Fifty Plus (50+) - Did it! First Century. 19.0 ave!

We'll it's now in be books. Did the KID (Kids In Distress ) Century Charity ride. Started from South beach, Ft. Laudedale at 7am. It was about 60 and breezy. A head wind, of course. Rode up A1A for almost 50 miles after starting by doing the 17 st bridge twice.

Stopped at about 35 miles. Ave to then 19.4. Food and refreshments and a much needed potty break. Reorganized with the club and got back on the road. Pace slowed slightly and got to the turn around and the ave had dropped to 18.7. We now had a 45 deg wind that helped a bit, for a while anyway. One gust was so strong that it lifted my front wheel and moved it 2"!

Stopped at the same point, now 70mi and refueled. Average back up to 19.1. When we took off I tried to stay near the front. I was hoping we would still have enough of a tail wind that I could move the ave up a bit. Not so. The winds continued to shift and swirl so it was tough going again. Hung with the fast group doing 23 to 25, but after 20 miles, at the 92 mile point, I couldn't hold on. Dropped and caught a group doing 19 - 21 and finished with them. Had to circle the parking lot as the ODO read 99.7 as I entered. Needed to get that 100.0 Crossed the finishline - 5:15 ride time, 6 hrs elapsed time.

Had some food at the finish, but had to get home to bbsit my grandson. After a short nap, guess what? He wanted to go outside for a bike ride! :twitchy: What we won't do for the grandkids! :rolleyes:

Yellow bikes are fast.

Yellow bikes are fast.

1+ And I got the pics to prove it!

Great result, congrats!

Excellent!

Congratulations! Outstanding average!

congrats, its great event

Thank you one and all. I have to admit, I'm very pleased with my performance today. Only started riding in Feb this year, and I'll be 62 in Jan. My previous "best" was 18.4 for a metric. I did to 19.4 for 38 miles, and almost tied that today.

I wish I had found this sport 30 years ago. I kinda thought it was a bit stupid and boring. I didn't realize how social and it is.

I have this strange desire to try Cyclocross. Don't expect to be any kind of a contender, but all the videos make it look like some grueling fun! I must be nuts.

Egad, man! You're an animal!

(And it must be the yellow bike.)

Well done.

Congrats!

That's a fast average speed.

Congratulations on a job well done. Always glad to see a FL boy do good.
:cheers: to you

That's fast. And long.

Sweet! Congrats. :thumb:

Egad, man! You're an animal!

(And it must be the yellow bike.)

TSL, Indeed, you know. IT IS THE YELLOW BIKE! You were the one the told me!

That's a great average for your first century and particularly so on a windy day. I rode my first century back in '78 and I have no idea what my average was. I was drafting tandems across the Mojave desert, so it was probably pretty good.

But then we had to climb Cajon Pass, so that would have killed my average, so yeah, you're still faster!

Rick / OCRR

That's fantastic!

And I guess I'm gonna hafta get a yellow bike :-)

Congratulations on your first century! Amazing avg. speed. You would have waited a long time for me if I was on that ride with you.

Thank you one and all. I have to admit, I'm very pleased with my performance today. Only started riding in Feb this year, and I'll be 62 in Jan. My previous "best" was 18.4 for a metric. I did to 19.4 for 38 miles, and almost tied that today.

I wish I had found this sport 30 years ago. I kinda thought it was a bit stupid and boring. I didn't realize how social and it is.

I have this strange desire to try Cyclocross. Don't expect to be any kind of a contender, but all the videos make it look like some grueling fun! I must be nuts.

Wow!:thumb: That is a great ave for a century and you only started riding in February. With your strength and endurance why not try cyclocross!

As long as you don't put yourself in a position of "too much, to soon" you will be riding even faster in 2010.

Very nice job. One's first century is like one's first love. You may move on, but you'll always remember that one.

Good going. I have been riding for many many years and have never come close to riding 100 miles in one day. That usually takes two and sometiimes three days.

Your an animal.

