So I had attempted a century last weekend. The combination of a late start, a persistent headwind on the return leg, a flat tire (thought it was a slow leak, but it became less slow in a hurry), and finally St Patrick's Day all conspired to limit my mileage to 95.

Yesterday, I didn't start any earlier, but I had a buddy along for the ride. We stitched together a roughly 100-mile route on Google Maps, made some sandwiches, and headed out. Here's a picture of our steeds at about the 30-mile mark:



If you're OCD like myself, you may notice that my tires don't match. The 700x28 Paselas are such a tight fit on this bike that any radial hop from the front wheel results in a buzz/squeak every revolution. It doesn't help that these tires started out at 25.5mm and have now stretched to a more honest 27mm. Gotta true that wheel before too long.

Rob's bike is a Cross-Check that he had powdercoated after having some braze-ons installed, and brazing holes filled. I joked that he should hold a Park Tool product next to it to see if they matched, and sure enough...

Here's a link to a modified version of the route, intended to be a little simpler and include some trail miles, at the cost of a couple miles: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=...c0d7d662&msa=0

There was a persistent wind from the northwest that pushed us along nicely from Cedar Rapids to Ely, but it drained a lot of energy from Ely to Center Point. My friend has not been doing as many long-distance rides, so he had to bail at CP. (The fact that EVERYONE was doing controlled-burns in their fields and/or having bonfires that day didn't help his asthma, either. )

I, of course, didn't have the good sense to pack it in, so I took North Center Point Road all the way back to Cedar Rapids. Here's my before-and-after mileage: