On July 29 is the 13th Annual Sweet Corn Challenge in Richfield, Ohio. Richfield is located near Cuyahoga Valley National Park b/w Akron and Cleveland. The event offers routes of 10, 25, 50, & 100 miles. This will be my 1st year riding it, and I've opted for the 100 miler since only the century riders are eligible for the post ride all-you-can-eat pasta buffet. If all goes well, it will be my 1st ever century. There are some steep climbs leading out of the Cuyahoga Valley, but I should be OK. Everyone I've talked to says that the support for this event is excellent. Is anyone else doing this ride?

No, but it sounds like fun. I know at the end of my century rides, I always feel like I could eat a horse, so I'm sure that buffet is going to get obliterated! Have a great ride!:thumbsup:

Sweet Corn......Did you do it?? I am considering the century and am trying to find out the course and level of difficulty.

Sweet Corn......Did you do it?? I am considering the century and am trying to find out the course and level of difficulty.
Never did ride it. I've moved onto ultra-cycling events (brevets to be exact) which are 125-370 miles to be done within 13.5 to 40 hours respectively.

Sorry I can't help.

I did the century last year and didn't think it was too terrible considering that it was hotter than Hell that day (low 90s by ride's end). I chose it because it was my first century, and I wasn't sure I could do one unsupported.

In terms of the support, there were 4 stops where you could get food (granola bars & fruit) and drinks (gatorade & H2O). Giant Eagle was a sponsor, so there was no shortage of food. On the down side, the 2nd stop had run out of drinks. I didn't feel like waiting around until they got more, so I had to ration out what was left in my bottles for the 25 or so miles to the next stop.

Consequently, I was dehydrated by the end of the ride and couldn't fully enjoy the all-you-can-eat pasta buffet that is available to the century riders. I probably went through 8 or 9 bottles of water & Gatorade. Despite getting dehydrated, I felt my biggest mistake was spending too much time off the bike at the aid stations (ran into people I knew at 2 of them). Every rider gets a bag w/ a few ears of corn after they finish.

In terms of the route, I would rate it as rolling to somewhat hilly with some optional hill climbs included along the route. I don't know if the route changes from year to year, but I was disappointed that we didn't spend more time in the CVNP. The only time spent in there was when I did the loop for the 2nd optional hill. The roads were pretty well marked with arrows and such. The route takes you into S. Cuyahoga County (I really liked the section on Valley Pkwy), NW Summit County, & E Medina County. The 50 mile route also has enough rolling terrain to hold your interest and seemed to be the most popular choice amongst the riders.

All in all, it was a good experience, but I'm a much stronger rider now and can do a century unsupported, so I won't spend the money to do it again. I figured it would be a big group ride, but I spent a lot of time alone on the roads; most likely because I started at 8am while many people on the century started earlier.