# First Century yesterday!



## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

I did my first Century yesterday at a fully supported event with food at the rest stops, breakfast, dinner, beverages, fruit, free mechanical services, adjustments, several fully supported SAG wagons . It was absolutely wonderful. The cue sheet said 105 miles, they had us going around in squares and took us a little longer on the way back. Why they did this and not make it 100 miles, I don't know. Knowing the area, I chopped some mileage off and when I hit the finish/start point, one cyclometer on bike said 100.36, the other 100.16 plus I rode there so I added another 5 miles on, 105 miles.

Up to know I've only ridden this year, regularly, several times a week 40-50 miles with occasional 60 mile rides.

I'm 55 years old, weigh 220 lbs., and started riding last year. Four years ago I weighed 280 lbs. I remember doing my first 15 mile ride last year and I was so happy. I remember doing my first 20 mile ride and I was last in the group. I remember doing my first 30 mile ride and I just barely made it.

Last year I rode in this sponsored club event and did 73 miles and was completely wiped out. This year I was also completely wiped out when I returned, hitting the bed early in pain. When I returned to the start/finish point from the ride, I was the last one still out riding. It was over at 5pm, I left at 8am, averaged 14.3 mph for the 100 miles, and I got back at 6pm and there were just finishing cleaning up. The first 60 miles or so I had averaged 14.9mph. At the last rest stop, about 60 miles away, they made a final ride with the car looking for stragglers or anybody with a problem. They found me about 10 miles from "home". He gave me his cell phone # and said if I have a problem finishing, to call him and he would pick me up. This made me very comfortable. It was a very well supported ride. At about the 70 mile mark, my knees were killing me. Last year my knees were hurting about 45 miles into the ride. Same as last year, I had to stop 5 times or so in the last 25 miles and get off the bike because of my knees. It's a matter of building up the muscle around the knee to support the joint by riding and by weights.

What I've learned is I need to do more 65-80 mile rides before I do another Century ride. I could also probably do more 70-80 mile rides and more a little shorter 60-65 mile rides but faster.

I was offered at several rest stops the opportunity to get a ride back including passing SAG wagons and turned them all down. I couldn't give up. Now I got bragging rights! But my goal of doing another Century next month somewhere else and doing a double Century will have to be on hold for a while. I was hoping to do a Century a month.


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## Sheesh (Oct 16, 2006)

That's pretty amazing! Congratulations!
I just signed up for my first century (taking place in September) and I haven't ridden longer than 40 miles yet. I've got some training to do...


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## bsdc (Feb 15, 2002)

Congradulations! You are an inspiration to us all. Thanks for sharing!


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

Congratulations on completing your first century....:thumbsup: 

I remember my first century two years ago. I hadn't completed a ride of more than 50 miles before attempting it. The first 50 I felt great, the next 25 felt good, the next 15 was hurting, the last 10 I thought I was going to die! :cryin: But I made it. Total time for the first was was just under 6 hours and it was fairly flat.

That one turned me off from centuries for a while.

This year I decided to start riding again since I had gotten really fat over the winter. My goal drop weight (75 pounds was my goal) and to ride at least two centuries.

My first one this year was the first week of June. I had dropped about 35 pounds and had a few longer rides of over 60 miles under my belt. This one was much like my first one. The first half was a breeze, the last half hurt and the last 10 were torture. However upon further inspection (when I got home) my seat had moved all the way back on it's rails and I was really stretched out on the bike which caused a lot of back pain. Total time was just over 6 hours with about 4500 feet of climbing.

My second one was last weekend. By this time I had ridden about 4000 miles this year, had several 70 mile rides under my belt and had group to ride with (it was a club century and very well supported). When all was said and done, this one was EASY....Well when compared to centuries in the past. Total time was one minute under 5 hours and had 7000 feet of climbing. *It was the first century I actually rode and didn't just survive.*

If you start riding longer rides, start riding with a group and have support from friends on the centuries (i.e. people to draft off of, talk to, share stories, etc.) they get much easier.

Again.....Congrats :thumbsup: 

Keep up the riding, get in some longer rides and they will get easier. Your next one won't be so bad.


