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Completed my first century

808 views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  Jeepster82 
#1 ·
This weekend, I completed my first century in the Bike MS from Rock Hill, SC to Greenville, SC. 103.2 miles.

I did a lot of reading on this forum about preparation, nutrition, etc and I want to thank everyone who has posted some sort of information on preparing for a century. It was a huge help and the longest distance that I had ridden prior to yesterday's ride was 32 miles. Some things that I took from this forum that really helped me out:

1) Bike fit--my LBS fit me to my bike perfectly. I had no neck pain or back pain at the end of the ride. The only thing that was sore when I was done were my legs, I experienced one cramp in my right calf and that was it. I bought a Roubaix a few weeks ago and I am convinced that if I would have attempted this on my old Tarmac, I may have finished the ride but my neck would be a wet noodle.

2) Hydration/nutrition--I used Accel Gel (vanilla flavor) bananas and oranges at the rest stops and I packed granola bars. I drank and drank and drank like mad. I drank Gatorade from my camelback hydration pack and also used electrolyte tabs in my bottles. What I found was that it was easy for me to drink even when I felt I didn't need to for the first 75-80. Then, the mind starts kicking in playing games with you about not being able to make it and I found I was concentrating more on riding than taking care of my hydration needs. Had to regain control of the mind at that point and remember to keep drinking even though I did not feel thirsty. I probably refilled my camelback 5 times during the ride.

3) Spin spin spin. There were so many good tips on this in this forum and that really helped me out, especially because the wind got brutal after the lunch stop at mile 62. I never got out of the small chain ring all day long, even on some of the areas that were flat-if you could say flat in the Upstate area.

4) I finished the ride, time on the bike excluding the rest stops was 7 hours and 42 mintues. That would have been a little better if it was not for the wind.

A big thanks to the MS Society for putting on a great ride and the rest stops they had were just awesome. People would hold your bike for you while you ate and stretched out, they thanked us for the support, I could go on & on and it was just awesome. What a great organized ride they put on. Plus, it was awesome riding for a great cause. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Again, thanks to everyone on here for their advice and tips in regards to century rides, it helped me out greatly.
 
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#4 ·
Great job... it's a good feeling when have one under your belt :thumbsup:
 
#6 ·
100mi

Nice, I just did my first one this summer, and it is nice to have one under your belt. I rode with one other guy, and then a pack of people that were riding at the same pace. I really wouldn't have liked it as much if I had to pull the whole 100 mi by myself. That West Texas wind is a real killer. Luckily it was a great temp and the wind wasn't to crazy.
 
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