Phoenix, AZ — Arizona is a popular place for cyclists and there were a number of Sunday ride options to choose from. The popular, Landis Cyclery‘s Round-the-Mountain ride is really a race that can be pretty hard. But there was also an organized century going on today that sounded like it had a good turnout last year. The best thing about an organized ride is all the rest stops. No need to pack your jersey pockets with tons of food, this century had planned rest stops every 20 or so miles.
Heather came with us figuring that we’d just be doing a zone 1-2 ride. Nice, easy base miles. When we got to the start in Chandler, there was already a line to register. It was also pretty chilly, at least for Phoenix. I think it was 43°. The line steadily grew as more people showed up. We stood in line and registered and then got ready to ride. We headed south and Ted and I were like eager beavers ready to push the pace.
We tried a few times to ride with some large groups that would either catch us, or we’d catch them. As a group we should be able to complete this ride a lot faster. But since these are mostly rec riders, most didn’t seem to know how ride in a pack and it got pretty sketchy at times. The pace would go up and down erratically and people weren’t pulling off when they should have. Then there’s the rumble strip on the shoulders of the roads here that people would just slide right across without looking if there was someone already riding on the other side. When that happened to me, that’s when I decided that I’m fine with just riding the 100 miles just three of us.
We stopped at every feedzone and they had granola bars, fruit and water or Gatorade. They even had lunch at mile 70! Halfway through the ride we met up with a couple older fellows and started riding with them. They both were smooth on their bikes so no fears of getting taken out. Jim and Patrick were really nice and we chatted quite a bit. Jim is 64 years old and last year he did five double-centuries. A double-century is riding 200 miles in a day! Man, I hope I’m riding like that when I’m 64!
Ted and I got frisky at one point and pushed it on one of the few downhills of the route. It was fun to go fast but my legs could feel the lack of high-intensity work during this base period. Then we eased up and another group caught us, so Ted had to go and sprint against them. I stood up and sprinted as well, but behind Ted. There wasn’t really a designated sign or line, but I think Ted won the sprint and I got third. Of course, this was a century, not a race…right?!
By the time we finished the century, we exchanged contact info with Jim. He invited us on a ride later during the week. I was surprised at how I felt during the ride, being that it was three hours longer than any ride I’ve done since October! Even though my legs were heavy for the last hour, I could still push the pedals pretty well. Heather, on the other hand, was hurting quite a bit. She had been riding even less than I have this winter and the flu hit her harder than me.