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## xynotx916 (Jul 29, 2006)

this was the princeton freewheelers century right? I was there yesterday also and attempted to do the century. did you notice that there were two different types of white arrows? anyway me and a friend followed the wrong ones and ended up making a huge circle. When we hit 40 on our odometer we got to the point where we were only 15 miles into the century:mad2: . Anyway we continued on and somehow averted everysingle rest stop and just decided to head to home. got 65 in with 2 bottles of water and a clif bar...we were pretty darn dissapointed this would have been our first century also. by the way congratulations!


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## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

lawrence said:


> I. Now I got bragging rights! But my goal of doing another Century next month somewhere else and doing a double Century will have to be on hold for a while. I was hoping to do a Century a month.


Enjoy the bragging rights and don't worry about the next century yet. Take a little time to recover. There are a lot of centuries in September and October. I find that the fall centuries take a lot less out of me than the summer ones do. If you are anything like me, a ten or fifteen degree difference in temperature will make a world of difference.,

I did my first century in 2001 and have done so many since then that I have lost count. I still have not reached my goal of a double century yet. My one-day records stands around 150 miles. If you really are a masochist, try to do a century on the indoor trainer. http://www.spinervals.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=53_54&products_id=205 

Congratulatoins. Welcome to the Club.


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

*Princeton*



xynotx916 said:


> this was the princeton freewheelers century right? I was there yesterday also and attempted to do the century. did you notice that there were two different types of white arrows? anyway me and a friend followed the wrong ones and ended up making a huge circle. When we hit 40 on our odometer we got to the point where we were only 15 miles into the century:mad2: . Anyway we continued on and somehow averted everysingle rest stop and just decided to head to home. got 65 in with 2 bottles of water and a clif bar...we were pretty darn dissapointed this would have been our first century also. by the way congratulations!


There were quite a few spots where there were markers from prior year centuries. I got off course a couple times. Late in the ride there was a spot where someone painted over the marker. Quite a few of us missed it and added on a bunch of extra miles, which was no fun considering the oppressively hot weather. I ended up with 113 miles on the day


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

I don't know if the club, PFW Princeton FreeWheelers switches colors from year to year for the different rides, I'll check. If they don't, they should. As my member club, I thank you for coming. If you have any comments, especially negative comments, in order to improve the ride, go to our website, PrincetonFreeWheelers.com or send them to [email protected] My attitude is to always make improvements. I only joined last year. This year I noticed on the tables there was a comment card to complete.

The money made from the Event, this year's attendance was very disappointing, less than half what we got last year, is used of course to pay for the dinner caterer, the food at the rest stops, the rental of the college facilities, and the rental of the rest stops. The left over food was brought to the local soup kitchen. Also money from the Event is used to provide a special ride leaders jersey to the ride leaders if you lead a minimum of 10 rides in a year as a token of Thank You.

This years ride I rode with a partner. I had the cue sheet clipped to my stem and I told my riding partner how far until the next turn and what the name of the street was, she looked on the road for the arrows. So with both of us doing two separate jobs, it worked out well. She paid attention to the arrows and I paid attention to the turns and the road names as she also helped with the road names. When there were two arrows, we looked for the "newer" looking one as they are just painted the week before the ride.

Maybe the arrows should have a number on them for the year of the ride.

This year they had large 3'x4' laminated maps at every rest stop with the routes marked on them. I believe there were 4 or 5 rest stops for all the rides. I thank the volunteers who stayed at the rest stops for the whole day. Some of these people I recognize from last years Event ride also.


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

*road markers*



lawrence said:


> I don't know if the club, PFW Princeton FreeWheelers switches colors from year to year for the different rides, I'll check. If they don't, they should. As my member club, I thank you for coming. If you have any comments, especially negative comments, in order to improve the ride, go to our website, PrincetonFreeWheelers.com or send them to [email protected] My attitude is to always make improvements. I only joined last year. This year I noticed on the tables there was a comment card to complete.
> 
> The money made from the Event, this year's attendance was very disappointing, less than half what we got last year, is used of course to pay for the dinner caterer, the food at the rest stops, the rental of the college facilities, and the rental of the rest stops. The left over food was brought to the local soup kitchen. Also money from the Event is used to provide a special ride leaders jersey to the ride leaders if you lead a minimum of 10 rides in a year as a token of Thank You.
> 
> ...


