dude, it is flat and almost without stop signs/red lights. Once you get up to speed, all you are doing is spinning. Montauk last year was my first century. I finished the 100 and would have ridden to the point if my wife and kids hadn't been there to greet me and take me out to dinner. (One of my proud moments: I finished the century, went for dinner and substituted salad for the fries.)

Or just wait for the Hambone Hundred...

yeah, it's probably one of the easiest centuries you can find. last year especially so since we had a good tailwind the entire way. boy, was that nice!

I'm trying to get the base built by the time the weather gets good, so I can just work back up to fighting trim between March and April-ish. It's deceptive because all the riding around where I live involves constant stop-and-go from light to light. I imagine it would be a lot easier to cover ground going non-stop along decent roads.

I am, of course, game for the Hambone Hundred (I believe, depending on when exactly it happens.)

My girlfriend has said she would be happier if I did longer rides as part of an organized event, so I think Montauk would be a good way to get in the century, not have to bring a lock and endless food/gel/whatever.

Also, I would think that once you work in going to the point and back, you almost have a double metric, right?

if memory serves me, adding the round trip to the point is another 30 miles or so. I don't meant o minimize your concern about training, I'm just saying that the Montauk Cent was a real user friendly day.

I thought the NYC Century was comparatively brutal b/c of all the stop and go! There were points on that ride in Queens, where I never got over ten mph but I was working like a fiend.

The beauty of the Hambone Hundred is once I lay out the route, you can do it whenever you want. I'm going to install chains at each store where the "rest stop" is so all you need ot do is bring a Master lock. The map/turnsheet will be on-line, etc. (Of course I'll post when the inaugural ride will be!)

Glen already does the Northfork Century in late August. Unlike Montauk, it has lots of little hills but, fortunately, not too many traffic lights.

I'd imagine it's hard to schedule another ride in this area because there's already so much going on in the Fall. We'll just have to wait and see what Glen comes up with.

we can also organize our own rides too. last year slvoid, myself, and a few non-defunct members rode the NYC century route at some point in the summer. it was fun without all the fuss of a large organized ride.

we've talked about riding up to bear mountain and back, which i believe should be able a century in length. would there be any interest from you guys for a ride like that? sometime in the mid summer?

I could be cajoled into getting dropped the hell off the back of a Bear Mountain ride :D

well, it's far to early to try to plan anything, but i say we keep this in the back of our minds for the summer. i've always wanted to head up there, but it's pretty far for a solo effort.

If I can get the OK form the boss lady, I'd love to play Red Lantern on your little trip. (God knows it is 80/20 [edit 20/80] I'd make it up to the top but damn I am one stubborn SOB so...)

Tim, I posted about this once or twice before: I have some buddies and we were talking about doing ten centuries this summer. But the part of me which isn't stubborn is cheap and I thought, "Ten centuries adds up in entry fees really quickly." Why not do a few organized centuries, NYC to support TA and Montauk to support 5BBC, etc. and then we can each organize our own. Initially the idea was we would just map out for the four or five of us (none of them are BF.net'ers) But as I thought about it I thought about the folks here and decided I would go one step further.

So, I am organizing the Hambone Hundred which will be maped/measured from the Port Jefferson (Long Island) train station and will be mapped so that there are good rest stops at the 25/50/75 mile marks. I plan on bolting a chain to a lightpost near each rest area so that anyone can do the route and stop and all you need to carry is a little lock to make your bike semi-secure.) I'll post map and turn sheet and as I and other riders do it I'll clean up/notate the turnsheet. I'll post everything before the inaugural ride.

(Oh and the Hambone Hundred is guaranteed to pass Breyermere Farm. The home of the best pies in the world.)

And just because I like the idea, I'm trying to have at least part of it on Whiskey Road.

Yes, but there's no freakin' way I could keep up with youse guys. ;)

Plus I'd probably tote some camping gear up there, so I'd be even slower than usual.

I can't speak to the other guys but my avg speed is like 14-15mph for my ride to work, that is from Brooklyn to Harlem (14 miles in about 50 minutes). The ride over the bridge my rate drops to about 10mph lately (I'm a big guy so hills are hard for me.)

