My First Century Ride

Well, my first century ride is this weekend, the MS City to Shore from
Cherry Hill to Ocean City, NJ. I remember when I could barely walk a
city block and was winded after seven minutes on a recumbent exercise
bike. Now, a year and a half later, I've ridden 2200 miles since March
and I'm going to ride a hundred miles tomorrow. What a long trip it's
been.

Thanks to my ASD sponsors Beverly, Matty, and Rachel.

Neil
385/242/225

You are going to do well, keep your focus. I remember your early posts about
walking - now you're biking!


Matty V.
www.iweighedmorethanjared.com
"Dead Man Walking: A Weight Loss Journey" e-Book is now available!

In article .com,
The Historian wrote:

Well, my first century ride is this weekend, the MS City to Shore from
Cherry Hill to Ocean City, NJ. I remember when I could barely walk a
city block and was winded after seven minutes on a recumbent exercise
bike. Now, a year and a half later, I've ridden 2200 miles since March
and I'm going to ride a hundred miles tomorrow. What a long trip it's
been.

Thanks to my ASD sponsors Beverly, Matty, and Rachel.

Neil
385/242/225

Fantastic, Neil!!!!

--
Check it out!
http://www.tcfitnesschallenge.com/index.html

The Historian wrote:

Well, my first century ride is this weekend, the MS City to Shore from
Cherry Hill to Ocean City, NJ. I remember when I could barely walk a
city block and was winded after seven minutes on a recumbent exercise
bike. Now, a year and a half later, I've ridden 2200 miles since March
and I'm going to ride a hundred miles tomorrow. What a long trip it's
been.

Thanks to my ASD sponsors Beverly, Matty, and Rachel.

Woohoo! Go Neil. I'm sure you'll have a great ride.

On Sep 28, 3:06 pm, "Hud" wrote:
"The Historian" wrote in message

oups.com...

Well, my first century ride is this weekend, the MS City to Shore from
Cherry Hill to Ocean City, NJ. I remember when I could barely walk a
city block and was winded after seven minutes on a recumbent exercise
bike. Now, a year and a half later, I've ridden 2200 miles since March
and I'm going to ride a hundred miles tomorrow. What a long trip it's
been.

Thanks to my ASD sponsors Beverly, Matty, and Rachel.

Neil
385/242/225

Wow, Neil. Good Luck! I recently learned what a century ride is (from the
book "Heft On Wheels" by Mike Magnuson). I know I'm not ready for a ride
like that. No way. The furthest I've ridden so far is only 25 miles. You
are about to undertake a great adventure. Please share your experience when
you get back. I'll be with you in spirit!

It took me only seven months to go from 20 miles to 82. Let's see if I
can add 20 or so miles to that. You can too, if you want to.

Here's the report on the 82 mile ride from last week:

Saturday was my last long training day before the MS ride on the 29th.
On the two previous weekends, I felt disappointed to not ride my
planned 100 miles, although logging rides of 68 and 76 miles
respectively is still a decent accomplishment. This time I decided to
not aim for an arbitrary number of miles, but just to ride longer and
better than I had ridden before. With that thought in mind, I headed
for the Audubon trailhead on the Schuylkill River Trail.

I arrived later than I had at first planned. I was going to meet JT, a
fellow MS 'rookie rider' and BCP member who I had met on a hill climb
in the Brandywine Dog Daze ride in August. We first planned on meeting
at 8:30 to ride to the Art Museum and back, but he had a conflict that
was going to delay his arrival until noon. Wanting to log as many
miles as possible, I arrived about quarter to nine and was rolling
within a few minutes, riding up and down the SRT and back to kill
time.

JT was lucky he was delayed. The morning was overcast and muggy, with
occasional rain showers and severe ponding on the trail. Soon both the
bike and I were dirty, and my white-background Team Copaxone jersey
had the tell-tail "skunk stripe" from trail mud. Below Norristown
there was so much water on the trail that after I rode through a
deceptively small-looking pool I needed to pull over and wring out the
insoles of my shoes.

I was back to meet JT at 12:20. At this moment the grayness lifted and
the sun came out. He unloaded his shiny new white Fuji road bike as I
tried to wipe mud off my grimy Trek. "Great," I said. "You look like
an ad in Bicycling magazine, and I look like a report in Dirt Rag."

And down the trail we went. JT had purchased a new bike, and had lost
ten pounds since the Brandywine ride in August. He looked very
'serious cyclist' on the bike, but once I got over the "I'm not
worthy" inferiority complex that takes charge of me when riding with a
'better', we seemed to hit it off. We alternated pulling and drafting
down the trail, stopping only twice for water. It took only a little
over two hours on the clock to reach the cafe at Lloyd Hall. After
lunch, we turned back for what promised to be an uneventful return
trip.

That promise was soon broken about a mile past the Art Museum.
"Sprong!" I heard come from my rear wheel. I stopped to discover a
broken spoke. JT turned around and helped me pull it out. The wheel
had become out of true, and we had to adjust the rear brake to prevent
it from rubbing. Fortunately, the bike shop Human Zoom was along the
return trip, and JT guided me there. 20 minutes and 25 dollars had me
on the road again.

