My First Century

Ok, this is gonna sound like a brag fest but I recently finished my first century ride! That's 100 miles! Wahoo! Becka talked me into it and I'm glad she did because it was great fun. (Though I think a little training beforehand would have gone a long ways.)

Here we are at the start. It took a while to warm up, but the sky was blue and the sun was shining and the weather ended up being nearly ideal. I was grateful all that ugly smoke cleared out of the valley before our ride.

 There were quite a few cyclists there, but since it was a non-competitive ride it was really chill. The open start was great, and people were hanging out enjoying the rest stops and just havin a grand ol' time.

 

Here's the route. It made me a little nervous that I had to zoom out to show two states to see the whole thing. It was a beautiful tour of the valley though.

Becka and I rode the first 85 miles together and then "BANG!" I blew a tire. I couldn't just replace the tube because the tire had a big gash in its side. When the sag wagon came along the mechanic said sure enough my ride was over. But I really wanted to finish! Becka generously offered me her bike and hitched a ride back, so I finished the ride alone. I owe my finish to Becka, and to Kelly Clarkston who kept me going with "what doesn't kill you makes you strong-er er!.." Though the few folks I passed looked at me funny when I rode by singing at the top of my lungs. :)

Now to a serious cyclist a century might feel like a casual ride. But to me it was no small thing! The furthest I'd ever ridden before Saturday was 50 miles. So when I pulled into the finish I felt like an Olympian! At any rate I feel a little less silly sporting my spandex.

 And, the other rad thing about the ride is that the proceeds went to benefit Common Ground, certainly a worth while organization.

So, as much as I miss running, I sure love my bike! And thanks so much Becka!