I made it ( with lots of pictures)
 

Tried my first century today. It was the tour de Palm Springs and there must have been 15000 riders. I don’t know for sure but there were more than I had even seen in one place so I’ll make a wild guess. I know a lot of people seemed to pass me and I still finished about the middle of the pack :eek:

Anyway the ride started out against the wind and up hill towards whitewater. We climbed towards the Wind turbines about 1200 feet. Have I even mentioned I hate climbing? I am sure I have but I do it.

I think about 500 people passed me. :mad:

But not everyone did. :D

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I managed to make it to the first Sag point close enough to the front to see how many people were still with us. It was very crowded.

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I knew it would be windy and it Palm Springs and Whitewater specifically that means sand in the air. I picked up some classes over goggles to give me a break. They looked big but they worked.

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Sag 2 still had a good sized crowd.

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We were looking forward to the run to Indio.

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Shortly after than picture we had some great down hills running into the Sag at the 50-mile marker. I didn’t dare take my hands off the bars to get a picture. At one point I was hitting close to 45 MPH.

I missed the Sag point at the 70 mile marker and that almost killed me. I was head down just grinding away at a rather long slow grade and I just didn’t look up to see it. By the 8o mile mark I was considering calling it a day and waiting for our Sag wagon. But half a bottle of PowerAde and Hammer apple cinnamon goo got me to the 90 mile Sag point. Once there I knew I could make the last 11 or twelve miles to make 102-104 miles total.
One of the guys I was riding with got to the 90 mile Sag after me. Some of you might have guessed why he got there after me but realized he stopped at mile 70.

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All the Sag points had school bands playing blues and Jazz for us.

As we headed out for the last run to the finish line I had to admit it was a beautiful day for a ride.[/SIZE]

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I now have some very sore legs, a tee-shirt, and a sore bottom. The seat worked fine but I have a fifty mile bottom on a 100 mile saddle. Did the ride in 7:33:19 of ride time.

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing, and congrats on finishing in a good time.

Great Report and pics

Congrats on finishing! That's great -- and you'll always remember your first one. ;)

PS was our first tandem century and we had a terrific ride -- felt like we could've done more -- and really enjoyed ourselves. Your pics show way more snow that what we saw. That's impressive.

Take a recovery ride tomorrow or the next day and enjoy the satisfaction of finishing your first century strong.

What's next? Solvang? ;)

:thumb::thumb::thumb:

I used to camp up by Solvang and I know how many hills are there. I was thinking more of The Hemet double but only doing the first 100.

Nice! Looks like a well supported ride and beautiful conditions.

I think you'll find yourself REALLY looking forward to the next one!

The 80 mile mark is about where most century riders begin to feel it.

Congratulations, RF.

Like Blues Dawg says, no hill is too steep with the right gear and the right attitude. You seem to have both. Maybe next year, then?

Congrats! You nailed it on your first try!

Good report & pics.

Looks great. I can't even imagine trying to do 100ks let alone 100 miles. The most time I've ever spent in the saddle is three hours ... but I am thinking about doing a bit longer.

Way to go. I'll bet you never miss another rest stop. Keep that head up! and +1 on the recovery ride. It will feel good, honest. Well, except maybe the butt-to-saddle part. But do it.

Congrats! LD riding is a drug. Hooked yet?

I now have some very sore legs, a tee-shirt, and a sore bottom. The seat worked fine but I have a fifty mile bottom on a 100 mile saddle. Did the ride in 7:33:19 of ride time.

Of all those things the century left you with- The T shirt will be the only one you will keep.

So you struggled --just a bit-- So what. That ride has proved that you are now a cyclist and you won't have to pay for it for long. Recovery ride today and try not to do it standing up all the way. No effort- no speed- highish cadence and about 10 miles.

That 70 mile sag point was well positioned by the organisors. Just a pity you missed it.

Well done and look for a more testing ride for your next one.

And good time by the way.

Way to go! :thumb:
You'll always remember the first time.

Congratulatiions on the ride and those are great pictures.

Congrats-great ride! Isn't it nice having lots of other riders out there with you?

Great job. In about 5 days you'll start planning your next riding challenge.:D

One of the other reasons I may have missed the SAG point at 70 miles was there were a lot less riders and at that point I was riding by myself. A large group had passed me a mile or so before and I wasn't sure about a turn coming up. Just before the SAG point I spotted a group of riders making the turn and I was looking more at that than anything else, well other than about 15 feet in front of my front wheel. But I won't miss another one.

Dang. A first century with hills! Awesome, as are the pics! Here in the frigid Great Lakes I can only dream of days like that for now.

And I'm with Louis on the 80 mile mark.

:thumb:
Don't have much windblown desert sand to deal with around these parts.

:thumb::thumb:

Congratulations! I'm glad you enjoyed the ride.

Cool, huh?

Congrats to you for your first century. I have yet to do one. I'm hoping to do one this year.:thumb:

Good job! Judging from the outfits, it looks like it was cold -- what was the temperature at the start?