North Shore Century ride report

[Kimbercop]

Well, I'll go 1st since I only did the 50 miler, and have already got my after ride nap.

Picked up Sdog 34 (Scott) near his house and we carpooled in. Nice young man, but apparently the forgetful type because he had his name all over his bike in big yellow letters. He had a sweet Scott carbon fiber frame that he had built up, and let me tell you, it was one fine looking ride. Got to the parking lot at Northwestern and parked next to the chapter president Psimet, who is apparently stalking me, cause at 0-dark thirty, he and Cylowe were cruising past my house doing the slowroll, obviously worried that I was changing my mind about the whole ride.

Met up with the boys under a nice big tree near the registration table. Seeing as how this is only my 2nd ride with the group I had to re-introduce myself and Scott had to meet everyone. The rollcall as I remember it was: Kimbercop, Sdog34, Psimet, Cylowe, Aham23, Kenal0, jtm, and signal11. Fortunately Kenal0 was in his right mind and brought a camera. So we handed the camera off to a nice lady and asked her to take our pic. ZAfter a few minutes of her trying to figure out which button was the shutter, a new volunteer was picked out and the photo was taken.

At 0715 we rolled out and the Garmin Army was rolling Northward. The pace was nice and we made good time right up to the 1st rest stop about 18 miles in. I resisted the taunting and name calling and stuck to my guns about only doing 50 today as did Scott. Dave bailed on us and went to the darkside, deciding apparently to do the whole thing. Right after the break the course split so Scott and I were on our own for the rest of the ride. We kept a good pace and I really enjoyed looking at the Garmin and seeing all the info coming in to me. We almost missed the 2nd rest stop but found it and refueled.

The rest of the ride was very nice, riding thru some really nice areas. The wind that I was so fearful of, was barely noticable and was really a non factor thanks mostly in part to the fact we rode mostly tree lined roads. About mile #45 I really started to have some difficulties, and my right leg started cramping a little bit. The last couple miles were difficult but I managed to make it, but it wasn't pretty. There is no way I could of done the metric today and I'm glad I chose the 50.

After the finish we just loaded up and left psmimet a present on his car then left. I dropped Scott off, headed home to some mac & cheese with my boys, and a nice shower and a nap. I uploaded my ride info to motionbased and got to look at that for a bit.

Overall, a really good day to ride.


http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/e...kValue=1380813

[Mr. Gear Jammer]

Good ride man , that stinks you could not go for 100 though. I made a dashing attempt about a month ago, only finished off with 84 miles. Due to cramping, dehydration and fatigue.

[jtm1631]

I posted this in the other thread just as Kimbercop started this one.

Wow, that was really difficult. I owe a huge thank you to all the forum members who pulled me along, but especially Cylow and Kenal0. As Psimet said, I called uncle at the Great Lakes Naval station. I was holding Kenal0 back and I felt bad.

I sat and caught my breath for awhile and than cruised into the last rest stop at mile 90. I tried to catch my breath and force food and water down, but I knew I was in trouble. Got back on the bike and headed out. Mentally and physically exhausted by the ride, I wasn't sure how far I would get. At mile 95 there were no riders in front of me and no riders behind me. I was beaten and I was about to ride right past my mom's house. I knew this was it for me. I pulled in the driveway and called uncle. 95 miles was it for me.

The full route was just over 105 miles and I knew there was not another ten miles in my legs or my head. If this century route had been 100 instead of 105 I think I could have forced the final five miles out, but who knows. 10 definitely was not a possiblity.

Thanks again to everyone for pulling me along. My first attempt at a century got the better of me. The bright spot of the ride is that my knees actually feel good and were not giving me too many problems.

[S_DOG34]

Brooks probably got tired of all the questions I kept asking through the whole ride: what does the garmin do, how do you like the Pinarello, do you like the thumbshifters on your Chorus group, etc. for 52 miles! But he is too nice to let on . Good to meet all of you guys, and get my first decent ride on the new bike. After all of our talk about the wind, I didn't think it was bad at all. Most of the ride was on fairly sheltered side streets and bike paths (at least the 50 mile variety). My legs felt great the whole way through, but I am quite glad that I stuck with the 50 miles, I just wish the whole group wussed out with Brooks and me. Some very lovely areas we rode through...I can't think of a house we saw the whole way that wouldn't go for $750k+. Bring on the pics!

Btw, I love the motionbased report! Damn you for showing me how cool that Garmin is, now I am going to have to get one!

