Machka 

This is the thread for those who will not be able to complete the 2016 Century-A-Month challenge ... or those who want to do 1, 2 or a several centuries this year at whatever time works for them ... or those who complete their first century this year ...


The Century-A-Month challenge requires that a cyclist ride at least one century (100 miles) in each month of the year. But sometimes because of weather, accidents, or other commitments riding a century in each month of the year becomes impossible. And sometimes people get into cycling long distances partway through the year, but would like to join a challenge for motivation.

Even if we can't participate in the CAM challenge, it's nice to have a place to log our centuries (100-mile rides) throughout the year ... so here it is!



The challenge: Let's see how many centuries (100-mile rides), or longer rides, we can ride this year ... in any month of the year!!


Get ready ... get set ............... GO!!

Ron Harry

Hey Machka; have enjoyed your posts for a few years now. Our bike club has this challenge and it's a great way to add another goal to one's training and riding. Believe it or not, it is not as easy it might first appear [as you mention]. Work, weather, other demands and responsibilities...uh...did I mention the 'weather', ha...and for a lot of us, a century is pretty much an all day affair, so choosing the right day is often not easy. I'm on board with the challenge [on my 16th straight month now]; just completed my January ride. We had one cyclist in our club who did 100 centuries last bike year.

Bassmanbob

I just saw this thread. I've been training for my first century, which will be April 10th. It's a relatively flat course, but the potential for significant wind is present. This year's El Nino has provided us, here in Florida, with LOTS of wind. My Saturday morning ride was a killer today. Later this November, I'd like to do Florida's Horrible Hundred in Clermont, FL. That gives me a lot of time to increase speed and work on hills effectively. That's my plan so far.

Machka 

This was our first century of 2016:

https://www.bikeforums.net/long-dista...l#post18499780




And our second "century" of 2016 ... a 300K:

https://www.bikeforums.net/18639634-post18.html


And our third century of 2016 ... a 200K:

https://www.bikeforums.net/18855338-post26.html

Machka 

Saturday -- 164.9 km training ride.

We did a 200K mid-June, and wanted to do a long ride mid-July too, so we decided to ride a century today.

Plan A took us to a location that got snow earlier this week and then flooded. We decided to do a different route.

Plan B had us doing a Y-shaped route, starting at the bottom of the Y and going out the left side first, then the right, and back to the bottom of the Y. But mid-ride we changed our minds, and decided to do a section in the middle of the Y twice rather than the right segment. That worked out all right.

Our route started with a long climb up and over the hill into the city. Then the middle section of the route was relatively flat, by comparison. And the route ended with a long climb up and over the hill to our suburb. See elevation profile below.

It was about 12.5°C when we started, got to a high of 16.4°C, and then cooled down to 8.3°C by the end of the day ... with some particularly cold spots on the last climb and during that descent, after dark. But, for a change, it was sunny all day! In fact, it had something of a spring-like feel. It's still the middle of winter, but after all the cold and miserable weather we've had, it's nice to have a spring-like day. But it was windy ... 22-30 km/h with gusts as high as 48 km/h.

We started the ride about 8:30 am, after the 7:00-8:10 am recap of last night's live coverage of the TDF Time Trial. Priorities!

Moments after we started, I had trouble with my cassette shifters. Sometimes I couldn't shift ... the shifter would move freely but nothing would happen. Sometimes when I would try to shift into a smaller ring, both shifters (brake and shifter) would move, and nothing would happen. More frequently, I could do the shift, but the shifter wouldn't return. I decided I would just deal with it until we got into the city.

We climbed up and over into the city and stopped for a quick break before riding out the Cycleway. Shortly after we got going on the Cycleway, we stopped at a hardware store to get oil to see if that would help my shifters. It might have made some difference, but then Rowan turned one little screw, and it was all good!

For some reason, people like smashing bottles on the Cycleway Friday nights, so we had to dodge patches of broken glass here and there. But on the bright side, there were a lot of cyclist on and near the Cycleway today. I don't know if I've ever seen so many cyclists out and about. I guess everyone decided to get out and enjoy our brief glimpse of spring! In fact, one cycled and chatted with Rowan for some distance.

