On Sunday, September 5th, I completed the second metric century (100 kilometers) of my life. I completed my first such ride when I was 24 years old and living in Peoria, Illinois. Ironically, it wasn't until years later that I realized that that 62 mile ride had any significance, "metrically speaking." Having completed several half-century rides in recent years (including two so far in 2010), I thought it was time to give myself a challenge and repeat the feat 28 years later.
My route is shown in the attached, interactive Ride Dog link. [I've tried a number of online cycling mapping services, and Ride Dog is my favorite. I may comment more on this in a future post].
Briefly stated, I left from home, headed to Busse Woods, completed 3/4 of its loop, and then headed south along the Salt Creek Greenway Trail, west along the Great Western Trail, and north and east along the Illinois Prairie Path's Elgin Spur and lightly traveled roads in West Chicago, Carol Stream and Bartlett. I started my ride at 7:20 a.m. and reached 20K at 8:39, 30K at 9:11, 40K at 9:39, 50K at 10:13, 60K at 10:55, 70K at 11:42, 80K at 12:15 p.m., 90K at 12:55, 100K at 1:35 and returned home at 1:45.
Skies started off mostly sunny, but became cloudier as time passed. Temperatures were abnormally low. They started out at 50 and rose to about 70 by ride's end. Likewise, winds started off calm, but gradually become light from the south. I wore long sleeve t-shirt under Livestrong jersey and my long tights over cycling shorts. The ride was challenging, especially the back stretch along the Great Western Trail (my psychological low point) and the last few miles (my physical low point). My leg muscles began giving me troubles along the Hanover Park-Schaumburg path and thereafter. My quads and calf muscles were definitely not happy, and told me so by way of periodic cramping. Thankfully, I discovered that if I stopped riding and stood upright beside my bike, the pain would subside and I could resume riding. During the final few miles, I had to be very mindful of being in the proper gear and accelerating much slower than normal so as not to bring on another cramping episode. I was quite relieved to get back home at 1:45, and Tammy and I had a nice dinner at Olive Garden (i.e. their Unlimited Pasta Bowl) to celebrate my achievement and begin the recovery process. Mission accomplished!
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