zacster

My first century was from Seattle to Centralia Wa. The second century was from Centralia Wa, to Portland Or, starting as soon as could get myself off the ground after stopping from the first. I had planned to do it in 2 days, but work forced me to do it in one. This was in the 80s sometime.

Allegheny Jet

It was in the fall of 2000. My son was attending a university about 45 miles from our home. I rode to the town, kept going for 11 additional miles, turned around and met him for lunch at the university's cafeteria. After a nice meal I rode back home for 101 miles total.

Metric Man

October 2009 after 2.5 years of riding I did the Hemet DC, well half anyway. I rode my Madone with Bob Foster and his group from Hemet...and now I have three Centuries in the last 7 months...that's right. I'm hooked.

Smogsteve

This was a long time ago,1965, my first 100 mile ride was a training ride with six or seven other junior riders in Northern California. We had a stage race coming up in Colorado and we rode from Marin to Healsburg and up to Napa and back. Most likely it was about 120 + miles and we hammered the whole way, as teenagers will do when they don't know better. My last century was yesterday. I started out to head for a club ride here in town and put in 35 miles before the ride. add 30 for the club ride. Then 25 with my wife on the bike trail. Another 16 for the ride home and that makes a long day. Does life get much better than this? I think not.

BigBlueToe

My first century was accidental. It was back in the 70's. I was getting into bike touring on my Raleigh Gran Prix 10-speed. I lived in Bellingham, Washington, and had lots of family and friends in Seattle, 90 miles away via the freeway. I had ridden from Seattle to Bellingham via Whidbey Island - about 120 miles - in 3 days - my first "long" trip and I loved it - and I was looking for a different route, this time heading south. I decided to head east out of Bellingham and join up with Highway 9. I thought I'd find a place to camp about halfway down. It was a kind of impromptu trip so I didn't leave until around noon. I loaded up my bike with minimal camping stuff - a sleeping bag, a blue foam mat, and some warmer clothes - and headed out.

Highway 9 between Wickersham and Sedro-Woolley was beautiful - bucolic, few cars. But after that it turned into a boring, straight road through endless trees. There was nothing to see but trees. (If you've ever ridden through northwest forests you know that the trees are beautiful, but they often hide any views that might be out there.) Worse, there didn't look like any suitable places to camp.

As I got further along I decided to just keep going and see if I could do my first century. Somewhere around Lake Stevens I saw Everett off in the distance, so I took the likeliest looking roads and eventually found my way. I was heading for Aurora (99). It certainly wasn't the most scenic route, but I knew the road well, and I knew I could take it all the way into Seattle, and I knew the way to my friend's house in the Roosevelt neighborhood.

When it looked like I was going to make it I called him and told him to expect me and not lock the door. I finally got to his house around 11:00 p.m. I was very tired and my butt was beyond numb, but I had made it and was very proud to have finally cracked the century mark. At least, at the time I assumed I had ridden over 100 miles. I just did the route on Google Maps and got a figure of 106 miles. Not bad.

az_cyclist

It was the Wabash River Run, in early September in either 1985 or 1986. The ride started and ended at Ft. Ouiatenan, on the west side of Lafayette, and ran south / southwest on either side of the river thru Attica, Covington, Perrysville, and Williamsport. It was a hot and humid day, and my average was around 10 mph for the entire ride. I rode it again in 1987, then didnt have the opportunity for another century until 2003, when I rode the Palo Verde Century in Phoenix.

Consularrider

Where was it-city, state (if a loop start and finish).

Rode from home to Purcellville, VA on the W&OD Trail and then back with the VeloDCity Meetup group adding the loop around Arlington to get to 102 miles.

When was it-season and year or years ago.

May 2008

How long had you been riding.

I'd been back on my bike for three years after several years off.

What bike did you ride.

1985 Raleigh Team USA sport tourer.

This was about my second or third ride with the group and the ride was advertised as 75 miles which would still have been my longest ever one day ride. I ended up riding the Dunn Loring to Purcellville section with the slowest rider to keep her company. On the return leg I was left by the fast riders, but stayed with another member all way in and well ahead of the slower group. When I got to my normal turn off I saw I had logged 85 miles, and the rider I was with was continuing on, so I decided to add the loop to get my first one day 100 mile ride.

Artkansas 

It was the 2008 Joe Weber Arky 100, starting and ending in Sheridan AR in October.

I had bought a Bacchetta Giro 20 Recumbent a couple of months before and decided that it was time to get a century out of the way. My training course was a loop around Lake Maumelle and then added the Arkansas River Trail.

Originally I had been planning to do the Big Dam Bridge ride, but the day before that, I got left hooked by a motorist eager to get his Denny's Grand Slam breakfast and put my feet down to stop so hard, that by the end of the day I could barely walk.

The Joe Weber Arky 100 was two weeks later, so I opted for that. The beginning was a series of rolling hills. Other cyclists were surprised when they would pass me going up a hill, but I would overtake them coming back down.

At the 40 mile mark, I took a short roadside break down a steep side road. But starting back up on my new recumbent, I stalled out and fell sideways down hill off the bike, landing flat on one side of my butt. It hurt like heck, but the nearest help was the next sag stop, so I tried riding, and found that after a little while the pain went down.

Towards the middle, I missed an important turn, but figured my error out after about 2 miles so I didn't have too much to make up. But after the correct turn, the typical green Arkansas countryside turned into a charred moonscape, and there were no other riders around me so I really wondered if I was going the right way till a friend driving the sag wagon passed me.

At the halfway point, I was informed that I was only the second to last rider, and he was 5 minutes behind me. From then on, it was a race of sorts. I was determined to not be the last person to finish. At about 70 miles, I ran into a pack of dogs in a small town, but stopped the boldest one cold by spraying him with water after taking a big mouthful from my water bottle. I was also getting bored riding about that time, and thinking that there was something more interesting I could be doing.

At the 75 mile stop, I left the stop as my nemesis was arriving. By that time I was confident that I could finish it, as long I didn't get a flat. At the end, the pain of my hip was bad enough that it took several minutes of just sitting before I could lift my leg enough to get it over the frame of the bike, and I limped back to the car.

I couldn't ride my recumbent for 6 months after that, it hurt too much. Oddly, my Hard Rock didn't hurt to ride at all. And over two years later, right now, it still hurts.

I proved I could do a century. I really have no interest in doing another.

palookabutt

I did a metric on my Hardrock and I thought that was tough. A full century over Rabbit Ears? With only 4 months in your legs? You are what my friend would call a real bad-ass!

Barrettscv 

Where was it-city, state (if a loop start and finish): Chicago to The Wisconsin border & back
When was it-season and year or years ago. June 2009
How long had you been riding: Resumed riding in 2008
If an event tell us about the event: Just me and a BF friend.
What bike did you ride: Soma Double Cross
Tell us about anything that really stands out on the ride that you remember: Using a gravel bike path for 15 miles.

gitarzan

I'll let you know in two weeks.

tcs

Hmmm. 1980, Texas hill country. I guess I'd been riding about 18 years by then. I rode a bike equipped with a Sturmey-Archer S5/1 five-speed hub. Bonking (dehydration) the last ten miles was memorable.

Now that I think about it, I rode four more centuries on that bike.

tcs

pokey1

my first was the Granite State Wheelmen sea coast century -- missed a turn and ending up at 105 for the day
it was a great ride -- think i took me 10 hrs. -- bike was a 12 speed jap bike

cyclinfool

Was thinking about that ride for this fall - is a tentative on my schedule.

geofitz13

Right on the money about not forgetting the first one....

Aug 2007 Pan Mass Challenge
Longest ride till then was 62 miles.
Had been riding for a little over a year, having taken it up at age 55. Did ride as a kid, but nothing serious.
Specialized Allez Elite.
Actually did 112 miles. Sturbridge MA to Bourne MA. Temperature in the mid to upper 90's, humidity close to a match. People dropping like flies. Carried three water bottles, would drink two and dump the third on my head and then refill. Actually turned out to be one of my best rides ever.
Followed it up with another 80 the next day, Bourne MA to Provincetown, MA

bjjoondo 

Well, my first and only Century ride was to finish earning the "patch set" from the League of American Wheelmen in 1984. The set made up in 4 patches, forms a circle. 1-quarter century/1-half century/1-metric century/1-full century, using the words from America the Beautiful and different landscapes. The Full century was the old "Hardscrabble Century Ride" put on by the Strada Bicycle Club out of Colorado Springs, CO. Hardscrabble Pass is one mighty UPHILL run but I did it and got the final patch!! I still have it, it's in a frame, that is on the wall above my current bicycle, don't know if I will ever do another "century ride", as I'm more a "smell the roses" rider and don't care about "miles" in a certain time period anymore. Still it was quite a ride, I really miss my Univega Specialissima Touring Bike, wish I never would have sold it, rats!

pokey1

cyclinfool -- this is a great ride -- have done it a few times -- once on sat then again on sun for two
hundred mi week-end

JimF22003

I'm pretty sure I did a couple back in highschool, but I'm having trouble remembering that far back. The first in the modern era was three years ago, self-supported, entirely on the bike paths (44 mile out and back on the W&OD trail, plus a loop down to DC along the Potomac.) It would be considered a "cheap century" now, but I was very proud at the time. I bonked pretty hard about 5 miles from getting back to the start. Couldn't even see straight and got very mentally confused. I really didn't know how to eat for a long ride at that point.

kr32

Best wishes and have fun!