We continued on to New Norfolk, across the bridge and along the rather flooded Derwent river for about 12 km before pulling a U-turn and returning to New Norfolk. I like that stretch of road along the Derwent ... it's scenic, and we could see snow covered mountains in the distance. We had lunch in New Norfolk - both of us had cauliflower and cheese pies (one of my favourites) and Rowan had a sort of custard pie with fruit for dessert while I had mud cake.

There had been a headwind all the way out to where we turned around, so going back was great! We flew along (and set several personal bests on Strava). Next thing we knew, we were back on the Cycleway and flying back to the start of the Cycleway.

We stopped there, again, and made up bottles of Ensure. Part of the training ride was to try out possible nutrition solutions for long stretches of longer rides with no services. The Ensure worked well ... tasted good and provided energy and electrolytes.

Back to the end of Cycleway, against the wind, and back to the start again, with a tailwind .... but a dying tailwind, so we weren't flying anymore.

And then it was homeward bound. Through the city, and then up and up and up. The sun set while we were making our way through the city, and so partway up, we stopped so I could take a ginger tablet. I have found that climbing in the dark makes me feel a bit sea sick with the swaying light. Ginger tablets work for other "sea sick" situations, so we thought I might try one for this ... and it seemed to work. I climbed the hill in the dark, and no sea sick feeling.

Then a quick descent into our suburb, another climb as we cycled through the suburb, and another descent to home.


Distance: 164.9km
Moving Time: 8:54:36
Total time: 10:17:33
Elevation Gain: 1,767m




These photos are not from today, they are from another ride, but we saw these views on today's ride ...

This is at the top of the first big climb ...


Some of the cycleway ... but the vineyard doesn't have leaves just now ...

Chesterton

I rode my first century ever this past Sunday, 8/7/16. It was the CanAm Century Ride that goes from Buffalo across the border to Canada, up through Niagara Falls to the shores of Lake Ontario, then back across the border and up the same way on the other side. My previous longest ride was a metric century the week before, although I have a base level of fitness I guess from commuting to work every day (only 5 miles each way, though).

I did the ride on my 1990 Schwinn World Sport, a decent if ordinary mid-range 14-speed steel road bike. I kind of came to this kind of bicycling through the whole retrogrouch randonneur aesthetic, with shellacked cotton tape on the bars and a Brooks B17 saddle. So I was clearly out of my element at this ride, where 95% of the maybe 30 or 40 riders were suited up in full team kit with carbon fiber bikes that probably weigh less than my wheelset. Certainly I was the only rider in a button-down cotton shirt and ordinary shorts (though I cheat with an Ibex merino wool undershirt and padded merino underpants!). Later on I did see one gentleman riding a Surly Disc Trucker with a Brooks saddle, which made me feel a little less lonely.

My ride almost didn't get started at all, though. As I was riding the three miles to the start location, I could hear my rear wheel rubbing on the brakes, and when I arrived I took a look and saw an enormous wobble in the wheel, so I tracked down the support truck to see about getting it trued. The mechanic (a local bike shop owner) discovered that I had two broken spokes, which I must have broken on my 100K the week before. He pulled them out and trued the wheel as best he could, but he was very skeptical about me completing the 100 miles missing two spokes. "It's an old bike," he said, "and you've got a lot of weight on the back," pointing at my small Carradice saddlebag. "You should really just replace the wheel. Old zinc spokes, metal fatigue."

Well, now I had to decide whether to abort the ride or attempt it, as I walked back to the start, where they were already doing the opening remarks. Was I inconveniencing the volunteers if I rode and had a breakdown? But I did pay $55 to do this ride, doesn't that buy me a bail out if I need it? In the end I decided that I would just give it a try and keep an eye on things, and if I had to call for the sag wagon or a rescue ride from my wife, I would, but if it held together then all the better.