[Kenal0]

Brooks probably got tired of all the questions I kept asking through the whole ride: what does the garmin do, how do you like the Pinarello, do you like the thumbshifters on your Chorus group, etc. for 52 miles! But he is too nice to let on . Good to meet all of you guys, and get my first decent ride on the new bike. After all of our talk about the wind, I didn't think it was bad at all. Most of the ride was on fairly sheltered side streets and bike paths (at least the 50 mile variety). My legs felt great the whole way through, but I am quite glad that I stuck with the 50 miles, I just wish the whole group wussed out with Brooks and me. Some very lovely areas we rode through...I can't think of a house we saw the whole way that wouldn't go for $750k+. Bring on the pics!

Btw, I love the motionbased report! Damn you for showing me how cool that Garmin is, now I am going to have to get one!

The wind got nasty up on the open roads in Wisconsin, Just ask Psimet. He and Aham did a lot of pulling!!!
Nice to meet you even though we didn't have time to chat but we shall do this again. The BFNIC is just getting started.
Kenal0

[Kenal0]

I put my ride report in the main forum with pics
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=229226

Kenal0

[S_DOG34]

The wind got nasty up on the open roads in Wisconsin, Just ask Psimet. He and Aham did a lot of pulling!!!
Nice to meet you even though we didn't have time to chat but we shall do this again. The BFNIC is just getting started.
Kenal0

Ditto. We can chat more at the BFNIC ride on the 1st. I've never had those clif blocks before...they are pretty good. It's like a really dense cube-shaped gummy bear.

[madopal]

Sorry I didn't find any of you, I took off just after dawn to try and see if I could get a head start on the wind. I had a great first half (who didn't with that tailwind), and then it all fell apart. The quad cramps started around mile 58, and they caused 2 stops along the way, but I managed to fight through them until I got to the stop in Waukegan. A 10 minute stop there seemed to help a bit.

By then, my left knee had been bugging me for about 15 miles. It just kept getting worse and worse. When I hit the McClory trail, I was doing maybe 12mph. I gave in around mile 82.

Lessons learned:
- A cyclocross bike isn't great for 100 mile rides (especially with 32c tires, fenders, a rack, etc.)
- I need Aleve with me on long rides
- Clif Shots suck, Clif Bloks rule
- Don't adjust your seat the night before a long ride
- I like solo'ing, but it's a bad idea on windy rides
- Big Camelbaks make it hard to look forward while down in aero bars

I'll recover in a few days, but I need to figure out what caused the knee pain in the first place. Glad most everyone else had a good ride, and hey jtm, you made it further than I could. Kudos.

[Drag]

You guys are all my heroes. Thanks for sharing.

[Drag]

I put my ride report in the main forum with pics
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=229226

For the Garmin users who went the entire century, how were you able to get your battery to last that long?

I thought I read the 305 only goes for 4 hours or so between recharges?

[aham23]

For the Garmin users who went the entire century, how were you able to get your battery to last that long?

I thought I read the 305 only goes for 4 hours or so between recharges?

The manual rates the battery lift at 10 to 12 hours ( it is one of those as I dont have it in front of me). Real users are reporting 6 to 10 hours life from what I have seen. Later.

[madopal]

For the Garmin users who went the entire century, how were you able to get your battery to last that long?

I thought I read the 305 only goes for 4 hours or so between recharges?

Mine was about dead (1 bar) at around 5 hours. I turned the cadence meter off to save juice, but I don't know how much longer it would have made it.

I thought about the external battery solution, but I heard about the freeze problems, so I decided to wait until someone found another way.

[aham23]

Mine was about dead (1 bar) at around 5 hours. I turned the cadence meter off to save juice, but I don't know how much longer it would have made it.

I thought about the external battery solution, but I heard about the freeze problems, so I decided to wait until someone found another way.

Like I posted mine was on the last bar for a while too. From what other said it gets to the last bar quick, but you still have plenty of juice. The unit should get close to the advertised 10 hours of battery life.

[velodev]

My first century ride and like I've told others... the day of, I asked, "are people out of their minds?" and then the very next day I asked, "when is the next one?" Overall, it was an absolute blast and a real test of my progress this year. I started out in March barely doing 12 miles at 13mph. In Sept, I complete 105 at 16 mph.

Some of the areas in Zion and North Chicago were shady and I'm glad I didn't stray from the course. The ride was great and the rain didn't hit until 10 minutes after we were packed up in the car.

My Edge lasted the entire ride though I had one bar left, so I was worried it was about to shut off. My back was the worst during the ride and I know I will need to work on that in the gym. By Lake Forest beach, I had to prop the bike on a tree and lay on a bench to stretch out what I believe is major muscle cramps. It didn't help that I had a new seat installed the week prior. Overall, I beat my longest ride by close to 60 miles.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/i...kValue=1386131

[aham23]

Congrats velodev !! It is a great feeling finishing that first century.

[Drag]

That is so FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!

And inspirational for the likes of me.

Clearly a lifetime achievement! You can check that one of the Life-To-Do-List!