Discussion Board

Today I rode 100.1 miles on my bicycle -- I had the day off from work (it's Truman Day, a state holiday here in Missouri). I think this is the earliest in the season I have ever ridden a century -- woohoo! I am more sunburned than I am sore (even with sunscreen, my Nordic heritage pale skin burns easily) - but the sunburn isn't bad. I think it will just turn to tan. Very happy!!

Sharon

Holy cow! Good on you! If I did that I probably wouldn't be able to walk for a week!

Interestingly enough, I am not sore today -- well, the sunburn is a little sore, but not bad. I credit this WOE with my lack of soreness and my ability to do the century this early in the biking season -- that, and my fabulous trainer at the gym who designed an incredible winter off-season workout for me. I am still pretty psyched about it all!!

Sharon

I will be there some day. I love taking long bike rides. As for the sunburn did you reapply it every 3 hours?? I've found if I don't then I end up with a burn at start of summer season at end I really don't worry about it because I'm tan enough I don't usually burn towards the end.

Rosey -- if you can ride 30 or 40 miles, you can probably ride 100! When I was training for my first century (years ago ... but, I think this still rings true), I was told that you can ride about 3x what your training rides are. So, if you regularly ride 30 miles pretty easily, you can go 90 miles -- and, really, at that point, what's another 10? Right??? LOL

Keep at it! Nothing is better than spending time outside on a bike!

Sharon

When I was back East, the week before semester began I used to take off from my sister's house in Hartford and head for my dorm in mid Maine, a total of about about 400 or 450 miles. I remember them as being the best vacations i ever took ( well, at least ever took alone), but there were days when I would ride for 12 hours and only get like 80 miles. It was funny, though. After the time, once the bike was settled for the night, I'd think about how wonderful it was, but I remember that in the middle of the day when my calves were in tremors I was less enthusiastic about it.

So how long did the 100 take for you?

Once, after moving out here, I decided to take a weekend in Santa Cruz, and that Sunday turned out to be the Sierra Century. I'm walking my bike up these summits in the Santa Cruz mountains, and all these people in their biking outfits are rolling by me. I hadn't gotten much faster over the years. It was kind of depressing.

Congrats on the 100 miles.

Mark

We are doing 18 to 27 pretty regular getting more regular since the sun has came back.

If you want to ride longer distances -- pick a day and a destination and give it a shot! I am quite certain you can do it!!

Sharon

Way to go and good use for a day off

Has anyone ever set out with their detination in mind and then was unable to make it back? That would be my fear.

Hi Faith,

I can't say I have, but I came kind of close once. I planned an overnight in Napa to return the following day. The end of the ride involved getting back to San Francisco in time to catch our light rail, Bart, to its furthest point south and complete the 20 miles or so home. I hadn't expected the strenuous nature of the ride from Napa to Marin, and I got some bizarre bug to go through Sonoma County before entering Marin, which involved going a distance towards the coast that added maybe 10 or 20 miles to the trip. And , of course, I did my usual dawdling and stopping at any excuse I could find. As a result I remember sitting on the lawn of the Rouge et Noir cheese factory in Petaluma , thinking to myself, "How the hell am I going to make it home?" I made it across the Golden Gate Bridge just before the truck came to close the walkway, and got one of the last Bart trains to Warm Springs, finally peddling up to my apartment at about 1:00 AM. That was probably the last extended bicycle trip I took, and it was over 20 years ago, but even that has a kind of rose patina in the back of my mind somewhere. If it didn't mean giving up some of the limited time my wife and I get to spend together I'd very much like to try another, and I'd love to have the resources to try the SF to LA route that seems to be a hejira for many bicycle enthusiasts. I think if I plannned like 50 miles a day it would considerably reduce the risks. And it's always possible to pull in the days if you find it going too quickly. The best thing to do is to carry enough resources to crash at a cheap motel if you get into a bind. It always seemed like a luxury to me. In those golden days, I would just carry a two man tent with me and try to find an open space somewhere. People were usually accomodating in my college years. Of course I used to hitchhike up and down New England back then. I would never repeat that nowadays.

Mark

I have when I tried to do 20 miles one day and then tried to do it again the next day. Body didn't want to do it 2 days in a row. It's fine with doing it every other day. Hubby left me at park and came back for me with the truck.

In answer to Faith in DC -- I just suck it up and make it back! There have been a few times when I was seriously dragging the last bit to get back to the car, but I didn't have any choice but to just keep going!

I think part of the trick is to know your limits, but to keep testing your limits by small bits at a time. So, if you can easily ride 30 miles, try for 40 miles and so on. Or, if you really want to see what you can do, find a supported organized ride in the distance you want to ride so that you have a safety net.

Sharon

Thank you everyone. Boy Marks story sounds like what my fear would be. I know the terrain and weather, and heck even how you feel all play into how far you can make it.

I think I'll leave the long distance to you all. I'm one of those to pedel along on a bike path or something like that. Even my bum would get sore trying to bike all day.

I got a cushy seat and my bum doesn't get sore unless I try to do 2 days in a row.

that was wise of you Rosey. The last bike I owned I changed the seat on it, and i didn't ride long distances.