We left at 7 AM and rode through the city on the way to the Peace Bridge. I was at the back of the line because of spending time fretting about whether to go, but we all rode in a group to the bridge and crossed into Canada. That was the last time I ever saw any of the carbon fiber roadies; once I passed through customs and got on the road again they were long gone. I was riding with the rear sweep volunteers, a couple of riders who I knew online and from previous social rides. It was all right to have company, but a little unsettling to realize I was already the caboose of the ride. When we arrived at Niagara Falls about 20 miles in, the sweep guys went back to check on a couple that we had passed who had stopped for a "nature break", and I rode on without them. In many ways I preferred this, the freedom to ride at my own speed and not feel like I was slowing anyone down.

Around mile 35, in the village of Niagara-on-the-Lake, I caught up with a trio of other first time century riders and I rode with them for the next 30 miles or so. We rode as a group through the vineyards and orchards of the Niagara countryside. One of the other riders seemed shocked that I was riding platform pedals. The rear sweep caught up with us on our way to the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge back to the USA, and we continued as a group.

I have mixed feelings about group riding. The camaraderie and conversation can be great, but sometimes the rhythm just doesn't work. At times I felt like the group was going slow when I wanted to go fast, and then when a hill came and I needed to slow down they would end up ahead of me. I'm not sure whether that makes me an anti-social bicyclist or if it's just something I need more experience with.

We stopped to refill water bottles and use the bathrooms at the shore of Lake Ontario on the US side, where you can see the skyline of Toronto across the lake. We stayed there longer than I wanted (the other problem with riding in a group seems to be that rest stops end up consuming a lot more time waiting for everyone to be ready), and then headed back south towards Niagara Falls, NY and Buffalo.

I had been nervously checking my rear wheel every time we stopped, and although there was still a visible wobble to it, it wasn't getting any worse, and indeed would make it the entire ride without a problem. But I was having another problem with it: the rear tire was getting palpably softer over the ride. I had put 200 strokes from my minipump into it at the halfway point, and at this last stop I gave it another 50 or so, but something was going on. I think it was just an old and leaky tube that came with the bike when I bought it last year. Perhaps it was the loss of pressure impacting my speed, but the rest of the group gradually pulled ahead somewhere about mile 70, and I was riding on my own with the sweep team again.

It was around this point that I began to feel "annoyed" by the ride. I had asked on a Facebook group of local riders for tips on preparing for a century, and one guy said that on his first few centuries he had hit a mental wall of feeling "over it" somewhere around 65-80 miles in. And that was exactly true for me. I never really had any pain, but the little saddle and hand discomforts, the sun on my neck, and just the irritation of being at the rear of the ride were starting to get old.

Then came the ridiculous climb up the notorious Niagara Escarpment into Niagara Falls. This feels like it goes on forever. Probably it is no big deal to someone with a proper randonneuring bike, but my lowest gear is 42-28, and on a climb like that I run out of gears really quickly. But I didn't have to walk the bike, and I felt a strange sense of my spirits lifting once the climb was over. I guess having the worst of it behind me made me feel better about the remaining 25 miles.

We were about 2 miles from the next rest stop, which was just closing up, when I decided to just change the tube on my increasingly squishy rear tire. The sweep guys rode on to the rest stop while I got the old tube out and came back with a couple of bottles of cold water and a variety of minipumps that potentially promised to be better than mine. We couldn't get the PSI past 80 (the tire could take 95) but it seemed enough to make things better. It was a bit demoralizing that the rest stop had closed already, but I refilled my bottles using the last few water bottles they had left out, and the last 20 miles was done with slow and steady determination. The streets in Niagara Falls are terrible (apparently there is radioactive waste below the asphalt, making it incredibly expensive to remediate and repave - so instead we ride over radioactive potholes!), and I was already nervous about my spokes. I made it through without incident, though, and then past the industrial waterfront of Buffalo's northern suburbs and into the city. Being on familiar streets again brightened my mood further.

