Bike Forums - My First Century is in the bag.

Thanks to you folks on the advice about rain/temps. It rained a good bit of the ride. Parts of it were in a down pour and parts not so bad. I was fine in my jersey and bibs. I'm still not sure if the rain was a hindrance or a blessing, the cooler temps were nice.

The ride included a bit over 3,000 feet of climbing and we did it at just over 16 MPH. In the afternoon the wind kicked up and we fought quite a head wind the last 20 miles. I under estimated the difficulty of this ride. Proportionally it was much more difficult than the 76 miler I did last week. I met and rode with 4 other folks and we had quite a good time with each other. I feel like I've got 4 new friends. 3 of us are meeting up to do the next local Century in October.

The one thing I would change is having clear eye wear for the rain. I ended up doing the distance with no eye protection. The best thing I did was to wear a cycling cap under my helmet. The brim saved my eyes from the direct onslaught of the wind and rain. Much as I hate to admit it, our pace was probably a touch to high for my fitness level. I've done 70 + milers at north of 17 MPH but that's not 100 miles.

Nutrition and hydration were not an issue. I fueled on PB with honey on wheat squares, bananas from the rest area, GuBrew in my water bottles, and three Roctane gels (one at 40, one at 60, and one at 80). I took two shots of pickle juice to cure cramps along the way.

Here's an end of ride pic of me and one of my new friends. I'm the athletic looking one on the right :)

http://bobbeasley.com/bikeimages/ccccentury.jpg