I know slvoid and some of the other guys are much quicker than that but I wouldn't rule something like this out for fear of being too slow. My last place finish qualifies me for exactly the same share of the purse.

(And one of the nice things about being slower is there is less of an impact from drag so if you carry a pack with gear, it won't have as big an effect on your pace...)

Slow guy here as well :)

slvoid and jimbo are really fast if they want to be. but they're nice enough to wait if they get too far ahead. usually we spread apart and regroup a few times on a ride. it's a good system as we all get in a good ride and nobody gets dropped. we all help each other with flats\mechanicals, etc. definitely don't worry about being too slow.

To those that mention a century ride later in the season, remember the Tour of the Hamptons put on by Massapequa Park Bicycle Club. This is in mid August, Flat, I think only $35.00 and it loops so you do not need the LIRR to get back. It begins & ends in the Hamptons and goes through some of the same roads as the Montauk Ride. Here is the description from MPBC site:

MPBC's annual showcase event comes on a Sunday in August when the club
hosts its Tour of the Hamptons on Long Island's picturesque south fork.
Not only is it one of the prettiest tours in the northeast but it's also one of
the most biker-friendly (i.e. flat). Well over a thousand bicyclists come from
all over the metropolitan New York–Long Island area to ride one of the Tour's
four scenic routes (25, 50, 65 and 100 miles) and enjoy the snacks and drinks
served at the MPBC rest stops located along the well-marked routes.

~ JoAnn

To point and back would be about 320 miles or 500km. That's around 5 metric's. I'm up for it if I can assemble a team willing to do it with me, it would be nice to load up with lights and do it the same night. Makes for some nice night riding, there are very few drunks out on a sunday night and the ones that are are really really drunk.

Yes, we'll even inflate your tire to 180psi if need be.

I'm up for the one-way 145, but not the 320. I'd probably disolve into a pile of mush around mile 200... :D

slvoid:

Whoah... I didn't mean all the way from new york out there and returning, I just meant doing the full century and then adding in a little extra distance to get from the town in Montauk to the lighthouse at the end of the point and back to town. I'm definitely not going to be in shape for three hundred miles come May.

New date for the other century, this one's on a saturday, june 2nd, even better cause I don't have work the next day.

Sweet - I could do the 100 in May and then add the 45 for the one in June. *Looks down at legs and fatter ass* Maybe.

Uh... Check-in at Penn Station for the 100 miler is at 3:45 am to 4:30 am? Is that standard? Oy....

Yeah, I'm doing the 145 partly because I want to start 'later'.

if you get yourself there, the start at Babylon is a much more reasonable time.

Okay, this thing is pretty soon, who's in, who has bailed, and who is riding with who? I'm putting in for a day off, I'm definitely doing this, and most likely the 145.

Come on, you know me, would I ever bail?

Unless it rains, I have better things to do (like my gf) than ride 145 miles in the rain.

And with whom are you riding with this time around?

The last smoking alcoholic I rode with moved halfway around the world.
Let's head out of brooklyn at 4:30. Hopefully we can make it there in 7 hrs. Anyone else up?

I figure I wanna blaze through this one and the next one that glen's running is on saturday so I don't have to rush to make lunch and the 3pm train. That one I wanna roam around the lighthouse for an afternoon and take the 7pm train home.

My lbs mechanic dared me to do the 145, so I'm going for it. I told him if I had a mechanical, he'd have to drive out to L.I. & fix it. :D

Slvoid/Jimbo: Let's meet up at the start if you like. I don't expect to keep up a 20mph pace though. More like 17mph, with a tailwind.

Is this the May 20th or June 3rd?

I'm hoping and assuming we're planning for the more imminent may 20th date. Anyways, sounds good slvoid, and Lucky, 4 30am, 145 miles, 7 hours. Oh boy, putting those numbers together does make this ride seem frightening!

By the way, would you remember if we ever rode together Lucky? I don't recall meeting/ riding with you. Also what kind of wheels do you have?