I arrived almost exactly 10 hours after departing. Actual moving time was only 7:48, but we spent over two hours at rest stops (and the flat tire repair). The "lunch"/afterparty had closed half an hour ago, and although one of the other riders came out of the building to tell me "Food's upstairs. Sure you don't want a glass of wine or something?" I just felt like going home at that point. I felt a very complex ambivalence about being DFL. You can tell yourself that you are riding your own ride and you don't have anything to prove to anyone, but I felt really out of place and kind of guilty about making the sweep riders' day that much longer than it would have been otherwise. The emotions are complex, and felt like it took me a couple of days to really "process". Riding home I felt weirdly overwhelmed, although intellectually I had the idea that there must be strange hormonal things at play after a major exertion like this.

Well, I am happy with the ride itself, if not entirely with the context that it occurred in. I finished without any lingering discomfort or pain, though I slept very well that night! I did 111 miles that day, on a 26 year old steel bike missing two rear spokes. That is almost double my previous longest distance (the metric century the week before). My average moving speed was 13.5 mph, which never felt "slow" to me when I was riding solo, but now I realize it must be compared to the road warriors that this ride attracts. I would definitely do the mileage again (or even longer, like a 200K brevet perhaps), but maybe not in an organized event with sweep riders and rest stops that are timed for a significantly faster rider.

So that was my first century! Thanks for this forum - I learned a lot of good tips from reading the pinned threads in the weeks leading up to the ride.

wipekitty

On Sunday, I completed my first 100+ mile ride in seven years...and my first fixed gear century. (This was not an organized event, just a personal challenge.)


I started the ride at 9AM with the local ladies’ group. There were only three of us this week, and I was happy to be with others as we climbed into dense fog which stuck around for the first hour or so. It was 68°F when we left, but very humid.

With the group, I made the first descent down the middle of a county road; the sides were a bit tricky, as there was a bit of gravel left from last month’s repair project. We next hit an easier climb, followed by rolling hills on farm roads with scenic views of the surrounding bluffs. The second descent took us back down to the highway that runs next to the Mississippi River.

Here, I said my goodbyes and headed south along the river. I reached the town of Stoddard, WI and continued east to hit the third (and IMO, most challenging) climb of the day, followed by seven miles of rollers and a descent into Chaseburg.

Here, it was time for a break. I stopped at the Chaseburg Village Park, which has shade, picnic tables, cold water during the summer months, and washrooms with flush toilets. I had some food and mixed some water with the 6:1 sugar-salt combo I had stashed, and realigned my rear wheel (the chain tension got a bit off). I checked my Strava app; 47.3 miles down. All good so far.

From Chaseburg, I rode the short distance to Coon Valley, and stopped briefly to stock up on water at the lion fountain. From here, it would be a loop of around 25 miles through the country, with no services on the route (and, like most of the ride, no cell service.) The gentle climb out of Coon Valley was on a long and shaded farm road, but there was a headwind. When I reached the top, the sun had finally come out – the humidity remained, but now it was getting hot.

I made my way through the rolling, open fields outside of Westby, then continued back toward Coon Valley with a nice tailwind...averaging just under 19mph (and setting a personal record). Here, it was time for a quick water bottle refill, then on to Chaseburg for the last stop of the day before the final 20 miles.

The next 10 miles were on a combination of highway and farm roads back to Stoddard. I thought that this part of the ride might be tricky – there are some steep little rollers – but it was just fine. Once in Stoddard, I headed back north, on the flat highway along the Mississippi River (into yet another headwind.) The thermometer at home read 85°F; I stood on the back porch and poured out sweat for a good 15 minutes.

The most pain I had from the ride was surprisingly in my right arm, but it was gone the next day. I’d managed to stay sufficiently hydrated – awesome. On Monday, I rode a few miles around town for errands and went on a 20 mile group ride.

So, first fixed gear century down! On the one hand, I’m glad that all went well and that I ended pain (and injury) free. On the other, I’m a bit disappointed: I was hoping that this would be the ultimate test of my endurance, and this it was not. I'm looking forward to pushing it a bit harder next time, and perhaps trying a 200K next season!


Total miles: 103.6. Including stops, right around 7 hours 45 minutes.



Elevation profile:




It's not a ride in the Driftless without a stop at a Lion Fountain!

