Did my first metric century since I got back last year. Started way too late, but Arizona was cooler than usual today so it was 91 F when I started and only got up to 95 F at the hottest part of the ride. Since I'm still in the rebuilding phase of my cycling fitness a 63-mile ride isn't just a given for me. I brought two water bottles and planned to make pit stops at gas stations along my route as needed. Ended up stopping twice, at mile 26 and again at mile 45. Both times I topped my water bottles off plus bought a drink that I chugged on the spot before resuming. At the first stop I also bought an apple fritter. At mile 55 I experienced a flat from an apparent slow leak that worked itself into a much less slow leak during the ride. Discovered I'd packed a threadless CO2 cartridge in with the inflator that requires the threaded ones, and then my micropump disintegrated in my hands while trying to use it. Fortunately for me a fellow cyclist stopped to see if I was OK, and we chatted for a while and he let me use his mini pump, so I didn't have to make the call of shame. Lesson learned: check my CO2 carts, make sure I have the right ones. Also ordered the same micropump the guy let me use, because it not only worked, but didn't take a zillion pump strokes to get my tire up to pressure either.
I'm planning to work up to doing a ride of similar length every weekend from now on if I can work it into my schedule. I'll just need to wake up way earlier and get on the road at the crack of dawn, because if today had been as hot as it was last week and probably will be nearly every other week for the new few months, today's ride would have been impossible (for me). I had some cramps this evening in my legs, so I'm going to roll out my legs before I go to bed in a few minutes here, and take it easy tomorrow so I get good recovery.