10 Wheels, You changed the Pic in your post. I like this one better. Instead of 1 pretty lady and a bunch of flowers, there is a bunch of pretty ladies!

10 Wheels, You changed the Pic in your post. I like this one better. Instead of 1 pretty lady and a bunch of flowers, there is a bunch of pretty ladies!

Thanks, keep me on the ball. I rode and lived 58 days with the Super South Racer Girls.
SlideShow if you want to see it?
http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/hh187/10wheels/South%20Super%20Racer%20Girls/?albumview=slideshow

I have to say I'm really kinda amazed myself. I've never been much of an athlete. Tried little league, j.r h.s. football, jogging, all with poor results, and no fun or satisfaction. Have been a bogey golfer most of my life. Stared roller blading in '92 and was pretty good at that, and enjoyed it a lot.

I got breast cancer in '02. I kinda got out of blading because the exhaustion and peripheral neuropathy from the chemo made wearing shoes or boots very painful.

Started biking in '03 when the wife and I got comfort bikes for little 8 mile sidewalk rides to Starbucks. Did that once a month or so for a few years. It was fun, but I never got much of a endorphine rush from pedaling at 8 mph.

I may be a bit late to the game, but I'm having fun and I guess it is a healthy habit. Better late than never.

A 19.0 ave for your first century is very impressive. I have been riding for years, and have never topped 16.x

Great effort. Who won the race between you and your grandson afterwards!:)

1+ And I got the pics to prove it!

I'm doing my first century Saturday but I don't have a yellow bike and am just hoping to be in before dark. (We start at 7am) I'll be OK with my speed at 13-15 mph but I'm really impressed at your speed. Course I'm 5 years older than you:lol:

A 19.0 ave for your first century is very impressive. I have been riding for years, and have never topped 16.x

Most of mine have taken around 12 to 14 hours to do so that is only about 8 MPH average And the road ones have never broken 16.

Mind you- How hilly is Florida?

But a 100 miler is still a 100miler. Whether flat or hilly- There is still the problem of having the stamina and guts to do it. Well done.

Congrats on your first century. 19.0 ave. sounds like the name of a street. ;)
Doing your first (or 40th) century at an avg. speed of 19mph is pretty impressive, even on flat land. The fastest one I've done was around 18mph avg. from Savannah and was far from my first.

Great effort. Who won the race between you and your grandson afterwards!:)

GLA, why, my grandson, of course!

I posted a couple of weeks ago, right after I signed up. I expressed some concerns, and request inputs from the forum. I got lots of great advice; eating, rest up, etc. If you don't belong to a bike club and do regular club rides you are probably not familiar with pace line riding. If I had not been in a pace line 95% of the time, I could not have maintained that pace. I would have posted a 16 mph ave, I'm sure.

You can search my post in this forum but some of the advice was: drink a lot of fluids, eat pasta the night before, a good light (oatmeal is good) breakfast, and eat before you are hungry and drink before you are thirsty. You CANNOT drink too much (water, that is) Get some gel packs and have on about every 45 min. I couldn't get to the store, so I carried a plastic flask of honey. I took a slug of that every 45 min. Drank water and gatorade. The one that made the most sense to me was to not think of it as a 100, but as 5 20 mile rides. Stop, rest, eat, and get on the way before you stiffen.

I know I can do 35 mi at a pretty good clip, so that's what I did. There was a rest stop at 35 mi, and we stopped at the turn at 50. There was not refreshments, but the group wanted to stretch. I drank and took a couple of slugs of honey and jelly beans. Stopped at the same rest stop at 70, and rode home from there. I did start get twinges of cramping in one leg at about 80 miles, and I started to slow down at 92 miles.

Have fun and good luck. Post about it, and have pix.

I'm doing my first century Saturday but I don't have a yellow bike and am just hoping to be in before dark. (We start at 7am) I'll be OK with my speed at 13-15 mph but I'm really impressed at your speed. Course I'm 5 years older than you:lol:

I did an experiment. I took my yellow carbon bike and my old black alu Trek 1200 and set them up neck and neck in the drive way. I came back an hour later and guess which one was ahead?

