109 Miles - July 18, 2009

I wanted to tell you about my ride this last weekend. I had planned on riding a 100 mile ride, a century; well actually it was a 109 mile loop starting in New Baden IL.

The temperature here in St. Louis, mid-July was setting records, but not record heat. Rather it was record cold. Saturday began around 63 degrees and did not get above 73 degrees all day. There was a mild wind out of the North-west around 11 mph. Grey skies dominated the day with only a few short views of blue.

Basically you could not have asked for a much nicer day to ride. I had set aside this weekend when I saw the temperature forecast. My speed has been lacking for several years and my best 100 mile ride this year was done in just at the six hour mark, or 16.8 mph (plus off bike time eating etc). This is not bad, but I have done better in years past. In fact when I went back to find out what was my fastest 100 miles, it was back in 2002, when I did one in five hours 41 minutes (17.6 mph) when riding with my friend Jeff Weible.

I pulled out of New Baden at 6:30 AM Saturday morning heading south starting slow for the first few miles. I made the left had turn towards Okawville on IL-177 and began picking my pace up as I felt the benefit of a tailwind.

One of the things I wanted to find out on this ride is how far I can ride with as little stopping as possible. I did remember that this particular route did not lend itself to many quickie marts where I could purchase water along the way. So when I pulled into Okawville, around 13 miles into the ride, I decided I would buy one additional bottle of water, and shed, believe it or not, my arm warmers and tights. I was back on the road in less than ten minutes.

I continued east with the benefit of the tailwind making it to Hoyleton, mile 28 in under an hour and a half. I turned south on County Highway 11. To my delight I had only been enjoying a cross tailwind as my pace continued to increase.

I finally needed to take a short break south of Todds Mill, mile 55 and refill my bottles with the water I had stored earlier. My back was beginning to hurt, and my knees were feeling sore and I began to wonder what the problem was. I decided to take a Naproxin to help with pain management. I was back riding in less than five minutes.

I had been watching my average speed continue to increase this whole southerly section and decided to see if I could maintain it until I reached Pinckneyville.

I reached Pinckneyville, mile 65 with an average speed of 19.8 mph and had about 15 minutes off the bike. From here my ride would be into the wind, north and west until I got back to New Baden. I was very interested in seeing what I could do into the wind.

After a twenty-five minute break at Pinckneyville I was back on the bike heading to Coulterville, mile 85. I needed a short break as my legs were really killing me, or should I say I was really killing my legs.

As predicted, my pace was falling with the wind, but still on track for a great ride. After massaging my legs and stretching I remounted and continued north.

I reached the 100 mile mark, just north of Venedy IL. I checked the stats and they showed a ride time of 5 hours 36 minutes, with an average speed of 17.86 mph. This was a new record for me, but I still had another nine miles to go. I didn’t push quite as hard after that, but I also didn’t want to loose too much time for the overall ride either. I pulled into the parking lot in New Baden with a final average speed of 17.5 mph and under one hour off the bike eating and drinking, etc.

There were a few times over the ride I was thinking there is no way I can ride a 1,200 kilometer brevet with my legs and back hurting so much, but I had to remind myself that I would not be riding it at this pace.