got pretty tired. By this time, I was hitting rest stops about every ten miles. By the time it was over, my average speed for the ride had dropped to 16.3 mph. I finished the day with 101.7 miles in 6:14 on the bike, and 6:50 total. I was very pleased, although I was extremely exhausted.
_______________________
My beautiful bride. She rode the 25 mile option with my parents. This was my wife's first group ride, but she has done longer distances with me. This was not only my parents first group ride, it was there first ride ever that was longer than about 12 miles. They finished in just under 4 hours. I was so proud of them.
http://www.nationfamily.net/photos/ntc-01.jpg
This is me before the start of the ride.
http://www.nationfamily.net/photos/ntc-02.jpg
This is early on. By the time I got toward the end of the ride, I did not see many cyclists.
http://www.nationfamily.net/photos/ntc-03.jpg
Once you hit the Natchez Trace, you are along the shoreline of the Ross Barnett Reservoir for about the next 15 miles.
http://www.nationfamily.net/photos/ntc-04.jpg
One of the many available rest stops. This is the only one that I used one on the way out. It was the only one I skipped on the way back.
http://www.nationfamily.net/photos/ntc-05.jpg