Century Ride Archives

First Century of the Season

I’m sure there are quite a few cyclists out there that have already done their first century of the season. For me it was yesterday, and it was a great day for it. I decided to take the day off and go for the long ride when I saw the weather forecast. After riding in the rain for 4+ hours last weekend I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity.

Instead of making up my own route I decided to search up some of the local century rides and see which ones go by or close the house. Turns out the Ride for Shelter goes right by, so I downloaded the GPS from their website and off I went.

The ride goes along the Merrimac River and then up the seacoast along Hampton Beach. The views are great and the roads for the most part were in pretty good condition. Although in Amesbury the roads along the Merrimac were horrible and my water bottle was ejected and I had to turn back and get it. From Hampton the ride heads over to Exeter and then back down to Mass and goes along the Merrimac once more.

The second loop goes south through Newbury, Byfield, Georgetown, Topsfield, Rowley, Ipswich and Boxford. Not necessarily in that order, but I’m pretty sure I was in each of those towns at one point yesterday. Most of these roads are back roads and very rural. Unfortunately some of them do not seem to get much paving or it is the fill the pot hole paving method. This made for some very rough riding for some parts of the ride.

I think if I do this ride again I would probably change up the second loop to roads that I know and that are in better condition.

Cycle For Shelter 100

CRW Fall Century

This past weekend I did the Charles River Wheelmen Fall Century ride. This is the second year in a row that I have done it. My friend Julie joined me this year for the ride. We have perfect weather, although it was a little bit chilly to start the day.

This is one tough century ride, with about 5000 feet of climbing. The hard part is that the climbs are pretty steep unlike say Lake Placid where they tend to just be very long. Which, by the way, if I ever train for again I will be making sure to get some training rides in on these hills. There are three stops along the course for the riders with plenty of food, water and gatorade. If you haven’t done it, give it a try, plenty of support. Hey, even U.S. Senator John Kerry was out enjoying the day!!

The rest of last week was mostly a swim week for me. The weather has quickly changed and it is now in the low 40s in the mornings and I just don’t have any desire to get out and ride in the cold and dark. Cold I can do, dark I can do, I just don’t like cold and dark together. I think I swam four times last week and was already in again this morning. The water temp was 68 and the air temp was 41. Makes it a little uncomfortable when getting out. The swimming part was actually pretty enjoyable with the wetsuit on. George and Fred were of course TF and by the time we got out George was pretty chilled.