Usually the Princeton Event is very well marked. I rarely ever look at the cue sheet. This year I got off course 3 times.. Part of that was due to overlap with prior years markers and in a few cases the markers were to close to the turn. I did not notice a major drop in attendance. Perhaps the insanely hot and humid weather discouraged day-of-event riders. This is the 14th time I have ridden the Princeton Event century and this was by far the most punishingly hot


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

MarkS said:


> If you really are a masochist, try to do a century on the indoor trainer. http://www.spinervals.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=53_54&products_id=205
> 
> Congratulatoins. Welcome to the Club.


I'd be very, very careful if you're contemplating doing this. It's a proven scientific fact that for each 5 min. after the initial 30 min. of riding time, your IQ drops 10 points.


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## dikai_yang (May 13, 2007)

Hmm... I've never done a English century, only metric. I think I ride at a respectable speed solo (32~33km/hr) or in the group (34~36km/hr) for 100km (60miles)... but it seems to be my limit. Any longer than that my butt and legs won't take it... I guess it's because my mindset is still on losing weight so I don't give my legs too much juice, and juice runs out at about 100km... Maybe I should start eating more... I am always so impressed by people who can do 100 miles, it's just way too far for me... By the way, does eating in-between actually help? I usually just fill myself with orange juice and go the entire length with just water...


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

You need to eat something in between. Your muscles need to be filled with glycogen supplied from carbs before the ride and then during the ride. When you deplete glycogen, you are depleting energy. I still had plenty of energy at the end of the ride to ride home, to keep on riding around my neighborhood, and to do some small hills at a considerable pace towards the end of the ride. It was my knee that was bothering me and that was from just plain bad knees that I had destroyed in a previous career.


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## Black Arrow (Jun 23, 2007)

Congratulations! The first century ride is kind of a baptismal event and really boosts your self esteem. 

Here's my thoughts (that nobody asked for) on it. Everyone is probably different but I don't think you really have to do 50-60-70 mile rides to prepare for a first century. I say this from personal experience. 4 years ago when preparing for my 1st century ride I really had no idea what it would take so I rode mostly 4 & 5 days a week for nearly 4 months and kept increasing the distance from 60-75 miles at first until I was doing mostly 130-150 a week at the end of summer. The longest single ride I did was 44 miles. Nearly all rides toward the end of summer were 30-35 miles.The century ride was in September. I was none too fast and I was really tired at the end but I was never in doubt that I would finish. I was 58 years old at the time. It took me eight hours and some minutes (sag stops included). One mistake I feel I made at my first century was staying too long at sag stops. Makes it harder to get on and get going again. Urinate, get your grub and get going in about 10 minutes if you can. The weather is,of course, a huge factor.


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

I agree it may not be necessary for some people. I rode the 73 mile ride last year and the longest ride I had done up to that point was 40 mile two weeks prior, so that was almost double. The last 35 miles I rode with someone else, 35 yrs old, who was riding not only his first Century but this was the first time he had ever been on a bike other than a kid riding around his neighborhood. He was in great shape and had regularly been taking spinning classes at the gym.

I'm a ride leader for a local bike club and my rides are mostly for new riders and beginner riders at all different fitness levels. From what I've experienced, having riders that can't bike or just barely bike 20 miles and watching them after biking for a while, do their first 30 mile ride, then 35, then 40, then 50, and how much of a push it is for them to get an extra 5 miles out. It takes a while riding at one ride distance before they jump up. It's a rare person that can ride a Century before moving up their mileage. You're dealing with several factors when sitting in the saddle for such a long time, fitness, biking fitness, eating habits, previous and recent fitness level, current fitness level, leg strength, bike fit, body strains and injuries, dealing with the heat, motivation, confidence. I think it's better for a person to feel confident that they can finish the ride rather than think they can finish the ride. Less worries and stress this way. For most people, they need to build up to that distance. It takes a lot out of you. It's time in the saddle.


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## dskriv (Aug 1, 2002)

*Big drop in attendance*



DaveG said:


> Usually the Princeton Event is very well marked. I rarely ever look at the cue sheet. This year I got off course 3 times.. Part of that was due to overlap with prior years markers and in a few cases the markers were to close to the turn. I did not notice a major drop in attendance. Perhaps the insanely hot and humid weather discouraged day-of-event riders. This is the 14th time I have ridden the Princeton Event century and this was by far the most punishingly hot


I did notice a huge drop in attendance. There is a large group of riders that do the century every year. Last year we started with approx. 70 roders. This year we ahd about half that. I'm not sure of the reason, but the heat probably has something to do with it. There was a record number of riders sag'ed in this year, including a friend of mine. Even the strongest riders in our group were showing sypmtoms of heat exhaustion after averaging over 21 mph for 105 miles.