Rowan

Hey WK, well done! Fixed gear centuries have a sort of aura about them. I loved doing my century a month for a year on my fixed gear, and it's still my favourite bike to ride. But the terrain we moved to since that year is somewhat steeper than before, so it doesn't get much of an outing these days.

GoWolfpack

I finished my first full century yesterday. It was an organized ride by the Peninsula Bicycling Association in Virginia. One 50 mile loop followed by a 28 mile loop then a 25 mile loop.

Whoever said the second half of the ride is a mental game was right on. The first 50 miles of the ride was hilly, but actually felt pretty good to finish. Average speed over 17 MPH, which is what I usually do on rides that length. The riding partner I started with said his legs hurt too much to keep going and I should go on without him.

The next 25 miles was also pretty hilly, at least hilly for the coast of VA. My average speed slowed to about 16 and a couple of the hills slowed me to single digit speeds before I finally crested them. I heard somebody say before they started that this was the harder of the two second-half loops. No kidding.

At 78 miles I was back at the parking lot where I started. The ride organizers were out of food for lunch except for one lone hot dog, which I ate. My legs felt an inch from cramping badly and I was feeling nerve pain up my arms from my hands. 25 more miles would probably take me two hours total.

I took about 15 minutes, ate two bananas (the only thing they never seem to run low on) and a Clif bar and refilled my water bottles. I had told people I was riding 100 miles. I had told my wife I would not be done until 3:00. I believed I could do it, even if it wasn't pretty. Luckily the last 25 was the easiest as far as hills and wind. One of the SAG vehicles slowed down next to me at about mile 83 and asked if I was going to make it. I said I thought so and finally made it to the last rest top at mile 93. I was totally mentally beat but another 10 minute break and some encouragement from the organizers and I attacked the last 10 miles. So long as there weren't any cars coming either direction I sat up and took my hands off the handlebars to rest a little.

It turned out that the limitation for me isn't my leg strength but nerve pain in my hands and up my arms. Sitting up made me pretty wobbly but took so much pressure off my hands it helped me speed up some.

Total elapsed time 7:45, total time pedaling 6:23, total mileage 103, average speed 16.2. The first half was fun, the second half wasn't, but it feels great to accomplish this.

Gaelen

I finished my first century August 18th. I've only been riding seriously, not the 2 miles to work or down to the store for beer, for about a year. I decided to do the Hotter N Hell Hundred this year. Mostly because I live in Wichita Falls and it seemed like a pretty good test for my first year of pedalling. Aug. 18th was my last long distance ride before the event. I woke to heavy cloud cover and a constant drizzle of rain. After a summer of 100+ degree weather this was a godsend! I didn't even need sunscreen! I set out with a goal of 80-90 miles. The drizzle turned into rain. No lightning or heavy wind, so, onward. I fell somewhere around mile 12 and skinned up my left elbow pretty well. The bike was fine, the skin has grown back, so all good there. I took the next few miles pretty slow, but, being nearly halfway to my first there-and-back I didn't see the sense in turning around. Finally made it back, got the elbow cleaned up and still felt pretty good, so there-and-back again. After my second leg the odometer was at 68 miles. I imagined the elbow would be giving me problems, but, all was still well and off again I went. The rain cleared up as the day progressed, the cloud cover continued to make my life easy and I finished the day at 103 miles in about 7 1/2 hours.

Hotter N Hell day went about the same, except the sun was out and it got up into the mid 90s pretty quickly, still fairly mild. I went way too hard for the first 40 miles, eschewing my training habits and that really came back to bite me the last 25 miles. After regaining my slow n steady pace I thought I would be alright, and then we got into the next county. They had recently put down new asphalt along this part of the route, but never steamrolled it down effectively turning my saddle into a cheese-grater. After dealing with this abject horror and being smarter about my remaining stops I managed to finish in 6 hrs 58mins altogether, including stops and waiting to cross the starting line.

So, two centuries in August and already planning another before the end of September. Btw, my bike is a '91 Trek 1200 and I haven't been able to find a pair of proper shoes to fit my feet, so, I use the platform side of the pedals. Any tips on shoes for wide feet would be greatly appreciated.