Century Shmentury

I did my first century yesterday. More to come. I am grabbing coffee with a friend in a few minutes...

...ok, so we started the ride around 7:30am at the Schafly Taproom. It was a nice start because J.D. and I sat behind the Bicycle Fun Club crew who led the way. The route was clearly marked with pink arrows, but it was much easier to keep a steady pace behind riders who knew where they were going.

We only ran into a few mishaps. Getting off the first ferry was a bit humorous, and slightly annoying. All of the riders rode off of the ferry onto the road, but it started with an uphill climb. As you can guess, many could not shift down and either unclipped or fell in front of other riders. I managed to stay clipped in and ride away from what felt like a route covered in land mines.

Later when Damian was pulling J.D. and I along the ENTIRE Alton river road, he rode across railroad tracks diagonally to avoid getting his wheels stuck, and ended up riding too close to the curb and flew head first into a dirt ditch. He hopped back up with a bloody leg and dirty jersey, but was determined to score some chicks with his new road rash (and perfectly unscathed bike).

Riding back along the river and on a desolate Illinois highway was rough, mentally. My feet were KILLING me and the wind was relentless, but I managed to pull for a while and felt strong. Once we rode into the city our moods changed. The Rams game had just let out and people were everywhere. We swerved through traffic and pedestrians and ended up finishing right at 100 miles.

J.D. and Damian, I couldn't have done it without you guys. What a blast! I just need to wait another year to do a century...my feet need some rest!