BigBlueToe

Turning 60 was a big deal for me. I feel officially "old" - much more so that when I turned 50 (which was bad enough.) There's no 60+ forum, so I guess I'll have to post in the 60+ Subgroup. (Don't look for it; I just made it up.)

I rode in the San Luis Obispo Bike Club's Lighthouse Century yesterday. I love this ride. I live here, so I ride parts of it on an almost weekly basis, but it's fun to do it as part of a big, organized ride, with food, lots of fun people, lots of cool bikes to ogle (I saw my first Calfee bamboo bike "in the flesh" yesterday - beautiful!)

I've had trouble riding even once a week lately, so I rode the metric century - 60 miles. 100 miles would have been painful and not so fun. I felt pretty great throughout. A lot of it has to do with the route. It's almost flat! It's considered a great first century for people. Not only is it pretty flat,and incredibly beautiful, but the wind usually cooperates and blows you out in the morning, switches directions, and blows you back in the afternoon.

The weather wasn't cooperating. There was a drizzle throughout the morning - not rain, but enough to keep my sunglasses covered with water and hard to see out of. The fog obscured the beatiful central coast scenery. I see it all the time, but the out-of-towners were short-changed.

It wasn't so bad. Once I got up to speed the drizzle cooled me off. However, I was in tights, long sleeve polypro under my jersey, and a windbreaker. The folks in shorts and short sleeves must have been freezing! Around noon the skies cleared and the sun came out. My last 10 miles were too hot, but I was close enough to the end that I didn't want to stop and strip off my layers. I get like a horse to the barn when I get close to the end of a ride.

Great job, SLOBC! Their centuries are always the best organize, with the best route markings, volunteers at every confusing turn directing traffic, and the best food at the rest stops - including pie at lunch and chocolate fondue at the afternoon stop.

My first "century" as a 60-year-old. Also my first time to ride my age since my birthday.

rdtompki

Congratulations on the ride! My wife and I also haven't been able to ride much for the last several weeks so we rode the flat metric on our tandem (we're both 65+). Enjoyed the ride very much, but the last segment of out and back on the full century is the best part of the ride which we weren't in condition to do. The organization of that ride is excellent and the workers very friendly. We definitely plan on showing up for years. BTW, one good alternative to the full century is to do 90 miles - skip the extra 10 mile "detour" at the start of the 100 miles and just do a 45+45 out and back. That's what we did our first year.

miss kenton

Congratulations! I wanted to give a special "atta-boy" because I did my first metric century yesterday, too! Though I am not 60 (yet), I did my first metric century yesterday, too! I rode 78 miles, so can I use that as a handicap for not meeting the age requirement?

Well done!