Hospitality Highway Century - CycleCentury

There were 1050+ riders doing the various distances. The coolest part was that they shut down 400 between 6:30-7:00 AM. First time in history that 400 has been shut down. Anyway, what a sight to see 400 packed with riders. That was so freaking cool. We rode from exit 7 to exit 6 (roughly 2.5 miles). Right before we started down the ramp, I saw Nagnegativesplit & Mrs. Brown Dog (Stephanie). No joke, Nat has a bike radio that was rocking!! She started the morning off with Michael Jackson's Billy Jean. As we poked along (one foot cliped in, and one foot pushing you foward because of the mass of people) we headed toward the on ramp. As soon as we got going on the ramp, Derek and I busted over to the fast lanes. That stretch on 400 was fast! Lots of slow go as everyone started to exit. Then we started our loop throughout Roswell. That was cool. 1000+ people filling the streets, with people outside their homes cheering us on. Up, down, up down. I love that type of course, so I was having a ball. At the first major hill, Derek dropped his chain, so after topping it I stopped and waited on him. From there it was a blast course up on the pursuit bars. As the crowd started to thin out and get up to speed, one guy took a bad crash crossing Roswell Road. He popped up, and everyone that passed checked on him. Still, I felt bad for him since he went down hard.

More rollers, and the crowd really started to separate. I blinked and we were up in Alpharetta. At this point we were in chase group one. A red light separated the lead group from us. While sitting at the red light the roadies started giving Derek and I a hard time that we were triathletes and we should be pulling the entire time since we never get to draft. I told them that was why we were drafting :) .I could tell this was a great set of roadies to ride with. Nonetheless, we made our way out of Alpharetta and into Milton, then Woodsytock area. We formed a draft line and the front started to peel off every .25-.5 miles. We were holding a 21-22 mph avg at that point. Well, I got all excited when it was my turn to pull, so I laid down the hammer. I brought up the speed to 27-31 and pulled away. Oops.... One roadie stayed with me, and when it was time to peel off and I noticed only he remained. We slowed up to allow everyone to catch up. Still, how fun was that!??!?!

It was pretty uneventful for a while. I was trying to stay with Derek, but noticed he was not there, so when I saw a potta-potty on the side of the road I pulled off, peed, and waited for him. Then we started riding together again. We started catching poeple and away we go. At mile 50 I felt like butter, and knew it would be a good day.

Well, the 60's seem to drag along with the first of the hills starting around 61.5-62. After that, nothing big. I found myself alone for a while, then passed several people. While out in the middle of nowhere, some jackazz came by in a car on their horn (nonstop). There were three people behind me, and this guy was on his horn the entire time buzzing each of the riders. Well, I was grumpy for stupid people at this point, so when he buzzed me I gave him the finger. He slammed on the breaks and shot me a bird back. I gave him a few other hand signs and was like "woooo-your in a car a-hole". He drove on.

My computer was a bit off the acutal milage, so I missed the plan to stop and regroup with Derek at the 77 mile rest stop. Well, he started calling me, so I pulled over to answer the phone. We planned to regroup at the next rest stop. Back to hammering agian.

Well, I was warned about a few hills in the 80's, so I was preparing for them. I came back the awesome lake/park and thought how nice of an area that was. As I made my turn, I noticed it was Mountain Park. I knew the hills were around the corner. Well, as I got to the bottom it it, I saw tons of riders walking their bike up the hill. I dropped it into granny gear and started grinding. Holy sh*t was that a nasty hill. I looked down half way up and I was doing 5 mph. My legs were on fire, so I totally did not care at that point. I got to the top huffing and puffing, and pushed on. Then, I got into a neighborhood with some more nasty hills. I kept thinking "they couldn't find a better route back than this"? It was just painful to have those type of hills in the 80's, but I pushed on. I came upon the 90 mile rest stop and pulled over, refilled, and Derek came rolling up. I gave him a few minutes to regroup, then we were back at it for the final 10 miles.

As we started catching people again, I started to hammer away. It was semi-flat on the river front, so I was flying. Well, I ended up catching the chase group that I rode with in the morning, and they were receptive to have me back. I moved to the front and pulled them to the final hills. The leader and I rode side-by-side chatting about the final hills. Who ends a ride with hills like this? He told me that there were two climbs left. We topped the first, then it flatten out, then started to climb again. At the very top of the last climb there were to guy taking picutures. I kept thinking why take pictures of people suffing up these hills at the very end?

Well, we topped the final hill, then hung a left to the finish. There was Steph taking pics as I pulled in. I told the roadies it was fun riding with them, and that I would see them again, then circled back around to Steph to watch Derek finish.

Nothing. I set a solid pace at the start that allowed me to have enough energy to power the hills at the end. I would say that was a solid pace throughout.

I showered off with a water bottle, and talked to Derek as he loaded up. We walked over to the finish area as Roswell Bikes was doing bike support, as I was going to see if they could quickly tune my bike. I think the front derailer was rubbing near the end in granny gear. I could not find anyone, so I bagged the idea and loaded up. Steph and I hit up Waffle House for a well earned lunch.


Great first century ride!! I think the route could have been changed as the 80's were super rough. Other than that, solid ride.