Well, no under 5 hour century unfortunately. I just wasn't really feeling that strong. I'm sure I could have done a few things differently and gotten a better time. I likely shouldn't have done that 92 mile 'test' in the heat to see how well I could hold my speed roughly the same week of the event. I probably shouldn't have gone for a ride the Thursday before the Saturday event, but it looked like my Strava 'Fitness and Freshness' curve might reflect that was not such a bad idea. I probably shouldn't have 'carb loaded' as much as I did, but I actually took it pretty easy. I just have been feeling faster recently by being as lite as possible.
I did get a 5:30 century. There was indeed a pretty brisk wind from the SE. Normally, that would be a SW wind this time of year. It basically created a big headwind for the return leg last half of the ride. I actually set a PR for the first half with the tailwind. I only pulled an 18.4mph average overall elapsed time by the end of it.
From a fuel strategy standpoint - the Skratch Labs fuel in my bottles was an awesome idea. This ride has so may people. Maybe only like 7,400 this year, but nevertheless. It is a giant traffic jam for the first 30+ miles. The smaller rides split off at around mile 20 something and it thins out a bit after that, but still a lot of cyclists. Being able to drink my fuel was exceptionally handy while trying to navigate all of those other riders for those first miles.
I actually ended up sucking down my second bottle at about the 1:30 hour mark because I had to take a bathroom break at mile 30 and if I was going to stop then I needed to fill my bottles. I did the full 7 scoops and no problems came from it. I then had a Natures Bakery Fig Bar probably around hour 2 or so. After that I did feel a hint of a cramp from possibly not drinking enough fluid and I switched over to a Jelly Belly with additional electrolytes - maybe another 30 minutes to an hour later. I wasn't pounding it too hard and really didn't feel the need to take on all of my fuel I brought along. I had one more fig bar after another 30 minutes to an hour. Then another Jelly Belly after that I believe. I might have been to mile 70 before I started on the gels. I did end up taking like 4 gels to get me through to the end. So, like 1,800 calories total and the Strava estimate is that I burned 2,583. I took on more than half of what I burned. Seems like I read somewhere that you should take on half of what you burn? I don't think my performance was hurt by a lack of carbs/calories. I was glad I at least had plenty with me and plenty leftover once I finished.
Thanks for the advice from those who commented. It was a pretty decent ride. I didn't really expect to knock it out under 5 hours without training specifically for it. I wouldn't have believed I could do a century in under 6 hours just one month ago when I did my first 2 centuries since 2016. My best average mph was more like 15mph 'moving time.' Actual race time including stops is an entirely different thing, but it is nice to have all intersections blocked and benefiting from others breaking some of that wind too. I just never know how much that will help without an organized group of my own to rely upon, etc.