Compass Bank Elephant Rock Century Ride - CycleCentury

Rode the first hour hard and made 18 miles which was pretty good since there was a constant 20+ mph headwind and a significant net climb. Didn't get passed until about 20 miles when a 5-man pace line passed me which I joined and was easy riding for me. This only lasted about ten miles and we were down to three. One guy tried to drop us on a hill which he didn't. He looked back, saw us there and pulled off. We never saw him again. Since it was just the two of us we just rode the next 70 miles side-by-side easily and chatted. We never got passed again.

Once we got to about 65 miles we were at maximum altitude and except for one 500 foot, one-mile climb, the rest was downhill with a big tailwind. It was surreal coasting side-by-side on a perfectly smooth road, chatting, feeling just a slight breeze and looking at my computer registering 42 mph. This went on for like an hour. It was amazing. My maximum speed was 48.9 mph and I didn't even try to go fast.

I carried 3000 calories in fig newtons, margarita clif bloks, and caffine gu. Ate a 33 calorie blok every 10 minutes a 50 calorie newtons every 15 minutes. Gu at 80 miles. Ate 2800 calories. Carried five water bottles and drank a lot. Probably 9-10 bottles total. Won't do the newtons again as they're too powdery and I was coughing too much.

Stopped at 50 mile point and at 80 miles for water and bathroom for 16 minutes total.

Stopped my timer at 99.9 miles when we were stopped by police for a series of traffic lights to the finish. The last 1.5 miles was literally at about 5 mph when were were riding because of all the people. All the routes met back up for the last 20 miles or so which I liked as compared to the century riders straggling in alone.

This is the first century I've done where I was perfect hydrated, fed, and not really very tired at the end. I was less tired at the end than my standard 44 mile ride which has about the same amount of vert as this century. Zero rear-end and neck pain.

In the past, I've been undertrained and near death at the end. I've also been very well-trained and pushed so hard I was near death at the end. I've never been well-trained and just had a great casual century. Awesome day!

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Highly recommend this ride! Good smooth roads. Almost no traffic. about 3 miles total of questionable road. If there's a big south wind like today, the last 35 miles are really something special.