JoeOxfordCT

Hi All,

Thinking about what century rides I want to do this summer so I thought I'd lob a few out there and see who's ridden them and how they might compare to each other.

I've done the Great River Ride and the 108 miles was all I could handle....hope to get back there this year.
I added my ride report to someone else's thread:
https://www.bikeforums.net/northeast/222419-great-river-ride-century-170k-populaire.html
My post is #25
https://newhorizonsbikes.com/page.cfm?pageID=161

Rides I'm interested in:

Mt. Greylock Century
https://www.berkshirecycling.org/rides/greylock_map.php

Climb to the Clouds
https://www.crw.org/CTTC/climb2clouds.htm

Tour of the Litchfield Hills
https://www.tourofthelitchfieldhills.com/

The Doozy:

The PEAK Warman Memorial (VT Six Gaps)
https://www.peakraces.com/index.php?inc=warman

Let's hear your war stories and please let me know if I missed any hilly centuries in the New England area.

zoste

Wouldn't pretty much ANY century in New England be kinda hilly?

JoeOxfordCT

N'ah.....for 100 miles, I don't know....anything under 7000' of climbing I don't generally consider hilly.....
I'm sure someone will flame me for offending their favorite century but........

I do the Bloomin Metric in May frequently and it's not hilly. https://www.soundcyclists.com/BloominMetric.htm

I do the Hay City Cyclefest in June and it's not really hilly
https://www.hatcitycyclists.org/cycle...efest2008.html

Southern CT Summer Breeze Century, again, beautiful ride but not hilly.
https://www.ctcycle.org/century.htm

JoeOxfordCT

Bump.....no love for hilly New England centuries ??

Hammertoe

You have done the D2R2...

Hardest ride I have done...

Good thing Mt. Washington is the same day this year, otherwise I would have to suffer again...

https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/457561-deerfield-dirt-road-randonnee-d2r2-holy-pic-two.html

fatdad

I've done Climb-to-the-Clouds numerous times, my club sponsors it. It is very well marked and organized and if you get a good weather day, it's challenging and a lot of fun. If you get a classic mid-summer New England 90 degree steamfest, it's just challenging. The toughest part is the approach road to Wachusetts and the climb up the mountain itself but there are various rollers all through the ride. It's also more like 105 miles.

mattm

how about BMB? i think it has something like 30,000 ft of climbing.

we're lucky out here, with not much snow centuries are possible but painful. the worst part is that the passes are snowed in - i can't wait to get up in those mountains!

Ritterview

Are you game to travel around the country to find these hills? If so, the Climb to Kaiser has a few hills. If you are looking in New England, wouldn't this be a better thread for the Northeast Regional Subforum?

Tristan86

I rode the Tour of the Litchfield Hills last summer (first year they had a century) and I would highly recommend it. Great atmosphere, lots of people, beautiful scenic ride. There is certainly a fair amount of climbing. Afterwords there is a lot of good free food. I will be doing again this summer for sure

JoeOxfordCT

I'm really ready to travel outside of New England to do rides.

I came across the Harlem Valley Trail ride which seems to be fairly hilly, over 8K of climbing.....anyone done the one ?

https://www.bikenewyork.org/rides/hvr...fo.html#routes

valygrl

There's the Triple Bypass and the Death Ride - registration is closed for both of them, but you can usually buy a triple registration on craigslist (try denver & boulder) the month before.

JoeOxfordCT

I sold my last mtb....I've seen & read plenty on this ride though....impressive.....
Liked your writeup & pics....that's all you took ? Too busy suffering ??

I know about the Mt. Washington Hill Climb but have you done the Century associated with it that's held the same weekend ?

Hammertoe

The Mt. Washington Century Ride has been a different weekend the past 2 years...

This year it is August 1st...

https://www.tinmtn.org/century.cfm

I have never done it, but have heard excellent things...

songfta

I've participated in the Harlem Valley Rail Ride the past two years. It's a great route, with some good climbs and wonderful scenery. Last year's ride was marred by torrential rainstorms with high winds, hail, lightning and street flooding, which caused many crashes on the descent from Bash Bish Falls - a freak occurrence, to say the least, and handled well by Bike New York (I finished with the first bunch of century riders, so I looped back to shuttle injured riders back to the ride start/finish site in Millerton).

But the ride is spectacular, the uphill time trial is fun (though trying on the legs, coming 97 miles into the century), and the support is first rate. I measured a little over 8,700' of climbing for the ride. They also come up with a wonderful jersey every year.

That said, if you're willing to expend your horizons a bit further south, there are some wonderful hilly century rides in the greater DC/MD/VA/WV area:

- Mountains Of Misery (May 24 - Blacksburg, VA) is one heck of a kickoff for the hill season: 104 and 124 mile routes, both of which finish with a category 1 climb to the finish. I rode this for the first time last year, and it was a superb ride. The finish, as tough as it is (average of 11% for the last four miles), is fun, as they announce your name coming into the finish, and the locals turn out to cheer you on. Around 10,000' of climbing for the century, 13,000' for the double metric.

- The Mountain Mama Road Bike Challenge (August 1 - Monterey, VA) has over 13,400' of climbing over ten summits and 101 miles. This ride is epic and fun, and still smaller in scale than some of the more big-name rides in the area. It crosses between Virginia and West Virginia, and the climbs are tough, but fun. I've done this ride three times, all of 'em fun.

- The Civil War Century (September 12 - Thurmont, VA) is a well-attended ride, attracting a lot of riders from DC, Baltimore and Philadelphia. The route crosses through many Civil War historic areas, with lots of climbing and scenery. About 8,800' of climbing on the new route (they modified the route in 2008 to avoid a high traffic section, which added more climbing to the mix).

