Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Once a week Century.

Maye not the best idea?
The 'Dare' for me is a century a week till (should I hold up!) till my birthday in October. So far I've got three under me and I hope and think they will feel better as I go on. The first was all MUP. I thought it was a bit boring but little did I know what the next one was going suck greatly! I headed out east from Denver into farm land with 4 hours sleep, a bit of a party the night before and weather galore. It took me over 8 hours travel time just to finish! My left leg seized with cramps, and both calves were in almost total rebellion. I had to walk about a mile just to get my hamstring to release. Slopes and inclines were in granny gear. Then the skies opened up. And the wind started in on my unhappy butt! 15-20 mph headwind, almost a downpour.
I also made the Cardinal Sin of swapping for a Brooks seat the night before. oh my..... To say my fit was off is an understatement! Lots of little adjustments all though out the day. And the seat was still too high at the end. I was thisclose to calling for a pick up by mile 80. My hips and legs were in agony! Never will I do that again. I do learn best the hard way so thats that I guess. 107 miles total and it took two full days to recover and feel human again.

Today couldn't have been more different! I headed west and finally met one of the hills that intimidated me. I went up Lookout Mountain! I was soooo slow. 4mph tops. But I freakin' did it! I also happened to luck into meeting and riding with a roadie who was out and she let me tag along since it was my first ascent. She was great and stayed with me till the very top. I really appreciated that and you do meet some great people when your out and about. Once I got to the top I was 65 miles and decided this was the day to do my hundred, rather than tomorrow. Glad I did it but I seem to have discovered a mental soft spot for 80 miles. That last 20+ was still hard to push on through to the end. Still have to learn to relax on hard climbs and maybe replace my worn shoes. Had some pretty painful hot spots today. Coming down the I-70 frontage road I only hit 42 but that was more a matter that I'm using a climbing double (44/34) out front to match my 11-34 in the rear. I was filthy, tired, sore and soo ready for a shower I can't even tell you!
I initially felt bad for going so slow on Lookout till I realised that I was the biggest fella out there and at top when I FINALLY got there. That was nice. Not a feather really but just showing that its not just the more 'normal' sized people can ride hills....at 4mph:innocent::lol:

I finished my day with 101.5 miles and now to recover for next weeks adventure. I think I'll put my planned ride up Mt.Evans http://www.mountevans.com/Mount-Evans-Things-Bicycling.HTML till maybe late July if at all! Today was an eye opener!

So onward I go to next week. My real goal is to see if Brevets are what I would like to be doing. All signs point to yes...:love:

For perspective: 270 give or take, 6'1" and a final moving average speed of 14.3mph. I'm also 38 year old full time, year round commuter.

So yeah...Thanks for reading this and keep riding!:thumb::thumb:

Go for it!

I wish I had the time to dedicate to 1 a weekend; I'm lucky enough to get in 1 every 3 weeks to a month.

if you can physicaly do it and have time then awesome... but honestly... if it becomes a burden and no longer fun I would cut out a week or something... I love to ride but sometimes a little time off the saddle is just what the Dr. ordered... but do it untill your body says to stop :)

I'm working up to my 1st full century ride in October... did a metric a few months back and that was a big step for me... this time around I'll be on a road bike and hope it'll make things a bit easier

I would love to if I had the time or better yet someone to do it with. I did 4 solo's last summer and I can honestly say I can do them easily enough I just get way to bored, I'm becoming somewhat of a social rider.

Great challenge, go for it.

congrats and keep up the good work

That's a great improvement! Riding that much will certainly keep you in shape. I don't want to take the time out of a weekend day to do something like that, and I'm afraid that it would start to become burdensome, not to mention the challenge of finding new routes.

But if it's something you're enjoying, keep at it! You may find after a while that 100mi just isn't enough.....

Congratulations!! sound like you will have lots of interesting stories for a book or submit to a magazine (if they still have room for anything besides buyers guides). I am actually jealous though. I have not had time or been in shape *blushing* enough for a century in years. best of luck Ban Guzzi

All I can say is wow! That would be a tough challenge, but you are off to great start, so keep up the great work.

Good for you guy keep it up if it works for you. I don't have mts or even hills near me but maybe I can join you on "the road". In theory. 50 out and 50 back isn't bad...

I've been wanting to do a century myself. I'm in Denver too and just haven't found the paths inspiring enough to go much more then 40 or 50 miles though. I suppose I'll have to start looking further from home.

I commend you on you on your persistence and your ability to get up Lookout... the ascents kill me. I'll be sticking to flat lands (well, mostly flat) for a while yet.

If you happen to ride out by the Bear Creek Trail or perhaps Chatfield let me know if you're interested in meeting up.... I'd like to have someone to ride along with for a few miles.

Unfortunately good thing about being out of work. Lots of free time, gonna get my roadie fixed up and hit that century hunt too...