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07-11-04, 06:08 PM
Well, its in the books.. I finished my first centry yesterday.
It has been a goal for my GF and I to do one together, and we wanted to get it in before our big hiking/climbing trip which we are leaving for in a few days. So, yesterday, we decided to just go out, and ride 100 miles (self supported). A quick note- for those in central NJ, who have the book Cycling in Central NJ, the New Flat Century is flat, but is not traffic free as the author states. It must be a bit out of date, but about 60% of the century had pretty heavy traffic, and about 50% of it was on roads with surfaces more suited to a mountain bike, than a road bike.. That aside, we had a blast..
We started off in Princeton, and worked our way through Montgomery, Hillsborough, then along the millstone river up to near Manville. There were a couple of small climbs along this section of the route, but it was pretty flat/rolling hills. About 45 minutes into the ride, we were warmed up, and started with our ride pace of 18-20mph. Next, we made our way up near New Brunswick, then out past Franklin, across the Rte. 1/Turnpike coridor to Periniville (Sp?). Here was the other place we encountered a few hills, however, it is also a place where I really hit my stride. While cutting our way east, we found ourselves on a oh so slighly uphill (false flat) road.. I set my pace at about 22 or so, and felt very good holding it for about 8 miles. My GF seemed very content just sitting on my wheel, enjoying the speed. Periniville was the half way point, and we stopped at Roy's Deli, to fill up on water, gatoraid, and powerbars..
Next, we made our way to New Egypt, and through the Pine Barrons. The roads here were nice and traffic free, but we were plauged with some front derailuer problems on the GFs bike, and a pretty swift headwind. Our second break was at the 75 mile point in New Egypt. We stopped along the river at a park, and munched a powerbar, drank some fluids, and topped off. In 10 or so minutes we were off again. We passed through Allentown NJ, and worked our way into Princeton. We crossed the 100 mile point, at 5:59:20 of riding time, and 6:28:15 of total time. We then rode 5 or so miles of cooldown, and slowly made our way home. It felt GREAT to get our rear ends off the seats, and even better to know that we had done our first century.
I felt like my legs could have kept could have kept going, but my rear end was very sore.. I guess I havent quite found the best short/seat combo for those real long rides.. I was comfortable to about the 75-80 mile point, but after that, ouch..
It has been a goal for my GF and I to do one together, and we wanted to get it in before our big hiking/climbing trip which we are leaving for in a few days. So, yesterday, we decided to just go out, and ride 100 miles (self supported). A quick note- for those in central NJ, who have the book Cycling in Central NJ, the New Flat Century is flat, but is not traffic free as the author states. It must be a bit out of date, but about 60% of the century had pretty heavy traffic, and about 50% of it was on roads with surfaces more suited to a mountain bike, than a road bike.. That aside, we had a blast..
We started off in Princeton, and worked our way through Montgomery, Hillsborough, then along the millstone river up to near Manville. There were a couple of small climbs along this section of the route, but it was pretty flat/rolling hills. About 45 minutes into the ride, we were warmed up, and started with our ride pace of 18-20mph. Next, we made our way up near New Brunswick, then out past Franklin, across the Rte. 1/Turnpike coridor to Periniville (Sp?). Here was the other place we encountered a few hills, however, it is also a place where I really hit my stride. While cutting our way east, we found ourselves on a oh so slighly uphill (false flat) road.. I set my pace at about 22 or so, and felt very good holding it for about 8 miles. My GF seemed very content just sitting on my wheel, enjoying the speed. Periniville was the half way point, and we stopped at Roy's Deli, to fill up on water, gatoraid, and powerbars..
Next, we made our way to New Egypt, and through the Pine Barrons. The roads here were nice and traffic free, but we were plauged with some front derailuer problems on the GFs bike, and a pretty swift headwind. Our second break was at the 75 mile point in New Egypt. We stopped along the river at a park, and munched a powerbar, drank some fluids, and topped off. In 10 or so minutes we were off again. We passed through Allentown NJ, and worked our way into Princeton. We crossed the 100 mile point, at 5:59:20 of riding time, and 6:28:15 of total time. We then rode 5 or so miles of cooldown, and slowly made our way home. It felt GREAT to get our rear ends off the seats, and even better to know that we had done our first century.
I felt like my legs could have kept could have kept going, but my rear end was very sore.. I guess I havent quite found the best short/seat combo for those real long rides.. I was comfortable to about the 75-80 mile point, but after that, ouch..