This is a really well run bike tour. 2006 was the 32nd year for the tour so I guess by now it should be well run. I did the metric century about 10 years ago so I kind of knew what to expect. Part of the reason that this makes a good first century ride is that the route is essentially flat. A couple highway overpasses and a few SMALL rollers and that's that. I rode the entire route using 4 gears total.

Mile 0 to 25: Started out about 7:10am. Forecast for the day was cloudy skies, temps in the upper 60's and 30% chance of afternoon rain. Worst part was the wind was steadily blowing about 15mph right from the start. It got a little worse in the afternoon. For the first 25 miles, the wind was mostly a tail wind which was nice. Made one cornfield pitstop around mile 13. At the first rest stop, I ate a banana and a yummy zucchini nut muffin and drank some gatorade.

Mile 25-45: Most of this section, we dealt with crosswinds and some headwinds. Not too bad, but it took it's toll I'm sure. At one point, I was riding along pulling a guy on a recumbent and another guy on a really nice hybrid type bike (not the usual kind). After about 5 miles, the two guys passed me, so I picked up right behind them. I told the one guy I was back there and if he wanted me to go back out front after awhile, I would. He told me that they had been behind me for awhile and for me to just stay back there and enjoy the ride. So there was the weirdest paceline you will ever see. A recumbent, a hybrid and a steel-framed touring bike. LOL! My husband called us the trailer trash paceline, but it worked for us. hehehehehehehe! Once we made the turn and had more of a cross/tail wind, I became faster. I passed them and left them behind. I think we were only about 5 miles from lunch at this point. For lunch I had a turkey sandwich, potato salad, grapes and gatorade. I felt REALLY great at this point and had a 15.2 mph average. All was well.

Mile 45-70: Headwind pretty much the entire way, with just a few short breaks. It sucked! But I knew it starting out, so mentally I just knew I would gear down when I had to and keep pedalling. I spent many miles all the way down in the drops. I've never spent that much time there, but I found I could do it for at least 4-5 miles at a time and felt fine. No hand numbness or back problems at all. When the wind was at its worst, I could easily pick up 0.5-1.0 mph of speed by going from my normal position on the hoods, down into the drops. First time I have done that and it worked out well. I took one cornfield pitstop along the way. At the 70 mile rest stop, I ate 1/2 banana, 2 cookies and some gatorade. My pace had slowed to 14.8 mph.

Miles 70-91: Finally a tailwind!!!!! There were a few sections that I was EASILY cruising at 20mph. Could have surely gone faster with fresher legs. Most of the segment was crosswinds so I wasn't cruising that fast a lot, but there were those moments. I remember thinking about mile 80 that I was starting to get a little sore here and there. Mostly my legs were tired and some crotch discomfort, but nothing bad at all. It was at about this point too that I felt a little hungry for the first time. I took one cornfield pitstop on this section too. At the final rest stop, I ate a muffin and drank some gatorade. My mph average stayed at 14.8.

Mile 91-101: What can I say about the final 10 miles? HELL! Ok, not that bad, but certainly not pleasant. Straight shot into the wind all the way back. Legs sore. It took me 54 minutes to do that 10 miles which I should have EASILY been able to do in 40 minutes or less. I was struggling to maintain 11 mph in a lot of spots. On the few quick jogs out of the wind, I would speed up to 16+ mph, but those sections were VERY short. I started singing songs VERY loudly which incredibly worked and made the time go by a lot quicker. Mostly songs like "Take me home, country roads", "So far away" and "Carolina in my mind". I thought it was evil to put a large highway overpass at mile 98. But before I knew it, I was done. How cool is that!



Not a dang thing. My nutrition and hydration were spot on (except for my one brief hunger pang at mile 80). I drank about 3/4 to one full bottle of water in between each rest stop and drank gatorade at the rest stops. Had to pee approximately once an hour, very clear. Every once in awhile, I thought I was going to start the stomach cramp thing like I did the last tour, but the feeling always went away. Mostly, this would start about the time I had to pee. I think the last tour I drank too much gatorade and not enough plain water too. I fixed that this time around.

Walked around, changed clothes and did a bunch of stretching before getting into the car for the long drive home.

Stopped at MickeyD's and had a quarter pounder with cheese. I can't even remember the last time I had one of those. They used to be my favorite a long time ago and boy, did it taste good!


As usual, the heavy steel framed touring bike, but I am really comfortable on this bike and it does what I need it to do. No plans to change any time soon.


I had a great time!!!!! The last 20 miles I was getting pretty tired, especially my legs. That kind of surprised me because usually it's my back or crotch that bother me first. I guess it was all the pushing into the wind for so many miles. I had zero lower back pain which I've had before. And I had zero hand numbness which I've had before.

Now on the day after as I am writing up this report, I am surprised at just how good I feel. I guess training does pay off, eh?