BluesDawg

I usually ride 4 or 5 century rides each year and had done 5 by this time last year, so it is unusual for my first century of the year to come in June. It's not that I have been riding less or feeling less energetic. I have been riding regularly and my speed and endurance is in the range of what has become normal for me. I've done plenty of metrics and several 50+ mile dirt road rides, just no 100+ mile rides until now.

I chose not to do the full week of BRAG this year. Funny that I had less trouble getting a full week off to ride before I retired from corporate hell and became a part time bike wrench. But I did make it down to flat, South Georgia for the BRAG Century Ride on Wednesday, June 5th. One of my friends from home, Twiggs, joined me for the trip. We started early in hopes of avoiding the forecast thunder showers in the area. Fortunately they never materialized and it turned out to be a pretty pleasant day, partly cloudy, warm and somewhat humid, but nothing like the sauna that many June days in South Georgia can be.

A few miles into the ride, a group of 7 Atlanta area friends rolled past us with one very strong rider in the lead. I knew Marty would be pulling the group most of the day and this was the place to be for a fairly fast and easy day. It was one of those "on the bus or off the bus" moments and I chose to be on the bus. Twiggs opted to stay with another rider he had met at another ride who was not keen on riding in pace lines. That was the last I saw of them until 2 hours after I finished the ride.

True to form, Marty pulled the group for most of the first half of the ride. It was a flat ride and we cruised along between 18 and 21 mph most of the time. The pace stayed about the same later in the ride as Marty finally started fading and the rest of us took turns at the front. It was not a hammerfest, just a good, steady tempo. We stopped at all 7 rest stops, not lingering too long, but not rushing to get going. BRAG always has good rest stop food and this was no exception. Along with the usual PB&J sandwiches, bananas, peaches etc., Powerbar had provided a new applesauce type product which tasted good, went down easily and seemed to keep us energized.

The only disruption of the steady state came after a rest stop at 72 miles when 3 faster riders joined our group. After sitting in with us for a few miles, the eased past us, which naturally caused our group to speed up to try and keep up. It was not a big acceleration, but it came at the wrong time for me as I was into my longest ride of the year at that point and was needing to take it easy, not step it up. At about 82 miles I decided to fall off the back and avoid blowing up as I was constantly needing to accelerate to close gaps. It was only 2 1/2 miles to the next rest stop where I made a quick refill and left ahead of my group. When they caught up with me a few miles later, I was able to hop back into the line and ride on in with the group.

I have never been a super fast rider and this was the first 7 hour century I've done in several years. 17.3 mph avg is up there for me, even on flat roads. In fact, I am not usually any faster on flat roads by myself than on fairy hilly roads. I don't do much flat road riding and I get tired of pedaling constantly. Riding with this group was about perfect for me.

https://app.strava.com/activities/58601390

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesda...10354939/show/


view from the rocking chair by BluesDawg, on Flickr


a hilly section ;-) by BluesDawg, on Flickr


8 miles of shake and bake at a steady 19 mph by BluesDawg, on Flickr


rest stop by BluesDawg, on Flickr


farm land by BluesDawg, on Flickr


done by BluesDawg, on Flickr

Bikey Mikey

Nice BD. What camera were you using to take the pics?

BluesDawg

Most are with my Canon ELPH 300 HS, but a couple are iPhone 4 pics.

Dudelsack 

BluesDawg

Another nice thing about this ride that I forgot to mention, it fell on the 5th anniversary of my diagnosis of throat cancer. They told me then that I probably wouldn't be around this long. Glad to prove them wrong.

Zinger

big john

I suspect most of the members here are also glad they were wrong.

GFish

Nice ride BD!

In my limited experience, that's seems like a good pace for a century. Looks like a good well supported ride.

How do you feel the day after? Any lingering soreness or are you good to go for another 100 miles?

I keep wondering how people can ride multiple century's back to back.

Zinger

Good thing you could catch your original train after getting on the faster one. I've failed to do even that after shooting too many bullets with too fast a group in my 30s.

qcpmsame 

Way to show 'em BD, great report, nice pictures and congratulations on the century and on the 5th anniversary of your cancer diagnosis.

Bill

BluesDawg

Not quite what happened. My group tried to step up to the pace of some faster riders and I dropped off to keep from hitting the wall. I was able to get ahead of them when they stayed long at the next rest stop, tired from the faster pace. Once they caught up to me, they had returned to a sane pace and I was able to rejoin.

NOS88

BD, this trumps any number of miles.

Rick@OCRR

Congratulations BD on your first century of 2013! I am shocked that there are no Strava segments on it!

That would never happen out here; Strava segments are everywhere (or so it seems).

Here's the Strava on the century I rode on Sat. https://app.strava.com/activities/59372170

There are 29 hidden segments in addition to the ones shown. Plus, we had a bit more climbing. This was century #9 for me, which includes 2 doubles (a double only counts as one century in my book).

Rick / OCRR

BluesDawg

I'm not that surprised about the lack of Strava segments. This was a new route drawn up just for century day on this year's Bicycle Ride Across Georgia. You would be amazed at how sparsely populated rural South Georgia is. Not many cyclists around to ride these roads frequently. There are plenty of Strava segments around the more populated parts of the state.

billydonn

That looks like great fun... I enjoyed the post.

t4mv

Nice ride, thanks for sharing!

Good to hear you beat the big C and a run in with a car..nothing like living on the edge, huh?

JimF22003

Dan Burkhart 

We're glad you proved them wrong too. Congratulations on a great ride and continued good health to you.

az_cyclist

Impressive ride, Bluesdawg, and nice pics.

I rode 108 on Saturday, Flagstaff to Happy Jack AZ, a club training ride for the Grand Tour in 2 weeks. On Sunday I took a couple of pics for the first time while riding. It is very evident I need more practice taking pics while riding.

cranky old dude

Sounds like you had a great day! Thanks for sharing.