Unfortunately, while the problem was quickly addressed, I now have
consider why the spoke broke. I have 400 miles on the bike. And more
importantly, about 240-250 pounds of rider on the rear wheel. I know
riders over 300 pounds often get reinforced wheels with additional
spokes. Am I too heavy for the bike? Have I been riding it too hard?
Or is it merely a quality control issue with the stock Bontrager
wheels? JT tried to push such thoughts from my mind as we rode towards
Audubon.

Once back, JT loaded up his bike and headed home, while I headed back
down the trail. I had logged 77 miles and change, and I wanted to
break 80. I had reached 82 when darkness and insects forced me back to
my car. So I reached my goal for the day, set a new personal record,
and rode with minimal physical problems. Yes, I had some back pain,
but little more than I normally deal with daily. I was tired, but no
more than a person should be after riding 82 miles. I managed pacing,
hydration, and fueling better than I had before. It wasn't a century,
but I was pleased about it. And the legs could have done more had I
asked them. Riding a hundred miles is as much about believing you can
ride it as training. And I believed.

I stopped at a WaWa on the way home. An older, sedentary looking
couple buying potato chips stared at me as if I was from another
planet. A six foot tall, 240 pound fellow in a smelly, grimy bike
jersey and shorts probably would stand out anywhere aside from a bike
ride. But what did I care? For the first time since I began riding in
December 2006, I KNEW I could ride a hundred miles. And now that I
know it, I'm going to do it next weekend.

The Historian wrote:

Unfortunately, while the problem was quickly addressed, I now have
consider why the spoke broke. I have 400 miles on the bike. And more
importantly, about 240-250 pounds of rider on the rear wheel. I know
riders over 300 pounds often get reinforced wheels with additional
spokes. Am I too heavy for the bike? Have I been riding it too hard?
Or is it merely a quality control issue with the stock Bontrager
wheels?

Spokes break. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Since you
are clearly now a bikie, I think you should look into having a pair of
wheels handbuilt - something that suits your bike and your riding style.
It would be a good investment. If you need recommendations, I'd be
happy to ask my ex-husband (he's an expert wheel builder).

Good for you, Neil - you've come such a long way. I hope you have a
great ride.

janice


On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 02:00:02 -0700, The Historian
wrote:

Well, my first century ride is this weekend, the MS City to Shore from
Cherry Hill to Ocean City, NJ. I remember when I could barely walk a
city block and was winded after seven minutes on a recumbent exercise
bike. Now, a year and a half later, I've ridden 2200 miles since March
and I'm going to ride a hundred miles tomorrow. What a long trip it's
been.

Thanks to my ASD sponsors Beverly, Matty, and Rachel.

Neil
385/242/225

On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 02:00:02 -0700, The Historian wrote:

Well, my first century ride is this weekend, the MS City to Shore from
Cherry Hill to Ocean City, NJ. I remember when I could barely walk a
city block and was winded after seven minutes on a recumbent exercise
bike. Now, a year and a half later, I've ridden 2200 miles since March
and I'm going to ride a hundred miles tomorrow. What a long trip it's
been.

Thanks to my ASD sponsors Beverly, Matty, and Rachel.

Neil
385/242/225


Enjoy it all! Loved the report on the 82 mile ride!

I don't think biking is for me right now, the hills are so steep here
and roads so full of potholes, so I don't feel comfy about it, but
someday, I'd like to do it again.

--
Cynthia
262/226/152

On Sep 28, 3:06 pm, "Hud" wrote:
"The Historian" wrote in message

oups.com...

Well, my first century ride is this weekend, the MS City to Shore from
Cherry Hill to Ocean City, NJ. I remember when I could barely walk a
city block and was winded after seven minutes on a recumbent exercise
bike. Now, a year and a half later, I've ridden 2200 miles since March
and I'm going to ride a hundred miles tomorrow. What a long trip it's
been.

Thanks to my ASD sponsors Beverly, Matty, and Rachel.

Neil
385/242/225

Wow, Neil. Good Luck! I recently learned what a century ride is (from the
book "Heft On Wheels" by Mike Magnuson). I know I'm not ready for a ride
like that. No way. The furthest I've ridden so far is only 25 miles. You
are about to undertake a great adventure. Please share your experience when
you get back. I'll be with you in spirit!

I completed the century. My computer says 106 miles, 8 hours 54
minutes rolling time. Total time including stops was 10 hours, 25
minutes. I didn't ride the second day, not because of the legs, but
because of the right shoulder. I really need to solve my posture
problems on the bike.

I'll post a full report later.

That is amazing! I couldnt do that. What a surprise to have it
affect your shoulder.

I completed the century. My computer says 106 miles, 8 hours 54
minutes rolling time. Total time including stops was 10 hours, 25
minutes. I didn't ride the second day, not because of the legs, but
because of the right shoulder. I really need to solve my posture
problems on the bike.

I'll post a full report later.