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## serious (May 2, 2006)

The longest road ride I did before my first century (last year) was about 45 miles. I did the century (solo) in 5h 21m. However, I had many 4+ hour mtb rides, which gave me the confidence that I can sit in that saddle for 5-6 hours.

But I have not done a century since then. It seems pointless to me to ride for so many hours because I basically use my road bike to train for mtb racing and shorter rides are more appropriate for me. Most of my rides are 2-3 hours.


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## walleyeangler (Nov 4, 2005)

Good for you, man. Watch out, they are addictive. I started riding in 2005 with a 50 inch waist. Now at 38 inch waist with 3200 in 2005, 7015 in 2006 (with two months off for cancer surgeries) and 5504 so far this year. Finished my 8th century of the year day before yesterday on the Root River Trail in Minnesota. Gorgeous place! 

There is something about the endurance riding that is very very fulfilling for me. At nearly 56, I'll never be a race, but I can be among the last standing. 

Keep at it. Nothing better for the soul.

IceMan


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## AcesFull (Jun 10, 2003)

Congrats!

I really enjoy hearing stories like yours. It reminds me why I still love the bike so much.

I started large also. In 1999, I started riding with a 40 inch waist and 230 lbs. My first ride was 6 miles in gym shorts and I thought I would die. I gradually shed 70 lbs and 8 inches, so I know how hard it is. 

Great job and thanks for sharing.


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## walleyeangler (Nov 4, 2005)

Lawrence,

I got your email but you have your settings set up so no one can email you back. 

I've posted a lot about the cancer/weight loss thing. Be glad to talk to you about it. 

I too find it hard to lose weight and eat enough to cycle long distance. Dikai Yang is experiencing what happens when you don't take in enough of the right food. If you can ride 60 miles, you can ride 100 if you eat and hydrate enough and don't fall asleep. But then you may sacrifice some of the weight loss benefits. They tell me (and I am no expert; I'd love to have a nutritionist answer this one) that the best weight loss is long moderate rids that raise your heart level but that do not get your pulse rate up into the red zone. I've tried to concentrate on that and dropped another belt size this year. Down from 50 to 38 since April 2005 now. But the weight loss is slower now. Just have to get your mind around that and stay positive. 

I also have tried to get better about eating breakfasts recently and I have a new lady in my life for the past 9 months who can cook really well, lost a mega amount of weight and has been feeding me twice or three times a week on meat, veggies and fruits. Imagine, a balanced diet. Go figure. What will these women think of next? In the early days, the most weight came off with high protein, low carb but I had to boost carbs to do the miles. 

I'm talking to a personal coach about what the next step could be in the exercise area. That costs money but would be worth it to be fitter in my mid 50s.

Email if you like, buddy. Sounds like you have a going program. Meanwhile as someone has said on here many times, push down hard and go forward. 

IceMan


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## Len J (Jan 28, 2004)

Congrats. Nice mental effort. We all train physiclly, very few can handle the mental strain of hurting and wrestling with the urge to quit.

I did my first century in 1973. I can't count how many since....but they all have their own memories.....some good, some bad.

As to training.....let me suggest something different than what you do and have heard on this thread. Don't train by milage, train by time. If your longest ride was 60 miles, that probably is 4 hours or so for you. Just extend your longest ride by 20 minutes or so each week as you prepare, until you get to 80% or so of your century time goal.

As you train, remember that the longer you ride, the more important nutrition & hydration become in your success or failure. drink before you are thirsty, eat before you are hungry.

As to your knees. I would guess that you ride at a slower cadence. In your training, try to slowly up your cadence. Get a cadence computer and figure out what your base cadence is. Then as you train, try to up you cadence by 5 RPM a week ( by reducing your gears). Do this for a couple of months and a faster cadence will become second nature. This will do 2 things for you. 1.) It will be much easier on your knees, & 2.) it will give you some ability to recover as you ride. There is an old saying in cycling "Spin faster to rest your legs, spin slower to rest your lungs." having a wide range of cadences that you ride at will give you the ability to take advantage of this.

