Dear group,
Yesterday, I successfully completed my first-ever century ride. It was a
solo ride of 104 miles, and it took me 8:40, of which 6:59 was in motion.
I planned the route myself (perhaps 15-20 miles were new to me). For those
of you familiar with the Minneapolis/St. Paul area: I started near the U
of M in Minneapolis and crossed the Mississippi near downtown St. Paul,
then proceeded downstream for a few miles and turned west, encountering
the Minnesota River near the I-494 bridge. I followed the south shore of
the river and crossed at Chaska, then turned north and skirted the west
and north shores of Lake Minnetonka. I returned to Minneapolis via Hopkins
and the Midtown Greenway. My ride passed through five of the seven
metro-area counties (Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota, Scott, Carver, and Hennepin
again).
The low point was at mile 56. I had been battling a westerly headwind for
40 miles, and was very tired. I worried that if I felt this bad only a
little past halfway done, what was I in for in another fifty miles?
Fortunately, however, I felt better as soon as I had a snack and turned
north. At the end, I felt like I could keep going indefinitely
energy-wise, but ache/soreness-wise, I did not have too much left in me.
Today, I feel extremely lethargic, and walking down stairs is pretty rough.
I would like to express my appreciation for all the information and
advice I've received from rec.bicyles.{misc,tech} over the past few years.
Essentially everything I know about bicycling that I didn't learn from
experience, I learned from these groups, the FAQ, and/or Sheldon Brown's
web pages.
Reid