Century 'just for fun'

Tiggerrick

IronManPanda and I are hitting the road tomorrow (Monday July 2nd) for an impromptu 100mi ride. My longest all at once ride up to date has been 60miles. I am posting this so that I CAN'T BACK DOWN.

My plan is to finish. I felt strong after my 60miler, specially since I did it alone - no drafting. I am very curious as to how it's going to go tomorrow. You know why I am doing this??? I am doing it - just for fun :happy:

TheBigYin

If you did 60 miles solo, a century "two up" riding "bit and bit" should be no real problem. I've always thought that in a lot of ways, providing you're not riding "to a schedule" mileages over 60 or so are as much in the mind as in the legs. When I used to ride time-trials BITD I use to ride a few of the longer events - I loved the 50 and 100 mile TT's but also perversely enjoyed the 12hour rides I did (my PB was 238miles and small change)

To be honest, I blame my fondness for the high-mileage stuff to a ride I did as a 15 year old kid - my 2 mates from school and I decided we were going to ride to the coast and back in the day... my Dad said we were mad, so that was it, we HAD to do it then.
Round trip was 138 miles. We rode there in just under 3.5 hours, bought a "platform ticket" from the railway station to prove we'd made it, ate our lunch sat on the beach, and were back on the bike in under half a hour. We then discovered that we'd had probably a 15mph tailwind all the way. 5 hours later and I stumbled through the door at home. I'd had to push one of my mates for the last 15 miles as he'd just completely blown. To add insult to injury, he lived 2 miles past my house, so I'd to ride by the end of my street, drop him off, then come back home.

I certainly learned a lot about myself, about my reserves, and about how deep I COULD push myself if needed that day - and I think it stood me well for future rides.

katozdad

That is wicked. Good luck. I want to ride to the coast by the end of the month. Know a really nice fish and chip shop in Cleethorpes. The seventy miles or so will be justification for the increased calorie intake, but I want to see how I perform doing 50miles first. Have mapped out a route around Doncaster which is mainly flat, compared to where I live and am just waiting for a decent weekend to ride it.

MrsSassyPants

Lol! Good for you! That's pretty amazing.

mdstamand

Sounds like a great idea. I recently completed my first century and handled it fine. I had ridden 70 miles before as part of my build up to 100. I figured a century was possible at that point. I handled it fine, in fact my average speed was the same as it is for just about any length ride I do. As TheBigYin says, it's as much about the mind as the legs. Since your going unsupported make sure you don't pass up a chance to fill your bottles. Enjoy your ride and report back.

Tiggerrick

Ok, so I had not ridden in over 2 weeks, and my longest recent ride was 40mi. I knew that it was mind over matter. We started off with HILLS. I was going up the first hill at about 3mph. It was a beast. I pushed myself hard to not stay behind. We got to the top of the first set of hills, and the rewards of the downside. All of a sudden I see some 'stuff' on the floor. I was going well over 20mph when I saw it and was on top in less than a second. It was broken glass. Shards of it all over. I ran RIGHT OVER it. Fortunately, last night I changed to the Armadillos. Nothing happened. No flat. No nothing.

We stopped every 25 miles to recoup. IronManPanda is a machine. He hits >20mph with ease. He pulled for me for a bit, but I would drop every so often. It was much easier drafting (of course) but I kept going. The red lights here and there allowed me to be within a respectable distance for the most part... that is until we hit the 60 to 70 mile mark. I was struggling and my speed dropped to 12mph.

We stopped for food at 75miles, and kept going. I kept up with him at the 20mph level for about 6miles, then... running on empty again. I have to admit, my legs were burning. But when I was just a few miles away, James kept encouraging me. I knew I was going to finish, but the encouragement helped in the speed department.

He left me in his dust again about 3 miles before the end of the trail. I pushed a bit more. I finished in under 8hrs (7:54), but I know that I held some back. I had to drive myself home, and I could not be at 100% empty.

Now relaxing at home. Had a great day, and if it wasn't for James, probably would have squandered it.

Thank you IronManPanda. I had a great time. :-)

TheBigYin

Ok, so I had not ridden in over 2 weeks, and my longest recent ride was 40mi. I knew that it was mind over matter. We started off with HILLS. I was going up the first hill at about 3mph. It was a beast. I pushed myself hard to not stay behind. We got to the top of the first set of hills, and the rewards of the downside. All of a sudden I see some 'stuff' on the floor. I was going well over 20mph when I saw it and was on top in less than a second. It was broken glass. Shards of it all over. I ran RIGHT OVER it. Fortunately, last night I changed to the Armadillos. Nothing happened. No flat. No nothing.

We stopped every 25 miles to recoup. IronManPanda is a machine. He hits >20mph with ease. He pulled for me for a bit, but I would drop every so often. It was much easier drafting (of course) but I kept going. The red lights here and there allowed me to be within a respectable distance for the most part... that is until we hit the 60 to 70 mile mark. I was struggling and my speed dropped to 12mph.

We stopped for food at 75miles, and kept going. I kept up with him at the 20mph level for about 6miles, then... running on empty again. I have to admit, my legs were burning. But when I was just a few miles away, James kept encouraging me. I knew I was going to finish, but the encouragement helped in the speed department.

He left me in his dust again about 3 miles before the end of the trail. I pushed a bit more. I finished in under 8hrs (7:54), but I know that I held some back. I had to drive myself home, and I could not be at 100% empty.

Now relaxing at home. Had a great day, and if it wasn't for James, probably would have squandered it.

Thank you IronManPanda. I had a great time. :-)

Chapeau! sounds like a great day - send your mate over here will you - I could do with someone to sit behind for a good long fast run