[andystow]

I started writing this up as a comment in yesterday’s live blog, but I figured nobody would see it. This is the story of my first 100+ mile ride that left me walking funny for a couple of days.

Back in May of 2015 I used Facebook to organise a ride to a brewery in another town about 55 miles away for brunch. I convinced three friends to join me. I don’t think any of them had ridden a century yet, either. One of them had been up until 3 AM and was still hung over. The goal was to get there between 10 AM and 2 PM when they stopped serving their brunch menu, as I’d never had it before. I left my house at 6 AM, and met the other three about 40 minutes later as they were on my way.

The winds were towards us on the way there, the opposite of the prevailing direction. Every time we stopped for a break, the hung over friend would get off his bike and lie down for a moan. It would take us five to ten minutes to get him back on it. Then we’d set off again into the wind and the three of us would try to protect him, but he’d still keep dropping off the back if we went much over 10 MPH.

We finally got there with maybe fifteen minutes to spare, having taken seven and a half hours to cover 57 miles.

We had a nice brunch and a beer, but the other three decided they were done. They hired a truck to drive their bikes home, and I returned alone. The return took me less than five hours, and I got home at around 8 PM, just after sunset, ending the day of my first century with 117 miles.

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[andystow]

The couple moved to the west

The couple moved to the west coast and I only occasionally see them when they visit. We weren’t close. They were closer friends with hung over guy.

Hung over guy is a much closer friend now than he was then, and I’ve done lots of riding with him. He’s also become a stronger cyclist than he was that day.

[chrisonabike]

Are they still friends?
Are they still friends?

(Nice report – lots of good stories come from “hey, why don’t we…”)

[Author]

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