Having grown up in a cycling family, and reading Bicycling Magazine from the time I was a young child, I had read about a cycling challenge called the "Century" ... 100 miles in one day!!

So, of course, after starting to cycle more seriously in 1990 the idea of doing a century lurked in the back of my mind. In 1994, I decided to train for my first century. I gradually increased my distance, as recommended, but then I got impatient. The weekend I was supposed to do 80 miles, I figured that it was only 20 miles short of the century ... so why not go for it!

And I did.

I successfully completed the century, but when I got off the bicycle I told myself that I would never ever ride a distance like that again. The first part of the ride was fine, but the second half was a battle.

Three years passed, and for some reason, in 1997, I decided to give a century another try ... I did 2 that year. And then the long distance bug bit. I did 3 centuries in 1998, 3 centuries and a 200K in 1999 and 2000, and then I started randonneuring in 2001.

And it all started with that very challenging century in 1994.