Birthday Ride - 2008
Guess Jo got me into this; riding a specific distance on your birthday. This started for me in 2006 I suppose. The idea they have is to keep trying to ride your age in miles on your birthday. Trick is, it gets longer each year - doh!
Last weekend was my turn again to ride the distance. This year has been a really great biking year for me. My bike farm has multiplied like rabbits but I have also been riding more and more consistently than any time in the last 20 years. So time came again for me to contemplate the upcoming ride. Luckily for me, the 4x mile distance is really not too difficult with some of my training weeks totaling over 300K (180 miles) this was not going to challenge me.
I decided to make this a real challenge for me this year and attempt a second self supported century. What really made this all the more fun was the fact that Jo was riding with her gang in Florida the same distance on the same day! I was 6 hours ahead at the starting line and would plan to finish just after they started. I had a map and a general direction and was ready.
A self supported century means riding about 6 hours carrying all the gear and food you will need. The distance is 100 miles or about 160 kilometers so this is a good long day in the saddle. My two problems of a ride like this at this time of year is that such a long day can get pretty boring if you are riding alone (like I did) and the days are cooler and shorter in October. So ignoring the first challenge I headed out just after 8am when the sun was just coming over the horizon. It was about 6°C (~45°F) when I left in the morning and it warmed up a bit during the day. I was dressed in full long tights and top with full gloves to match. I did change the gloves to the regular short fingered type around lunchtime but kept all the rest on throughout the day.
I headed north into the hills here for the first half of the ride. I had ridden a similar ride earlier this year up and down the river which is easier but talk about boring! This time I needed something to keep me warm for the first 3 hours and also interested. These hills were really tough. I had over 1000 meters of climbing in those initial 40 miles or so and was actually pretty tired when I stopped for the first time after 3:30. I was lunch and I needed a break and a rethinking of my day.
It was almost noon and I was at a fork in the road. To the left would have me home in about 90 minutes but short of my plan and the right would head away from home but generally downhill as I was at the highest point of my day. That would mean about 3 hours still out on the road. While eating my second gooey bar the sun broke through and I changed the lenses in my glasses from yellow to the regular shades. That made the decision for me - it was going to be a full pull.
Long story short: I made it the whole way. I was really happy to be home again. Riding time for the day was 6h11 with a total time of 7h05. My rear was tired of sitting during the final hour and was dreaming of a hot cup of coffee to warm up. Exhaustion was robbing me of the energy to keep the body warm. Perhaps not enough nutrition during the day. But now over a week later I recovered really well. No problems, no colds but I did take 6 days off from exercise. That was my last big ride of 2008. The days are too short and the temps just don't make it any fun either. Time to find some other things to keep me busy.....
PH