Road Cycling - Reaching My Goal

I'm doing my first century tomorrow! When I started cycling in mid-May, I set a goal for myself to complete a century ride before the end of August. 3 1/2 months later I'm ready. The route goes from the University of Rhode Island out to Mystic, Connecticut and back. Supposedly, it's going to start raining around 3pm, so I'm shooting for a very early morning start. I plan on taking my time since I'm a little worried about burning on the later miles. 7 - 8 hours is my estimate. Oh, and I'm doing it solo on my hybrid Ironhorse with mtb tires. :) I'll try to post some pics as soon as I get back.

Wish me luck.

-Chris

good luck! I just did my first century two weeks ago and I'm shooting for 115 tomorrow. It's an awesome feeling to see that computer start using three digits.

Good luck man, I checked out your site too!

Thanks for checking my site C. I've posted some pictures (http://www.millsplace.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=2) from my ride on my website (http://www.millsplace.com/) in the gallery (http://www.millsplace.com/gallery/). Anyway, here my (very late, I've been away camping) ride report:

A number of problems limited my ride to 89 miles. I'm not sure if I'll get another chance before a hectic work/school schedule greets me in September, but I feel good knowing that I could've made the 100 miles under better circumstances.

Things that went wrong:

1. I got a flat tire in the first mile. Damn you University of Rhode Island!!!

2. I couldn't sleep well the night before. I only really got about 4 1/2 hours before heading out. Probably nerves/anxiety about the big day.

3. 87° for most of my ride... and brutally humid.

4. Something went very wrong with my bike. Around mile 40 my pedals started feeling like they were gummed up. The were REALLY hard to move. So hard that when I got off to check them out I couldn't even move them with my arms. I had a hard time breaking 12mph on flats because of this. This was the biggest problem and really took a lot out of me. Looks like it might be time for a new bottom bracket.

5. Around mile 52 I stopped to buy some fresh fruit from some guy's house. He offered to let me use his hose to refill my Camelbak. When it was full and I was closing it up, the guy says "Yeah, that should be nice and cold. It's well water." If I had known that, I wouldn't have taken it. After 52 miles my stomach was way too sensitive to deal with 'foreign' well water and I started getting sick as soon as I drank it. And I couldn't just dump it… it was mixed with the only good water I had on me. Bah. The peaches I bought off him were really good though!

Things that went right:

1. The arrows! The Narragansett Bay Wheelmen (http://www.nbwclub.org/) did an awesome job. They were perfectly placed.

2. It didn't rain.

3. I did 89 miles!

The problem with my "gummed up pedals" and getting sick from the well water took so much out of me that I decided to cut the ride short. There was no way I could've made it down Rt. 102 back to URI. I skipped 102 and continued to my home in West Warwick. I got a ride back to my car last night.

It was a very slow ride... 13.1mph average. 6:49:46. Not bad for someone on a hybrid with mountain bike tires who didn't ride until May of this year. :)

You did great! Hope your bike repairs don't cost too much.

Hey, good effort! It seems that Murpy's Law had its way with you on this one. :rolleyes: