jppe

I did an organized 100 miler today that I just found about earlier this week. The 104 mile ride started at 8 am and the 60 miler started at 10 am. I was wanting to test my new bike with some longer saddle time so I opted for the 100 miler. Apparently not a lot of others had heard about the ride either. Only 7 of us started the 100 miler and we were able to line up side by side at the start line. It is very hard to hide in a group of 7!!

Looks can be deceiving. One of the 7 was riding what looked like a folder with small wheels. Another looked to be riding something like a cruiser with fenders. At the start line I was thinking these guys won't be much help and will probably get dropped leaving the parking lot. After struggling to stay on their wheels the 40 mile rest stop was a welcome sight for me. The guy with the folder took off his vest and he was wearing a Paris Brest Paris jersey.....And he had ridden a 1000k last weekend!! The fella on the "cruiser" also did a lot of brevets and while he looked like a linebacker he rode like Ullrich......So those 6 guys drug my overweight butt all over the place.

I chuckled when one of the guys said he bet he was the oldest in the group. While it turned out I was about 3 years older I'll admit that he did look like he had lived hard and fast as he looked a good bit older than me---at least in my eyes!!

Gorgeous roads, great weather and very nice route with a modest amount of climbing. I think it was my first centry since July and my legs were screaming at me around 85 miles.

B. Carfree

We put on a century with a bit under 9000 feet of climbing last month. We didn't do much advertising as it was a trial run for creating some new annual rides around here. We had six sign up, five show up and three finish, two of whom were my wife and I. We missed the "mass" start of the other three because we had to ride out early to mark the course. We waited at the rest stop, which had ice cream, so we could ride in with the two who made it that far.

Maybe in a few years both our rides will have to limit registrations and we can joke about the early crowds we rode with.

wobblyoldgeezer

Good for you. Was that on the cervelo you posted about?

I'm interested in the fast tough guy on the folder. There's a folder called an Airnimal which is described and reviewed as quite comparable to a good road bike, and I don't lose much time on my Xootr (20 inch wheels) against my best bike (probably 'cos I tend to ride well inside my comfort zone on both!)

MikeWMass

There is a century around here with 8,000+ feet of climbing in the Berkshires, and there used to be a guy who routinely rode it on a Bike Friday. It is also a brevet, so there are a lot of people with fenders, bags, lights and dyno hubs who don't seem to notice the climbs, they just keep chugging along!

qcpmsame 

Good job, JPPE, sounds like a pretty good ride with the fast guys. Did the RD work okay for the ride?

Bill

jppe

That was the ride where the RD messed up after hitting the bridge joint.......