Some of you may remember my question about preparing for my first century ride. Many thanks to all
of you who offered suggestions. For the person who said I should report back afterwards ...
I was going to increase by 10 miles each weekend up to 100. That wound up being 50, 60, 80, then 60
as fast as I could, then 101 yesterday. Not bad for a 245 pound 45 year old couch potato. I feel
fine today. I felt fine yesterday afterwards as long as I moved around enough.
I decided to go it solo on the nice local rail trail which is long enough for that. Nice overhanging
trees on many parts, no steep hills, not that many other people to try to chase. My 12 mph pace was
pretty slow by some people's standards but got the job done.
Handily, in the 6 weeks I've been training, I've dropped a sustainable 20 pounds. There's benefit in
knowing that for every pound you lose, it's one more pound you don't have to carry along. Plus, I've
feelt very notably more upbeat in general for the past several weeks.
For fellow couch potatoes, here are some 'success factors': proper pedals with straps or cleats,
proper shoes for the type of pedals, (thanks again Markgo), polyester shirt, actual bike shorts with
a pad, bike in good working order with correct tire inflation, a multi-tool, a modest stash of
energy snacks, and starting as early in the morning as it's possible to tell the road from the
trees. For me, fig newtons and a raisins-peanuts-m&ms-almonds mix was better than commercial energy
food. Gatorade seemed to help at first but after awhile the sugar effect wore off and water was
better. Hope some of these suggestions are helpful for others.