# Finished My First Century



## rsutton1223 (May 19, 2008)

Some time ago (around late December), I came onto these forums telling you guys how I was starting a series on how road biking can improve your mountain biking on my site Mountain Biking by 198. Well...fast forward to now and I completed my first century ride last Saturday.

Here is my ride report! Long post...100 miles is a long way...

Entire article from my site. If you want to see the pictures and stats...you can click here.

This past Saturday, the Coosa Valley Cycling Association had its annual Up the Creek Without a Pedal road ride in Rome, GA. This road ride has several different mileage options (30, 45,62, 100) available to accommodate riders at all skill levels. With a ton (probably 200-300 riders) of riders all eager to conquer the roads surrounding Rome, it was time for me to make a decision. How far was I going to take these legs that have never seen more than 60 miles on the road at one time? 100 miles…like I had any other option? It was time to man up and complete my first century road ride. The encouragement of friends helped some too…

With multiple sag stops and a very organized group ride, I concluded that this was probably the best chance to really stretch the road legs to see what happens. I had planned on Tweeting my way through the century, but cell phone coverage was non-existent. Those of you that waited on my Tweets got all of the updates at once!

As with any suffer fest, they all have to start at mile 0. With the Blue Competition Cycles Nx7 all cleaned up, ready to go and Garmin Edge 705 mounted, I was ready for the pain. The plan was to start with the A group and hold on for as long as I could taking advantage of that huge, fast draft. The start was a little awkward as many riders were socializing and semi-blocking. Eventually, I made it up to the front and with the rest of my riding friends ready to blast through the streets of Rome.

*First Leg of the Century*

And blast through Rome we did…at an average of 25 mph. I love fast group rides. There I was, with some of the fastest riders in the group, tire to tire, fulling enjoying the A group ride experience. I knew that it was going to be short lived as I could not keep a 25 mph average pace throughout the entire ride, but I wanted to take advantage of this long draft as long as I possibly could. I ended up dropping off the back about mile 45 or so. I probably could have stuck with them for another 10 to 20 miles, but I had another 60 miles to complete. I didn’t want to be that guy laying on the side of the road.

During this first stretch of the century, I ran into a situation that I have never really experienced before. This was the first time I have ever been scared on the bike. I find this funny because I ride places that a lot of people say they would never touch for fun on large travel bikes, and now…on a roadie ride…I felt scared. What was getting my blood boiling? There was one rider in the pack who could not take one pedal stroke without his bike swaying back and forth. To make matters worse, he is not watching where he is going and almost runs a friend of mine off the road…twice! I know I still have a lot of roadie etiquette to learn, but there is one thing I know for certain…hold your line while keeping your bike straight and watch where you are going.

*Second Leg of the Century*

So…as I said before, about mile 45 or so…I started falling off the back to ride my own pace. During this period of time, I was really just making sure I had the legs to make it to the end. I rode with several different groups grabbing a draft when I could, but for the most part…I was enjoying the north Georgia country side and riding a lot by myself. As you can see by the graphs, my average went down pretty significantly without the aid of a draft. Adding to that…there was a wicked headwind in all directions throughout the rest of this ride.

I stopped at a couple of the sag stops along the way to refuel and refill my bottles. The support on this ride was incredible and that really gave me the juice to make it to the end.

*Third Leg of the Century*

To my surprise, I came up over a hill at about mile 70 (I think) to find a friend of mine Paula riding the opposite direction! Apparently, she didn’t want me riding my first century ride alone, so for the last leg of this long ride…we took turns drafting back and forth and talking our way through the final miles of the 100. The head wind during this stage was insane. It really didn’t matter which way you turned. It felt like I was riding with the front brake on the entire time as we pushed forward to the end. We hooked on to groups here and there but really couldn’t find one that fit our pace, so we continued on. We refueled a little bit at the last sag stop and headed for the last 15 miles of the ride. At the end of the ride, we were greeted by our not so human friends and I had completed my first century. Thanks Paula for pushing me along!

*Final Thoughts*

My true love is dirt and that will never change, but finishing a ride like this does give you a huge feeling of accomplishment. I came into this century ride knowing that I wasn’t going to be the fastest or the slowest. I just wanted to have fun and finish any way I needed to. Surprisingly, I felt incredible at the end of the ride. My legs had no more power left, but other than that…things were great. Will there be more century rides in my future? Probably…and maybe with a little bit of training, I can hold onto that A group for a little bit longer next time. Until then, I am going to find some sweet single track to go rip to pieces.

Oh yeah…my Blue Nx7 performed flawlessly!


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## merckx_rider (Aug 20, 2008)

Yeah!! now do a double!!


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## rsutton1223 (May 19, 2008)

merckx_rider said:


> Yeah!! now do a double!!


 

That is the response I seem to hear over and over again! What's another 25 miles anyway...:thumbsup:


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Great job. Time to come out west and do the Death Ride now.


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## SystemShock (Jun 14, 2008)

rsutton said:


> Finished My First Century


I love posts/reports like this. Reminds you what it's all about. Congrats, Mr. Sutton.








.


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## SystemShock (Jun 14, 2008)

rsutton1223 said:


> That is the response I seem to hear over and over again! What's another 25 miles anyway...


What if he wasn't talking double metric? :eek6: 
.


