Century Ride #2 - Complete!

Today, Cindy and I got up bright and early to meet up with a bunch of people for our century ride. Was a little chilly this morning, but weather was decent (no rain, wind). The ride was in the north metro - starting only 5 miles from my house. The route went up through St. Francis and then north on 47 about 5 miles past Dalbo which took us to 50 miles...then turn around and head back to hit the 100 mark. The ride went well, Cindy and I headed out with a bunch of the TCMC crew (Jen, Val, Collin, Erin, Mimi, and a few others). At aid station #3 (at mile 62), Noelle caught up to us since she had to start late due to work. So, then the three of us took off and headed back to the start. About 5 miles later, Noelle's tire blew. She had a huge slice in her tire, so she did some creative 'patching' to get it all fixed up with a $20 bill and some duct tape. Then, off we went.

For the last 40 miles, I really was feeling strong. Is really strange, but all of my long rides that I've done this summer, I get my wind after about 50 miles. So, I just kept pedaling strong and keeping the pace around 19-21 mph on the backside. At the end of the ride, my bike computer put us at 5:42 ride time (not including rest stops) and averaging about 17.5 mph.

After the ride, Cindy and I went out and ran a quick 2 miles to give our legs a little taste of what they are gonna feel in about 8 weeks after riding on our bikes for > 100 miles. We felt pretty strong (both of us coming off of some leg issues) and then the day's workout was done. Only roughly took us 7:30 overall time. That's a long training day!