The First Century
Hit a major milestone this past week with a 100 mile ride that took just about 7 hours. Though I felt confident about hitting the goal this season, the timing and decision to do it the day of, were unplanned and somewhat spontaneous.
Things I had prepared for and felt good about:
- Distance - 2x 60+ mile rides in the previous week gave me confidence that I could handle the time in the saddle
- Fueling - learned how much and often I needed to be taking in carbs to keep my energy up
- Technique - practiced keeping my RPMs high (80-90) and heart rate low (135-145) to be most efficient, along with hand and body positioning
Things that were untested and potential risks:
- Kit - I had only tested my new bibs on a 30 mile ride, and I discovered early in the 100 mile ride that the right leg was a bit constricting on my inner thigh—fortunately the chamois was better than my other bibs, which was most important
- Food - Tried making my own carb bar with oats, peanut butter, and coconut oil that could not hold its integrity and ended up congealing into a warm, barely edible slop in a ziplock on my back—it worked as energy but was hard to get down and would not recommend
- Route - Tried a new route with a lot of road travel as opposed to the car-free trails I'm used to, but ended up just fine following my trusty Wahoo Ace
- Weather - the humidity and temp were not ideal, but this actually motivated me to shoot for 100 after realizing around mile 60 that it would probably be another few months (end of season) before I could try again due to the heat
Proving to myself that I can do the distance and the time to complete a Century was huge. I'm looking forward to improving in other areas now, from speed, to climbing, and navigating safely on roads. Grateful for the time and health to pursue this.