A little less than 2 years ago I started commuting 2 to 3 days a week (30 miles r/t) and so I consider myself a commuter first and foremost. However yesterday, on a whim I decided to go out and get a good ride on a nice long MUP near Atlanta. I was originally only going to ride about 40 miles or so, but then I was feeling so good that I just decided to keep going (although I semi-planned for it by packing lots of high energy snacks just in case). Ended up doing a full century semi-loaded (rack and backpack with probably around 20 lbs of weight). It was a great ride. I hit 'the wall' around the 65 mile mark. Took me about 10 miles to break-through. It was rough for a while but I was finally able to get into a decent groove for the last 25 miles or so. Next up- touring! My goal is to ride the Natchez Trace. Here's my ride at the midpoint mark

Congratulations!

Cool!

Neat Pic....

Congratulations! Not a small feat there, my friend . . .

Congrats. Now you know you can do it! Nice bike!

Do you think hitting the wall meant running low on fuel? Riding a century takes a lot of energy. When I do it, the amount I eat and drink is astonishing.

Congrats! So many cyclists have a century (or more) in them without realizing it.

Thanks everyone! Still a little sore today, but not as bad as I expected.

Yes. Wikipedia describes it as "In endurance sports such as cycling and running, hitting the wall or the bonk describes a condition caused by the depletion of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles, which manifests itself by sudden fatigue and loss of energy." I had plenty of food (ran out of water for a little while) but I wasn't keeping up with how much I was burning, I guess. I've heard that your body can also switch gears and begins feeding on itself (i.e. starts exclusively burning stored fat) after hitting the wall and then you can get a fresh burst of energy. That's sort of how I felt going into the final 25 miles. Good energy, but my body was screaming at me to stop!

That was my point, in more scientific terms. I haven't ever felt that burst after getting really tired. It's a scary feeling to deplete like that. It's hard to explain to people how important it is to keep eating and drinking. On my last century, I drank a lot of sugary drinks, which I normally don't drink many of. It was interesting how "right" they felt and how much they seemed to help.

There is a "century of the month" thread in the "Classic & Vintage" section. rhm and a few others have been doing a century every month for a couple of years now! Join in. You don't have to have an old bike.

Thanks for the tip!

Congratulations! I'm feeling the itch to do some long-distance rides myself.

You have a 100 mile long MUP? That's awesome. The longest trail around here tops out around 2 miles.

I have been wanting to do this but haven't. You are an inspiration.

In case you don't know, a more easily-attained big accomplishment is called the metric century. It's 100 km, i.e. 62 miles. 62 to 75 miles is my favorite length for a long day's ride. After that, I get pretty desperately tired. I do it to say I did it or because I'm with people I committed to riding with. If I could convince my fellow century riders that we should do a metric century, I'd be happy. Once, I met rhm after he had ridden a few miles, and I got back to my car after I had ridden about 100 km. He went on, and by the time he got home, he had done 100 miles, so we got to satisfy each of our itches.

Well it's not quite 100 miles (94 something I think). It's the Silver Comet Trail in GA and links in with the Chief Ladiga Trail in Alabama. I think it might be the longest MUP in the U.S. I rode from mile post 0 to 50 and then back. For a region that isn't particularly bike-friendly this is definitely nice. Too bad it's useless to me for commuting.

https://www.silvercometga.com/

Sweet

That's fantastic! I've planned a 50+ mile ride this May that I'm hoping will turn into something like that.

Congratulations bkjames00,

It's a great feeling to have your first 100 mile century under your wheels! As noglider points out, eating and drinking are absolutely essential on longer rides like that.

I rode my first century back in '78 and have ridden countless others since; sometimes on organized rides other times on my own. Each time it's an adventure. We've had a very mild (and too dry) winter here, so I've ridden five centuries and one double century so far in 2014. Commuting is good training for centuries; centuries are good training for doubles!

Rick / OCRR