# Another first successful century...



## cwg_at_opc (Oct 20, 2005)

like a number of previous threads, i have finally completed my first full century
after my massive fail at Ojai in June. This time i finished with gas
in the tank, although i am feeling the effects today(hams, hip flexors, feet, etc.)

we finished in seven hours including stops; average speed for me(the
slowest of the group) 14.1mph. given my slowish average speed and the
majority of the climbing in the first half, i was careful about pacing, so was
not inclined to go and chase after my faster friends. i was generally only
about five to ten minutes behind anyway. weather was great, with no
mechanicals even though i found the only three goat head thorns on the whole trip.

this time i also had my nutrition better sorted, so i didn't bonk. and thanks
to a small Red Bull at the halfway point, managed to gather myself up
to complete the last 50. it really is remarkable how a bunch of sugar and caffeine
can get your attention.

Grimes Canyon is one of the major features on this route, being 10 miles of
consistent 2-3% grade; what looks like a downhill isn't, so you just have to
keep pedaling. that was the hardest part for me, and also the hottest.
oh, and sunscreen doesn't last for seven hours ;-)

the train ride back was nice, although there was a disturbing lack of leg-room.

here's the route(roughly):

Chatsworth Amtrak station
Santa Susana pass(old road)
straight through Simi Valley
up the 23 through Moorpark to Fillmore
rte 126 to Santa Paula
rte 150 to Ojai
Ventura River Bike Path down to Ventura
101/bike path(includes Rincon, 101) through Carpinteria
finish in Santa Barbara
return by Amtrak Pacific Surfliner

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/-chatsworth/242124968549752205

p.s. why does mapmyride fail to show the last 60 miles of this route?


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## rydog9991 (Jul 15, 2008)

Well done sir


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## Pbnj (Jul 13, 2009)

Congrats on the finish of your Century. Sounds like you planned it well.


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Nice goin'!


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## RoadBikeVirgin (Nov 21, 2008)

Hell yes! And nice computer by the way 

My first century was in Oregon in May. The route was supposedly 102 miles. When I got to the finish line my computer read 99.4 something - I avoided the finish line and rode around the block just to push through that mental marker of 100 miles 

I'm a fairly slow rider myself. You should be very proud of yourself! The way I see it, as long as your bike fits you, you just have to ride your own pace, make sure you have more than enough food and more than enough water, and you can do it 

Well done sir!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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## cwg_at_opc (Oct 20, 2005)

thanks all for your kind words - i am very happy to have accomplished this!

one of our group had a slightly less-well calibrated computer and we convinced
him to ride around the parking lot at the train station until the odo ticked over to
three digits. not sure how happy he was to have to do that.

y'all may find it odd, but i took my tri bike for this trip; i find it more comfortable
than my old roadie(1990 Kestrel 200ems) and i can still climb decently enough
on it(i'd better, i've got a compact setup and i put on the 12-27 cluster for this trip.)

i think if this was flat century, i might have been able to sustain something like 17-18
mph average; i have a great deal of satisfaction from knowing i did just under 2000' of
climbing over the first half.


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

Congratulations. It's a mental hill every bicyclist must climb at least once, though it seems many of the RBR posters do it weekly. But when do we learn the secret handshake?


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## Ibashii (Oct 23, 2002)

Nice job! Now I just want to know how you found a century that was actually that close to 100 miles. Every measured ride or race of significant distance I've ever done has come in either way under or way over the posted distance: the last one was the RAGBRAI century day, which was actually about 106 miles. 106 miles is not a century. It is more than a century. Seriously. Good thing there was all the beer and pork chops to calm me down, but still. Everyone else had about the same mileage, so I can't blame the computer.


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## RoadBikeVirgin (Nov 21, 2008)

Ibashii said:


> Nice job! Now I just want to know how you found a century that was actually that close to 100 miles. Every measured ride or race of significant distance I've ever done has come in either way under or way over the posted distance: the last one was the RAGBRAI century day, which was actually about 106 miles. 106 miles is not a century. It is more than a century. Seriously. Good thing there was all the beer and pork chops to calm me down, but still. Everyone else had about the same mileage, so I can't blame the computer.


Mine was Reach the Beach, from Portland to Pacific City. They claimed 102, but my friend got just over 100, and mine said just below.


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## Touch0Gray (May 29, 2003)

I got another in on Aug. 1st, 6 hrs. 38 minutes ride time.....driving rain for an hour and a 15+ mph headwind nearly the whole way......There is something about watching the odometer flip to 3 digits. The next day I opted for the 75 mile loop. (more to do with bike issues than engine issues)


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## gegarrenton (Jul 10, 2009)

Nice work cwg, finished in my old stomping grounds in SB! Miss it out there. I always wanted to charge down the hill on the 101 going into Camarillo, but with out blocking car traffic, something tells me that would not be smart!

Good Job.


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## cwg_at_opc (Oct 20, 2005)

Ibashii said:


> Nice job! Now I just want to know how you found a century that was actually that close to 100 miles. Every measured ride or race of significant distance I've ever done has come in either way under or way over the posted distance: the last one was the RAGBRAI century day, which was actually about 106 miles. 106 miles is not a century. It is more than a century. Seriously. Good thing there was all the beer and pork chops to calm me down, but still. Everyone else had about the same mileage, so I can't blame the computer.


one of our group obsessively massaged the route in mapmyride until he
was satisfied that it was close to 100. i'm not that patient and would have
been satisfied with almost anything over 100 but less than 110.

since this was not an 'organized' ride like say, the Ojai Valley Century, it is
even more satisfying as we had to support ourselves(no sag wagon, no water
stops, etc.) thankfully, we're not going across the desert or anything crazy like
that, so there were plenty of gas stations, 7-11s, etc for us to stop and rest/refuel.
we also planned it so we had bail-out point along the way - it would have been easy
to break off the route and hit an Amtrak at three places after the first 50 miles.


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## grrlyrida (Aug 3, 2006)

congratulations chris,

All those GP hill repeats paid off. It also helps to have better weather. I'm glad you finished off strong and reach this milestone. See you around Griffith.


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## Ibashii (Oct 23, 2002)

cwg_at_opc said:


> one of our group obsessively massaged the route in mapmyride until he
> was satisfied that it was close to 100. i'm not that patient and would have
> been satisfied with almost anything over 100 but less than 110.
> 
> ...


Yeah, that's always a good idea. One of my favorite 100-mile-ish rides here is a loop around the city I live in: the farthest point is only about 25 miles from my house, so if I don't feel like doing the whole loop I can always cut it short. There's nothing worse than getting to the halfway point of an out-and-back and realizing you don't have enough mojo to get back...


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