Keep at it, and measure yourself by your own accomplishments.

Len


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

*Cadence, Thanks*

Len - Thanks for the info about cadence. I fully agree and that's a good training technique. I'm a ride leader for a local bike club and I teach what I call Progressive Building Block rides where I teach people how to ride faster, ride further, ride better, ride smoother. It's a ride, a training ride, and a tips and techniques ride.

My cadence is pretty good, I ride about 83-87 rpms. When I'm trying to make time or riding with a group, and averaging 17-19+mph, my cadence is 85-100. When I'm hitting the hills I'm pushing close to 100, 95-100, seldom going under 90. When I'm leading a ride, I lead 3 rides a week, I slow down my cadence who as a recovery ride from my other rides and I'm between 75-85.except when I'm doing hills. I've always been in between should I use the rides that I lead as my recovery ride and slow my cadence down or should I use a higher cadence during the ride. What I choose to do, I ride to my rides, and ride back again, it's between 5-12 miles away depending upon the location, so I ride fast, I push myself, to the ride and return again. And then I do sprinting during the ride with some of my riders or on my own, I do hills faster than my riders, and sometimes I go back down again on the hills to encourage riders. I try to turn the rides that I lead into a training ride for me also, but at times, I slow down my cadence. If my normal cadence is between 85-100, I don't need to work on that. My cadence will naturally get faster as I ride more, ride faster, ride further, and overall get stronger.


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## Len J (Jan 28, 2004)

*Did........*



lawrence said:


> Len - Thanks for the info about cadence. I fully agree and that's a good training technique. I'm a ride leader for a local bike club and I teach what I call Progressive Building Block rides where I teach people how to ride faster, ride further, ride better, ride smoother. It's a ride, a training ride, and a tips and techniques ride.
> 
> My cadence is pretty good, I ride about 83-87 rpms. When I'm trying to make time or riding with a group, and averaging 17-19+mph, my cadence is 85-100. When I'm hitting the hills I'm pushing close to 100, 95-100, seldom going under 90. When I'm leading a ride, I lead 3 rides a week, I slow down my cadence who as a recovery ride from my other rides and I'm between 75-85.except when I'm doing hills. I've always been in between should I use the rides that I lead as my recovery ride and slow my cadence down or should I use a higher cadence during the ride. What I choose to do, I ride to my rides, and ride back again, it's between 5-12 miles away depending upon the location, so I ride fast, I push myself, to the ride and return again. And then I do sprinting during the ride with some of my riders or on my own, I do hills faster than my riders, and sometimes I go back down again on the hills to encourage riders. I try to turn the rides that I lead into a training ride for me also, but at times, I slow down my cadence. If my normal cadence is between 85-100, I don't need to work on that. My cadence will naturally get faster as I ride more, ride faster, ride further, and overall get stronger.


your cadence slow as you got tired during the century?

Cadence will only increase if you work to increase it, not just if you get stronger.

Why do you ride a slower cadence when you are going slower on your group rides?

The higher the cadence (within reason), the easier it is on your knees.

You have to experiment and find what works to ease the pressure on your knees if that is your current "Limiter".

Len


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

Len - I agree with everything you said. I don't know if my cadence slowed during the Century. I wasn't paying attention much to that but I do know not for the first 65-70 miles or so and then my knees, especially my right knee, started hurting and I did slow down my cadence. When I had a small hill to go up, around 80-85 miles, my cadence was up to almost 100 and I passed my partner. As my previous post stated, this pain started bothering me last year at a much earlier mileage. When I ride with a group that's pushing my speed limit, or ride further mileage than I'm use to, my knees starting hurting me. I find doing weight lifiting and riding further and/or faster, strengthens my leg, and my knees no longer hurt until I reach that "new" hurt point again. I just need to ride further distances to strengthen the leg.

During my group training rides, some of my exercises are riding with one foot clipped in, also cadence drills such as spinning as fast as you can for 30 seconds, off for 30, repeat six times, sometimes I extend this for 60 seconds on, 30 off. I also do cadence checks periodically for my riders to get them custom to what a good cadence is and what their current cadence is.


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