First Century Ride

I just did my first century ride a week ago (shameless solicitation
for compliments and I learned what people mean when they say a
century changes you as a cyclist. I learned a lot about how much my
body can take, learned about different kinds of interval training, and
I made some improvements to my pedaling style. Prior to that, the
longest ride I'd ever done was about 65 miles -- long enough, but
still different.

I've become a lot more relaxed on the bike, and that translates into
significantly more comfort while I ride -- tension equals pain. I
used to get anxious at the bottom of steep or long hills and after a
series of rollers my butt would be _killing_ me. But after doing lots
and lots and lots of miles, one more hill doesn't bother me. I'm more
relaxed and my butt is a lot happier afterwards.

My situational awareness has also improved. Again - lots and lots of
miles have gotten me used to switching focus quickly between road
debris, traffic, time, speed, shifting, etc.

I usually average 15-16MPH for my long rides, so I just hoped to do
the century in about 6 1/2 hours. Between my taper and a little bit
of carbo-loading, I actually wound up coming in at 6:13 with plenty of
energy to spare. I was pretty stoked!

But the real treat came this weekend - a week after the event. I
didn't get to do much riding during the week, and I thought I'd put in
40 miles or so on Sunday. To tell the truth, I felt a little burned
out after all the training and then the century, but I wanted to keep
the fitness I worked so hard to achieve.

I set out on a reasonably challenging course with a few hills and one
long false-flat. After I did the first 9 1/2 miles in half an hour, I
worried that I was pushing too hard, but I felt fine. I thought maybe
I'd had a wind at my back. But when I hit the false flat in the
opposite direction and found myself going 5-6 MPH faster than ever
before - without feeling like I was overdoing it - I knew something
was up!

For the rest of the ride, I found myself going anywhere from 10% to
40% faster than ever before on many sections. I finally finished 43
miles in 2:21, averaging 18.3MPH - fully 2MPH faster than I've ever
recorded for such a distance. I simply couldn't believe it! (Whose
legs are these, anyway?)

So for those of you who have never done a century, I encourage you to
try it. I've been riding for about 8 years, since I was about 36. I
have done long rides before, but never have I experienced the kind of
improvement I've seen in the last few weeks.

JR