I plan on riding all three of these rides in 2009, as well as the Harpoon Brewery-to-Brewery ride in June, and the Great River Ride in October (as well as others, to be determined). I love the hills!

jpitkin

Did someone say hilly century?

https://www.highlandercycletour.com/highlander.htm

JoeOxfordCT

I saw this ride....got all excited reading about it....and then when I google mapped the drive to get to it......6 hours !!!!

That's a weekend trip.......some day....

Thanks for the link though...it does look like a great ride....

icyclist 

1) Climb to Kaiser - a great ride, but it's more than just hilly 13,500 of gain - and it's 150 miles.

2) Chico (CA) Wildflower - 4500-5000 feet of gain in the first 40 miles, then flat. Another great ride, but coming at the end of April. Come out west!

3) I have a spot on the Death Ride and I probably can't use it. If they're transferable, I'll gladly sell my reservation.

JoeOxfordCT

All three of thes rides sound great.....

Civil War Century is the closest to me @ 5 hours, 40 minutes....the other two are over 8 hours of driving.
Someday....doing these rides would be entire weekend killers for me.....I could do maybe one or two of these tops over a summer but......

Songfta, what are you running for gears for these rides ?? Just curious....

teterider

Climb to the Clouds was my first century in 2006, and I thought is was great. I haven't had a chance to do that one since, but the people were good and the food was great. I mean they had more than just orange slices and dry PBJ, they had all sorts of candy and cookies that taste oh so good after 50+ miles, 93 degrees, and a bad breakfast. I hope they still offer the goodies.
I think there is around 5500 feet of climbing, but even still the only place I had to use the small ring were up to Mt. Wachusett, everything else was 50x23 doable.

Also not listed is the Kings Tour of Quabbin on June 7 run by Seven Hills Wheelmen.

I know you said hilly, but the Flattest Century of the East in Dartmouth is downright lousy. Will never do again for lots of reasons but won't say why as everyone can make their own opinion after riding it. Anyway, the hilly/rolling centuries in the tree covered roads of MA are much better even if harder.

songfta

I know the drive from northern CT to DC quite well, so I see where you're coming from in terms of commute. Mountains Of Misery is always held on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, so there are extra days on either end to buffer. That said, it's a four hour drive from DC to Blacksburg (if the traffic conditions are favorable, that is)....

And we get a good number of folks from New England into town for the CWC. Last year was a bit of a pickle, as inclement weather forced the ride to be pushed back a day. I had friends from the Thread City Cyclists in Willimantic who were originally slated to come down for the CWC, but were thwarted by the change of days.

My gearing depends on the bike I ride:

The Jamis has a 36/50 compact with a 12-26 9-speed cassette (though for last year's GRR, I never went lower than 36/21 for any climb, including East River Hill). This bike lives at my in-laws' house in CT, and will be used on the B2B ride.

The Pedal Force has a 34/50 compact with an 11-25 or 11-23 10-speed cassette. The 25-tooth cog on the cassette has seen very little use, as the worst climbs I experience I can usually clear with a 34/23 or 34/21 ratio. I may put on a 39/53 standard crank on this bike for the coming season - at the very least, I'll pick one up to have at the ready. This bike is with me in DC, and gets used far more often (and is quite a bit lighter than the Jamis, as well).

BTW, the Highlander Century looks really nice! It might be able to lure me (and a couple of buddies) away from Mountain Mama this year or next.

songfta

All are great rides! I'd also throw in a vote for the Shasta Summit Super Century, which is 135 miles of fun with over 16,000' of climbing. I rode this last August (in lieu of the Mountain Mama, which was the same weekend) and had a blast!

waterrockets 

If you want to hit one in the Fall, Tour das Hugel is 100 miles and 10,000 ft of climbing all within Austin metro, and a ridiculous portion of that climbing is above 8%, and more than you'd like over 18%.

JoeOxfordCT

You go boy ! .....it's been a few years since I did GRR but I remember struggling in my 34/28..

I like to think I'm stronger now but I doubt it...

JimF22003

hi songfta. I've thought about the MOM and Mountain Mama ride, but have been a bit scared about the hillage. I did last year's CWC and did OK. I wasn't in the best shape at the time, but I survived.

How much "worse" are the MOM and MM rides compared to the CWC? I plan to be in much better shape this year, especially early in the season. I rode the CWC on a compact 50/34 with an 11/26 cassette (and needed ever bit of it.) I have a 12/27 cassette I could put on if necessary.

Besides the additional quantity of hills on the other two rides is there anything I should know about the quality/difficulty/placement etc? I'd really like to try these, but I'm kind of intimidated frankly, being both old and fat, a bad combination.

songfta

If you're in decent shape, both are quite doable - especially considering that you made it through the CWC. But both rides are very different.

MOM has two major climbs in the 100-mile version: one around mile 60, and the last from mile 99-103. Otherwise, there's a lot of rolling terrain that allows for decent pacelines. But that last climb is tough, and you definitely want good gearing for it. I managed with a 34/25 setup last year having had too little training heading into the ride (I decided to ride it less than a week before the event), and I think such gearing is sufficient for most folks if they have enough training heading into the ride. If you can, do some training rides on Skyline Drive, Mt. Weather or Catoctin State Park (Park Central Road, in particular) to build up the stamina for the climbs.

MM is a different beast: unlike MOM, but similar to CWC, it starts climbing from the get-go. Monterey and Jack Mountains are quite the wake-up call, but after that, there's some good flat terrain to use for recovery. The climbs on MM aren't the steepest - MOM's climbs are steeper - but there's a lot of uphill on the ride, for sure. The last climb of the ride is the most tough, from a mental standpoint, as its switchbacks are seemingly endless. I'd say that MM is easier than MOM, all things being equal.

And both rides are more difficult than CWC. But with adequate training, neither is too difficult.

Good luck!