surprise century (my first)
 

Yesterday’s plan was to do a 75-mile loop from Westwood to Plymouth Rock as training for the MassBike Summer Century a few weeks from now. To my great surprise, I had plenty of energy left at the end, so I decided to push another 25 miles to make it my first century.

The 7:47 time is a bit misleading, as I realized halfway though that I hadn’t set the auto-stop feature on my Garmin. It was actually 7:32 in the saddle, starting a little before 6am finishing a bit after 3pm. Not particularly fast, though it was my first time and my riding buddy struggled a bit on the way back from Plymouth so we had to stop and rest (he did not do the last 25 with me).

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41650788

Things I learned on this ride:
* get a haircut before a long ride on a hot day. when I took off my helmet, I looked ridiculous!
* carb-loading the night before really works. I had a plate full of macaroni salad for dinner on Friday, and then a protein fest when I woke up (eggs + chicken sausage). felt a bit stuffed, but I didn’t bonk
* bring an extra jersey. after hours in the hot sun, it was refreshing to change shirts. interestingly, I found the cheapo mesh jersey from EMS much more comfortable than the “real” jersey I had

I bet a large "1st Centuries" are unplanned. Like you, a longish ride goes well enough that it just happens.

Congrats on the ride! May there be many more.

Very nice!

hey, fantastic! +1 for the fresh jersey! when I 1st ried for 100 I even changed my shorts 1/2 way ... haha

Bravo!

And +1 on the haircut. I often get a buzz cut before heading out on a long tour for that reason.

oh, and one other thing, I lovelovelove G2 (the lower-calorie Gatorade). satisfies in a way that Powerade Zero doesn't, but without the sugar rush of the full-calorie drinks.

Great job! Congrats!

Congratulations to you on completing your first century! :)

It's interesting that you bring G2 and Powerade Zero up. I've been drinking a lot of Powerade Zero on my rides and find it to be very satisfying. One thing that I love about it is that it is free from calories. Since my rides aren't nearly as long, I just want something to quench my thirst. Zero hits the spot. I've been wanting to try G2 because of the availability of larger sizes. At my local Walmart, I can only buy a case of 8 Powerade Zeros (20 oz bottles). They don't sell the 32 oz bottles in cases. They do sell large jugs of G2, though. If it is even more satisfying than Powerade Zero, I may have to give it a try. Water is all that I really need but it's nice to have a bottle of something else to sip along the trail. A low calorie Gatorade may be worth a shot.

yes i find it much more satisfying. when I did my first 50-miler I took P0 and it left me feeling empty. the regular stuff gives me a sugar high-->crash. G2 is "Just right"

On the powerade, G2, regular gatorade, or regular powerade these are my thoughts. If I am doing under 30 miles it is powerade zero, I don't need no stinking calories (this means no food, gels, bars or anything). If I am going over 30 I will drink some real powerade. I prefer the powerade to the G2 or regular gatorade because it has all for electrolytes instead of just sodium and potasium. I am now thinking of getting hammer or another type of powder of the such because they use more complex carbs over pure sugar to avoid the crash although I don't feel the crash on the bike.

oh and congrats on the century nice accomplishment.

I almost did an unplanned first century on Saturday, but then my shoulders started getting too sore to spend that much time in the saddle.

Congratulations to mtalinm for actually completing a 100 mile ride! That's no small accomplishment!

Anything under 9 hours is fast for a century. Even doing 25 - 30 of them, my best time was around 7 hours. Great job.

oh, it was 9.5 hours elapsed time, though only 7.5 in the saddle. my riding buddy was struggling (and quit after 75), so we had to stop a few times for him. chances are I couldn't have maintained the same speed without those breaks. also, the terrain was rolling hills, no real climbing (only 2500 feet total).

that's probably good advice on gatorade, will try that next time. the G Recovery drink I had afterward was fabulous...

Still great time. My best century was 7hr 20 min total (I never do riding vs. stopped time) and my worse 11 hours. That was a long day. Was doing the ride with a friend and it was her first century. She didn't get the concept of get in and get out of the sag stops. A couple of times I found her napping!!! I almost wish she sagged in and allowed me to complete the ride on my own time.

congrats. 160km (100 miles in my speak) is quite an achievement.

thanks Joltman! just found out that I did the whole thing with a bent derailleur...fixed now.

mt, you actually liked the gatorade recovery? I tried one after my first triathlon. ugh. i could barely get it down. i had to as i was heading to a beer fest with only 1 stop to shower in between the two events.

Well it was a little protein-ey, but I thought it did a decent job of replenishing (ha, maybe a placebo effect!)