Hermes

My wife and I did the Solvang Century in Solvang, Ca and it was a loop in March 2007. We had restarted our cycling in June 2006 and focused on training for that distance in October 2006. The event has 4000 feet of climbing and travels along the Pacific Coast Highway before turning inland. We rode our tandem and it was very cool to start and warmed up quickly. We had large bag on the back of the tandem that we filled with clothes as we un-layered.

There was a lot of wind on the coast highway and to the town of San Maria. We then traveled southeast and started climbing. It was nice to do it and the route was good but we are not motivated century riders per se which is probably why this was our first one.

chuckb

Seagull Century on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 2003. On my 23 year old steel bike from graduate school days. I woke up nervous and very uncertain that I could manage to cover the distance. I did it again the next year, easily, and in 2007 I managed to cover that route in 4:58, my only 5 hour century to date (and given my knee issues, perhaps ever ). Seagull is a fun ride and a great place to ride a first century.

gpelpel

March 2005 at the Solvang Century.

I started road riding at the end of 2003 and spent most 2004 getting hooked to it but all my rides never crossed the 25 miles mark. Spending New Year's Eve 2005 with a friend, he teased me with the idea of riding a century together. My friend was seriously considering it with another acquaintance so I decided to join them. The next day we rode a 25 miler to start the year on a good note. Unfortunately rain kept me away from the bike the following two months. I forced myself on riding a 50 miler two week before the century, I ended the ride with cramps. I had no darn clue about proper feeding and drinking but learned a lot from this forum in a week time.

Yet I was at the start in Solvang for what looked like a badly prepared adventure. Cramps didn't bother me but my butt did. So much so that I had to take an unscheduled breather just before the day's "big climb". I learned the hard way that you should never try a new saddle on such a long ride. I kept going, did very well on the climb, and ended the ride on a very sore rear end. Riding time was 6:26, total time 8:28.

I was so exited about completing my first century that I signed for another one a couple months later. This one, Grizzly Peak in San Francisco East Bay hills, involved much more climbing, twice as much, and made me even prouder. Riding time 7:48.

The bike was the same I have been riding until a month ago, a 2003 Time VX Special Pro. I have since kept a three long rides schedule each year with the Death Ride being the highlight of the last two years. This year I am focusing on doubles in the quest for the CA Triple Crown jersey. First one was completed a month ago.

rainycamp

I did the Outlaw Trail 100 in Round Rock Texas, October, 2008. I had been riding a little over a year, and had never done anything longer than a metric century. It was an organized ride, which kept me from bonking, but I hadn't put in enough long rides leading up to the century, so the last 20 miles or so were a struggle. Terrain was easy, mostly gently rolling farmland. Still managed a 15.5 mph average. Riding time about 6 hrs, 33 mins. I learned that it's easy to finish a 100-mile ride, but it's hard to finish it well.

lhbernhardt

I was studying music at the College of Alameda back in 1971, and I was working part-time at the Oakland Public Library to pay for that plus for my new Toyota Corolla ($2000 new in 1971!). One of the librarians drove a Porsche C and owned a couple of Schwinn Paramounts and he suggested I'd enjoy riding a bike. I went to Velo-Sport in Berkeley and bought a Centurion LeMans, sort of a Japanese version of a Raleigh International (hi-tension steel, cheap Suntour components, steel rims that taught you how to brake on rainy descents). I put toe clips on it and rode around. Before long I decided to do a century on my own. I think I had a Sergal wool jersey and shorts, and I do remember I wore these cheap black running shoes. I drove to the American(?) Canal somewhere in the Central Valley near Sacramento and started riding. It was dead flat, a little windy, fairly warm, and I had a water bottle and one or two candy bars in my back pocket. I don't remember if the mileages were marked, or if I had calculated just where I would turn around, but I was out there for several hours, and it was getting pretty boring; no scenery other than the canal and endless fields. The major memory of this first century was that I bonked about ten miles from the finish. I had never felt so bad in my life. I had to get off the bike and lie down, and then I started getting cold, so I forced myself to keep going just to stay warm. I eventually made it back to the car, and stopped somewhere for a much-needed cheeseburger, which was all I could think of as I finished off the death march.
Shortly after, I joined the Berkeley Wheelmen and I rode the Mt. Hamilton and Marin centuries, but I think I had a Peugeot PX-10 by then, and I learned just how much fun centuries could be.
L.

azbackpackr

Training for my first one right now! I live in a valley at 7,000 feet, so any thing I do is probably going to have a lot of UP in it! I guess it is best to do several 60 and 75 milers first, from what I hear. I no longer live where there is a convenient bike club. I hope to do it by June, if the wind will stop blowing 60 mph around here.