Rode another Century! 2nd in 30 days
 

Met up with some awesome people today and rode the Tour de Cure century route. When I first found out about them riding today, I though it was only going to be like 4 or 5 people that were meeting up...I was wrong, ended up being right around 25. Most of the people there (everyone but me and one other person) were members of Infinite Triathlon Club out of Michigan.

Im not going to go into as much detail this time around, but we started off as one big group that quickly thinned out into one big group, and one small group (Me, the tour director, and 2 of the Tri Club people) The ride started off great, 70*, not a cloud in the sky, and only a slight breeze. The wind did pick up a little bit and it got pretty hot by the end (85*)

The only difference this time around was that this was pretty much a self supported ride, we stopped as we needed to, to refill on water, and to eat lunch about halfway through.

Right after "lunch" (Mike from the Tri club was the only one who actually ate anything...I didnt feel like eating a big sandwich with 50 miles to go) Mike had a blowout...and it took us nearly half an hour to put a new tube on and put the tire back on the wheel. If anyone was wondering how long it takes for 4 people to change a flat...right around a half hour....

Anyways, we rode into town, and made a pit stop at a bike shop so Mike could get a new Tire. There goes another half hour not riding. 25 miles from the end, my right leg started to cramp up and Leigh Ann (from the Tri Club) gave me 3 salt tablets which helped alot. 15 left into the ride, I ran out of water and Leigh Ann gave me one of her water bottles. 5 miles left I had to stop for a minute because I was so tired and hot. I think I may have been a bit dehydrated at the end...I started to get a headache, but that may have been from the sun.

When we finished, I had 100.9 miles on my odometer...and shaved just over 10 minutes from last months ride time. Total time was close to 8 1/2 hours

6:34:46
100.9 miles
15.1 Average Speed
83 Average Cadence

As to what I ate and drank during the ride

Around 8 or 9 bottles of water
8 Hammer Gels
2 1/2 Granola/trail mix bars
1 small bag of salted cashews
3 salt tablets

For future reference, try to eat more food and fewer gels. Your friend Mike had the right idea. If you're going at a moderate pace, a sandwich for lunch is a perfectly good idea. Existing on liquid sugar - which is basically what gels are - may keep the energy levels adequate but isn't a recipe for feeling great.

Half an hour to change a tube? Not a great idea. Long stops cause you to stiffen up and end up adding to your fatigue.

Im not sure why it took so long to change the tube...for whatever reason we had a hard time getting the tire on. That and the old tube was stuck on the rim.

As far as food goes, I felt great the whole day...I actually felt better this time around compared to the Tour de Cure, where I was eating actual food. I realize I should have eaten something along the way, but I didnt want it to come back later in the ride and be a bad idea.

Either way it goes, it was a great ride with some great people