Strawberry Century
June 10th, 2007 at 10:58 pm (Biking)
Yesterday my dad and I did the Strawberry Century: my first 100-mile bike ride. The ride had 2600ft of climbing, about 1000 of which were in the first 25 miles. We finished it in 8½ hours (including stops), averaging about 15mph.
A few days before the ride, we decided we were going to cancel because rain was predicted. The next day, the prediction changed to no rain. Then, the night before the ride, it was back to rain, but supposedly it would hold off until the late afternoon.
Well, it rained for the whole ride, but that just made it so much more awesome. The rain also kept the pollen down — I’d rather ride in the rain than have allergies the whole time.
Despite the rain and cold, I was feeling fine until mile 80. It was at that point that the water on my jacket succeeded in soaking all the way through. For the last 20 miles, every 15 foot rise felt like a mountain.
We finished the ride in Lebanon, where we started, and we accepted our bounty in hands full of desire: strawberry shortcake!
Before the rain…
After the rain!
The Reward