I've been riding for just over a year, and having done a few 50, 60, and 70 mile rides, I decided that I wanted to try a century. Yesterday was the planned day, and with the weather looking cooperative I set out on my planned route of 103 miles. Unfortunately I only made it 37 miles due to some poor planning on my part, so I thought that I'd share some thoughts on the failed attempt in case it helps out someone else who's relatively inexperienced and wants to try a century.

My biggest screw-up was failing to account for elevation gain when I planned the route. I live right next to the ocean, and all of my previous rides have been coastal and therefore very flat. My favorite 60 mile ride, for example, only has just over 2,000 feet of elevation gain, roughly 335 feet per 10 miles. The planned route took me quite some distance inland, and had 5,200 feet of elevation gain or 520 feet per 10 miles (roughly 50% more than my previous high). I'm what you guys loving call a Clydesdale at 250lbs +/- and 6' 6" tall. That's a lot to haul up the hills.

That might have been manageable, albeit tough, but screw-up number two was failing to account for where the elevation gains were. According to ClimbPro there were a total of 13 climbs along the proposed route, and as I found out to my cost, 11 of them fell within the first 30 miles. In fact I'd completed just about 3,400 feet of the gains by that time meaning that 2/3rds of the elevation gains fell in the first 1/3rd of the ride (roughly 1,100 feet per 10 miles or close to an average 2% grade). I hate to admit that I was gassed, but yeah, I was gassed. That was way too much climbing too early in the ride and too close together for someone who hasn't climbed much before. I'd eaten and rested well the day before, had plenty of water + electrolytes with me, and was getting plenty of carbs from fig bars and chocolate milk, but my legs / heart / lungs simply hadn't experienced that level of output before.

I would say that screw-up number three was not driving the route beforehand. That might not be necessary for experienced riders, but for a relative newbie attempting a century for the first time, not a bad idea to check it out. Had I done so, I'm 99% sure that I would have gone back to the route-planner in Strava and started over!

It wasn't all negatives though. I had a friend with an SUV on call in case of problems, and had shared a Garmin Live Track link with several people so that they knew where I was. That made it a breeze for said friend to come and pick me up for the drive of shame back home. Once I had been stopped for 15 minutes or so, a couple of friends texted me to see if I was ok. It was good to know that backup was available. Also people can be really, unexpectedly, friendly! A couple had driven by and saw me stopped by the side of the road, turned around, and offered me a bottle of water. Several others stopped and checked that I was ok. That was definitely appreciated.

I already have a flatter route planned so that I can surpass the century mark, hopefully in the next couple of weeks. And that hilly century? It's saved for when I have more experience climbing, something that I plan to seek out more in my shorter rides. I'll take it out eventually.