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## rsutton1223 (May 19, 2008)

SystemShock said:


> I love posts/reports like this. Reminds you what it's all about. Congrats, Mr. Sutton.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks System...

Being a seasoned mtb'er...it is humbling to join into a group that you don't know everyone there and you aren't used to running at the front of the a group. Being a noob every now and then can be a great thing...


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## spin150 (May 24, 2005)

Congratulations. You are ready for the 6 Gap century now. That is also "mountain" biking.


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## Andy69 (Jun 14, 2008)

great job! I just did my first 75 about 5 weeks ago. I've been looking forward to the next supported ride so I can do my first century, but I think my Tuesday evening riding buddies and I are going to attempt one on our own before that. 

Now you start looking for more challenging century rides, like this one:

www.horriblyhilly.com


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## rsutton1223 (May 19, 2008)

spin150 said:


> Congratulations. You are ready for the 6 Gap century now. That is also "mountain" biking.


wow...a 6 gap century just sounds painful... :thumbsup:


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## tystevens (Jul 10, 2008)

Congrats. I set out to do my first century two Saturdays ago, but it poured over half an inch of rain on us in 49 degrees w/ probably a 20 mph headwind out of the south. I couldn't decide what was worse, being in front and dealing with the headwind, or the shower of dirty road water coming off my buddy's rear wheel. I was ill-equipped for that much rain, and was soaked by the first stop. So we (and many others, it seemed) took the 55 mile route. Funny, as we rode the 5 mile north/south part and stopped for a snack, the wind managed to switch 180 degrees to meet us as we turned north for 20 miles to finish the loop! The conditions were so poor that we ended up averaging a blistering 14 mph for the ride, and we were among the first 5 or 6 to finish the short route. But it was still fun. I'm looking forward to the next planned century around here so I can give it another go.


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## merckx_rider (Aug 20, 2008)

Set you straight: "A Double" is 200 miles.
My first century was on a mtb with 2in wide city slickers through upstate New York, from Albany to Amsterdam and back. The only support I had was a store in amsterdam that I bought a big A$$3d hogie and ate it in the parking lot with a 16oz bottle of Coke. Then I rode home.... I didn't get any pat on the back or braggin rights on the internet matter of fact my friends thought I was crazy....


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## rsutton1223 (May 19, 2008)

merckx_rider said:


> Set you straight: "A Double" is 200 miles.
> My first century was on a mtb with 2in wide city slickers through upstate New York, from Albany to Amsterdam and back. The only support I had was a store in amsterdam that I bought a big A$$3d hogie and ate it in the parking lot with a 16oz bottle of Coke. Then I rode home.... I didn't get any pat on the back or braggin rights on the internet matter of fact my friends thought I was crazy....


Thanks for the heads up...

Most places I had seen it listed as a century or double (metric).


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## nOOky (Mar 20, 2009)

Congrats on your first century! My first century was on a mt bike, 102 miles in 5 hours. Even had IRC Mythos tires on! 
I wouldn't try for a double, just try and do 100 miles faster


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## livin4lax09 (Mar 15, 2008)

fun stuff, I just did one yesterday! I frequently start to feel it around mile 80, awesome that you had your friend there to help you out with those last miles which are often the most painful! Well done!


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## ROAD&DIRT (Mar 27, 2009)

Congrats on finishing the "Century"... I'm working on riding my first CENTURY this September. Just finshed a 42 mile group ride this month and now getting ready for my first 62 mile group next month. I just hope by the time I'm riding my Century I have the stamina to finsh like you...


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## fireplug (Nov 19, 2008)

congrats...can't wait until I can build my legs up to finish one my self


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## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

Congrats! That is quite the achievement!


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## rsutton1223 (May 19, 2008)

I was surprised that it really wasn't that difficult. It wasn't easy but if you pace yourself correctly...its doable. Just remember to ride your own ride and not anyone else's...and try to hold onto the draft as long as you possibly can.


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## Spanky_88007 (Aug 28, 2008)

*Woohoo!*

My first century is in two days.


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## rook (Apr 5, 2009)

Congrats! That first century is always a good feeling for all of us.


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## Crank it up (Apr 28, 2009)

Way to go. I am planning my first century this year and am anticipating it enormously.


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## rook (Apr 5, 2009)

by the way. Welcome to the club!


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## rsutton1223 (May 19, 2008)

Crank it up said:


> Way to go. I am planning my first century this year and am anticipating it enormously.


Thanks! Very little planning went into mine. I had a friend ask...want to ride 100 miles this weekend? and I said...Ok...why not?

Good luck...its a great feeling when you finish. :thumbsup:


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## jvanv8 (Nov 14, 2006)

Sweet! But when you first said 'Rome' I was thinking you were in Italy... but GA is cool too  I've ridden there many times and 5000 feet of climbing over 100 miles is not too bad but it could be a whole lot worse (better??). I just remember riding gap after gap after gap - Hog Pen, Wolf Pen, Neils? Niles?... other names I forget,... then Brasstown... there were 7 in all... it was something like 127 miles - and I was a MTB'er like you at the time. I never did a century ride outside of Georgia until I recently in Europe. 18 centuries since late-March so far. But Georgia riding is beautiful and tough! Plus you can always get a MoonPie when you start feeling fatigued! 

Nice job mixing it up with the roadies!


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