Well, I had a lot of really nice rides during the week, but on Friday, it was raining, so I drove my Ramcharger to work. Poor old thing has been sitting for over a month, so it was probably good for it anyway.

This morning, I got up at 4 AM, and loaded ol' Blue (the name of the new Paramount!) into the van, and headed for a friends house. Pulled into his yard at 5 AM, and loaded his Rivendell into the van. Then, another hour of driving, and we were in Kearney. Why, you may ask?? Because that was the starting point for my first-ever century ride!

After topping off the air in the tires, and saying hello to some other friends, we were off. The first 40 miles of the trip went terrifically! My friend and I easily maintained an average speed of 16.5 mph as we rode along, sometimes in pretty heavy fog. The fog at one point was so bad that I had to take off my glasses and put them in my jersey! We stopped for some fruit at a sag stop in Lexington, and as we were leaving town, my friend suddenly developed cramps in his left calve. We had both been regularly drinking, me water and he was drinking a sports drink, so I don't really know what caused them. He decided to push on, however, at a reduced speed. I think that this was an amazing feat, as he finished the ride! That's 60 miles, up and down the hilliest part of the course, with a calve that would cramp for a while, then relax, and pretty soon cramp again! I rode with him most of the way, however, once when my friends from Cycle Sports whizzed past in a pace line, I tagged along for a little ways! I then dropped out of the line, and returned to my buddy to continue the ride.

When we ended the ride, I had logged another 101 miles, and had an average speed of exactly 15 mph. The ride went really well. I am not saying that I was fresh as a daisy when we were done, but I really felt pretty darned good! Another milestone in my life on 2 wheels, made a little more special because I got to share it with a friend!:thumbup: