I finished my first century yesterday. It was nothing like what others have posted here, and that was done purposefully. I wanted to make sure that my first ride of this length was supported and not crazy-hard with hills etc. I rode in the Palm Springs Century with about 2,000 others. It was very well marked, supported with 5 different rest stops, and pretty much no way I could fail unless me or my bike weren't up to the challenge. There was just over 3K feet of climbing over the 102 mile course, all in temperatures of 65 to mid 80's, and all in all it was a great experience. I managed to finish the ride in about 6 hrs 40 minutes of saddle time.

I have to say that I'm very impressed by those of you who will go out in all temperatures, especially the really cold ones, with two water bottles, and a bag full of snacks and do this yourselves. I'm sure I'll do that eventually (not the freezing temperature part) but I'll have to work up to it.

When I mentioned to my wife that I was considering doing a ride of this length monthly for the rest of the year, she wanted to know if my spare time between 10pm and 5am was best utilized with me riding my bike.....We'll see when I manage get another one in.

All of you guys are amazing, and I'll keep watching this thread.

CMC