my first century!

Saturday I spent nine and a half hours on a bike ride doing the Culpeper Cycling Century. It was pretty fun.

JoAnne came to pick me up at 6:45 in the morning and I scrambled to get all my things ready to go. (Biking takes a lot of things.) We drove to downtown Culpeper and then scrambled some more to get our ride packets, use the porta potties, and get our bikes ready. Race bib on, tires pumped, sunscreen applied, socks and cycle shoes on, gloves, helmet, and sunglasses on, cue sheet and map folded and in my pocket, water bottles and computer on the bike, and voila! Ready to ride (five minutes later than the 8:30 start time).

Getting ready.

JoAnne and I have been riding together for several weekends now, and somehow I have been designated to always ride in front. I made a big effort to take it easy in the beginning, knowing that we didn't want to get worn out too soon. We had a lot of miles and many hills ahead of us. We also made sure to stop at every rest stop, which were set up about every 15 miles. They were well stocked with snacks and drinks and a couple even had real bathrooms!

Hitching post at Brightwood Store

Eating all the snacks!

The ride was really beautiful. Parts of the route were the same as the Tour de Madison I did earlier this year. The weather was also just about perfect. A couple times we got chilly (usually after restarting from a rest stop), but we warmed up. And a couple times it got windy, but it wasn't too bad.

Look how pretty!

At mile 58 we got boxed lunches. My legs were pretty sore at that point and I was grateful for a chance to stretch out and sit down. But after our break we were back on the road!

The event included a 35 and a 65 mile option, which split off from us. At our lunch stop it became very clear to us that we were probably the last of the hundred milers. There had been a few other people at that stop, and we saw two guys again at the next stop, but by about mile 75 we knew we were in the very rear. But we just kept riding.

A few miles before the last stop at mile 92 the SAG vehicle pulled up next to us to tell us the last stop had closed. Then the guy said it was five o'clock. What?!? Where did the time go? I thought it was around 3:30. Time flies when you're having fun. The SAG guy asked if we were going to be okay or if we wanted him to call a truck to come get us.

You guys, the event was over and the SAG truck was ready to drive us back to our car. How did this happen? We had no idea we were so slow. This was embarrassing. But there was no way we were going to let them take us off the road. We were going to ride one hundred miles no matter what. So we told the guy we'd be fine and rode on to the next stop for a break anyway, planning to eat our own snacks. But a different SAG vehicle (the truck) met us there and this new guy offered us snacks and drinks. He was nice. We felt really bad for his having to be with us, and we offered to take off our bib numbers and just ride on like two strangers unrelated to the event. But he said no, this happens every year. And then he proceeded to ride just ahead of us the entire last nine miles with his yellow lights flashing.

We were basically escorted back into town. Again, embarrassing. But we also found the whole situation hilarious. It's always a joking fear in races that one will get picked up by the SAG truck if you can't meet the cutoff time. It never really occurred to us that we wouldn't make the cutoff time. Guess I shouldn't have taken it so easy in the beginning. And we shouldn't have spent so much time at each stop. Lessons learned.

Anyway, the nice SAG guy met us at the car after we'd completed all 101 miles on our own. He took our picture (in front of a pretty empty parking lot, since everyone else was long gone) and gave us a recommendation on where to get some food.

We did it!

Sure we were tired and I was a little sore, but overall we were in great shape. (That's a perk to taking our time!) We had averaged 13.5 mph, which isn't that great but don't forget there were lots of hills (a 5,750 ft. elevation gain). I think we were both plenty pleased with how it all went, despite the SAG escort. And of course if either of us decides to do another century (likely), we'll pick up the pace.

(For JoAnne's version and extra photos, see her post here!)