Well, I finally rode an organized century. I have ridden countless 100-mile training rides and at least one race >100 miles, but I have never before ridden an organized century (rest stops, SAG support, etc.). So, I thought I'd give it a try and see how they are. I rode the 100-mile course of the Cool Breeze Century (Ventura, CA to Santa Barbara and back). See here for the course and topo cibike.orgCBicentury05.htmOpen ↗. The course is largely flat but does have ~3800' of climbing. I have been riding 14-20 hours/wk since 3/20/05 and, even though my longest ride to date has been ~70 miles, I wasn't overly concerned about the distance if I was a little careful about my pacing. My plan was to ride ~150w on the flats and push the climbs at ~250w. My goal was a TSS of ~300. I wasn't very concerned with nutrition and hydration because I have been riding in 100+ degree temps all summer and the forecast temps were ~70 degrees in the morning, warming to ~85 degrees mid-day.
The Cool Breeze is super-organized and staffed. Check-in was quick and painless and the rest stops were well spaced and really well stocked. I'm easy to please because I just eat bananas and fig bars. I bring my own electrolyte tablets and drink only plain water. They had bananas and fig bars and much more at every stop. The course is really good because most of the climbing and upwind segments are in the first 55 miles. The last 45 miles are largely flat and downwind. The views were spectacular. If I had been riding in a large paceline I probably would have caused a crash due to being distracted by the incredible views of the ocean. The most fascinating thing to me was the large number of organized groups making the ride as organized pacelines. There was everything from 2somes to 22somes, usually with matching club jerseys and a high degree of paceline organization. It was basically a continuous stream of centipedes on wheels. I was riding the course with one of my weekend group ride mates, but if I had been alone I could have ridden at basically any pace up to and including 25mph by just hooking up with one of these pacelines or forming my own with 3-4 other riders. You use so little energy riding at the back of one of these large groups that I think the ride effort is really closer to a 65-mile ride solo.
I actually had a hard time averaging 150w on the flats, in part because in the last 40 miles or so I would drop my weekend riding group mate if I went harder than ~120w. But, I went up the climbs a little more agressively than planned (~300w), so I ended up with a little higher NP and TSS than planned. For the data hounds, here are the key numbers:
[indent]Distance: 102 miles
Total Duration: 6:28
Average Speed: 15.9mph
Average Power: 140w
Normalized Power: 188w
Average HR: 109 (68%MHR)
TSS: 355
[/indent]Bottom Line: I had a blast, the Cool Breeze is a great century, the effort was less than I expected and I think 60-mile solo rides is plenty of preparation. As to nutrition and hydration, I think this subject is sort of overblown. I went through maybe 2 water bottles, 4 electrolyte tablets, about 4 bananas, 6 fig bars and 2 popsicles (ice lollies for you Brits). That's it. Oh, BTW, I announced that it was (technically) my first century at the finish and they rang a bell and everybody cheered. I was more than a little embarrassed, but took a bow nonetheless.