Just for a change of pace, try riding a century without the paceline sometime. It is a very different experience. Also, more of our tips will apply.

Most of mine have taken around 12 to 14 hours to do so that is only about 8 MPH average And the road ones have never broken 16.

Mind you- How hilly is Florida?

But a 100 miler is still a 100miler. Whether flat or hilly- There is still the problem of having the stamina and guts to do it. Well done.

Stepfam, granted So Fla where I am is so flat you can roll a quarter across the state. You can see our route here:

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/19250/

What that doesn't show is the 6 - 10 mi headwind ( So Fla "Hills") all the way up, and the swirling gusty cross wind in the ride home. I don't think it shows the true elevations for the bridges and overpasses either. The ride organizers were mercyless. We started by going 2 miles out of our way to go over the 17th st causeway, a huge bridge over the Intercoastal waterway. We then went about a mile and a half, and looped back over the bridge. That separated the men from the boys as it were. I guess they did that to string out the group. And it did. My thoughts of hanging with the A group for a while went up in a huff and puff as I started up that bridge for the 2nd time.

BTW, Fla is hilly above Orlando. A few weeks ago they had the Horrible Hundred. I didn't get to go, but most of my bike club did. It was hilly, hot, and humid. The map is here:

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/13145

Those ride organizers didn't have to worry about stringing out the group at the start. They cunningly put all the "fun" in at mile 81. I hope to do it next year.

Thank you for your kind words.

Just for a change of pace, try riding a century without the paceline sometime. It is a very different experience. Also, more of our tips will apply.

Bingo! Blues, I can only guess, but my limited experience tells me you speak the truth. It is way different, and honestly, I don't think I would enjoy that distance solo.

This summer I did 3 40 mile solos in upstate NY. They were all great rides, but I cannot imagine doing them all at once. I know you have issued a challenge, but I don't think I would at all enjoy a solo century. I'm a bit of a loner and enjoy solo time, but after about 3 hrs that's it.

I enjoy the social aspect of the group on a long ride, and man, that pace line! I did about 15 miles of solo and pulling wheel suckers from about mi 75 to 90, but that was at my preferred pace of 19 - 21. A good samaritan pulled me in from about 90 to 98, along with a few other old farts that were huffing. At 99 mi he said "bye" and started sprinting. We just kept up the pace and rode it home. It's a "team" effort.

19 mph! Line or not, that's rapid.

I appreciate those faster riders for the breeze they provide going by.

Please note that I suggested riding without a paceline, not solo. I like to do organized century rides with hundreds of other riders. The social aspect of the rides is a big part of what I like about them. Sometimes I do ride with the same group of people for the whole ride, sharing the load and working together to make a good time. But other times I like to ride at my own pace, meeting several different groups and individuals along the way. It doesn't always have to be about seeing how quickly you can finish.

Please note that I suggested riding without a paceline, not solo. ........ It doesn't always have to be about seeing how quickly you can finish.

Ah, a very important distinction. That sounds more like it. I could enjoy that. Especially in a more rural setting where you are not forced into a pace line because of the traffic. Our club rides tend to start that way as we take some back roads and get warmed up.

Being new to this sport, I'm wrapped in the personal challenges. I think it may be in some ways that I figure I'm past my prime and I want to see just how "good" I can get while I can still "get". There will come a time when the improvements plateaus and begins to decline. C'est la vie.

Thanks for the clarification.

BD has the attitude of organised rides that a lot of us have. You never ride alone- even if you enter solo. There is always someone to ride with- Someone to talk to and someone to keep you company. Mind you- Sometimes that company has to be lost so you just alter pace and find another group.

Our group of 5 entered a ride in about 2,000- we were on MTBs and each rider kept their pace for the first 20 miles. Then we collected and that group of 5 had grown to about 12--ALL local to where we live and we knew all of them. As one rider said- you travel 100 miles to get different scenery and finish up look ing at the sames butts as you did last month.---The last organised ride we had all entered.