iand123
08-22-04, 07:11 PM
Today I rode my first ever century ride!!! It was the Mount Washington Century in New hAmpshire, circumnaivagating what other place than Mount Washington. This ride was a grand century ~110 miles, what a leap for me from averaging 35 miles everyday up to 110 on mountainous terrain with treacherous epic hillclimbs!! Strangely enough I blew by over 85 percent of all the people, even the people on teams all sporting the same flashy uniform.
I could not believe the what one's body can do when you deprive it of food causing your innerbeast to kick in,,,uhhh...well for quite a while I was all alone and ended up riding onto the interstate highway...there I was just pedaling down the higway...."Oh **** "i said to myself as I spot the speed limit signs I end up walking back the other way and getting back on course to find everyone I passed ahead of me...
Another crazy thing happened..a beaver dam burst due to all the recent rainwater and one section of raod was flooded ~1 foot deep with rushing water...the policman there said we could just ride thourgh it...luckily for the slim tires...even still my feet were soaked!
It took me exactly 7 hours to do the ride...
THere is a two day series...saturday every year a race up the auto road...8 miles that takes about 1.5 hours on average...its frigkin steep. then sunday is the centurey.
if anyone is interested for next year it is in a great place..NH. www.tinmtn.org
After that I don't think I m going to ride my bike agian for the rest
of the summer..
does anyone have any advice for someone new to century rides...it seems like some people do the weekly
KevinmH9
08-22-04, 07:38 PM
Which interstate were you on? I live in NH myself but haven't ridden in that area, were you that close to 93?
CONGRATS in finishing your first Century!
pcsanity1
08-23-04, 04:35 AM
Great job on your first century.
Matt
I did the Mt. Washington Century as well -- mostly. I stayed with a friend up in the town of Jefferson, which is right on the route, so we just rode the course and stopped at stores when we needed stuff (we obviously weren't registered; it would have been wrong to hit up their rest-stops). The climbs up Jefferson Notch and Pinkham Notch weren't too bad, although unlike the original poster, I climbed them at the beginning of the ride, not the end.
Our problems began on top of Pinkham Notch. We stopped to put our jackets on -- it was still chlly, and it's a long fast descent off of Pinkham Notch. My friend needed to re-adjust her seatpost, since she had felt it slip. And that's when we realized that the seatpost bolt threads were stripped, and the only thing holding that seatpost up now was friction. Thankfully, the Mt. Washington visitor center is right on top of Pinkham Notch as well, so we begged for help and got an angel. The guy went way beyond the call of duty, as he tried to make the bolt work (only the last little bit was stripped), called every sporting goods store in the area (it was 9:00 AM on a Sunday -- I figured no one was going to be open, but he found a bike shop that was open), and finally wrapped the seatpost up with duct-tape. (Duct-tape saves the day again!)
So we descended Pinkham Notch, went off route for a few miles to get to the town of North Conway, found the shop, got it fixed for real, rode back onto the route and continued the climb over Crawford Notch. Crawford is a pretty easy climb -- you know you're climbing, but it's not too bad. And then you get to the final mile. Suddenly the "climbing lane" appears for the trucks, and the road leaves the 4, 5% grade stuff behind and soars into double-digit grades. I think the sign up top says 15% grade for one mile. Just slam it into the lowest gear, curse a bit (ok, a lot), and just thank God that it's not very long.
It's downhill / flat from there to the town of Carrol / Twin Mountains. Not much of a downhill run though, considering the length of the climb to get up there! We asked around in Carrol about how far the rest of our route was, and were told "at least 40, closer to 50 miles", so easily 3.5 hours or so, given all the climbing we had yet to do. Given the delays we had with the seatpost issues, we were running a bit late. The hours we had yet to ride, plus the long drive home to Massachusetts.... So we bailed, and took some side roads (actually the official 80 mile option) back to Jefferson.
Unfortunately, I've since looked at MapQuest and learned that we only had about 30 miles of the century route yet to go, so 2 hours or so as oppossed to probably close to four. I think that would have altered our decision, but those roads aren't going anywhere, and we can try again anytime.
Where was the beaver dam incident? Saturday was unbelievably rainy / stormy in New England, but the roads we saw were bone dry. I wasn't complaining as it was a cold morning -- 42 degrees when we rolled out at 7:00 AM. Welcome to August in the White Mountains!
Absolutely perfect day, weather wise though. Literally not a cloud in the sky. Mt. Washington's summit was clearly visibile from all over, which is rather rare. Still got in a beautiful 93 miles, a heck of a lot of climbing, and another day spent with my friend, so I'm happy.
iand123
08-24-04, 07:21 PM
Yup Kevin, I actually drove right over 93 after driving down it. It was right where 302 crosses 93, north of Crawford NOtch, east of Littleton. Yeah it is surely a nice area to ride. Clean cool air and nice long hills/decsents. Also there are a ton of great views as well as olfactory stimulation...fresh cut grass, cow manure, etc. It is a fully engaging place to ride!
ian
iand123
08-24-04, 07:30 PM
Second kevin(who also did the ride) One could not have picked a better day for anything, especially that great ride. It is unfortunate that you decided to cut it short. I highlyu recommend doing the 30 mile section if not simply by itself, for I have driven the other section taken by the 80 mile loop and it is ugly. The section taken by the 100 mile loop is much more scenic, if thats your type of thing. If I rememember correctly the beaver dam was shortly after bethlehem. or whichever little town came after littleton(the road made an "S" through town and then you were back ont hte route.
Either way you probably had a better time than I did for I was going alone and you had someone along. After a while I started hearing those damn voices in my head!!!
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