It was a Biking for Burns ride in Lansing Michigan back in something like 1987. It was my second year of riding. We had a group. It really was not designed as a century (our group found this out later). It was a dual organized ride. One start point was in Schwartz Creek Michigan just outside of Flint Michigan. The other was on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing Michigan. There were something like 3 SAG stops. The two rides shared a SAG stop at the midpoint. So the organizers thought that they would offer a century option, which they did not expect anyone to use.

Well about 18 of us did. We started out early. We got into Schwartz Creek after riding mild headwinds. We were offered hotdogs for lunch. None of us touched the dogs. But a reporter from the Flint paper was there and he was really impressed. All of the volunteers there were impressed too. They could not have been more impressed if we had told them we had just landed or space ship and we were martians. Any way they got us to line up and took a photo of our group. The photo was in the local paper the next day! That is the first and last time I have gotten into the paper for my bike riding.

So we turned back. The winds picked up. After awhile I was alone. I think the other riders camped out at the 1st SAG stop after the turnaround. Black clouds blew up. I put on my rain shell. Rain came down in sheets. I decided that I was not going to stop for anything. Then marble size and larger hail came down. I found an isolated farm house and stopped. So I took shelter on the porch. It was like the twilight zone. The door was open with only the screen door closed. The TV was on. No one seemed to in the house. The rain and hail stopped and I hopped on my bike again.

I hooked up with another rider riding the century. We were approaching the mid point SAG stop. Riders from the other way informed us that the SAG stop was going to pull up stakes but it still had COOKIES. So the two of us sprinted to the SAG stop yelling "cookies, cookies, cookies". We got some and the last ones I think.

After that it was a slog. The headwinds got stronger and stronger and stronger. I finally got to MSU campus. I crossed the Red Cedar River and its flood plain forest. I hit the blast of headwinds coming from across the prairie and almost stopped in my tracks. I did the last mile and a half in my low gear. I got off, put the bike on its rack and drove home. I think they had freebies and stuff in the parking lot for riders but I was past caring.

It was my first century. Since then I have done more than I can recall probably nearly 100. But I still remember that first one very well indeed.

Pat