WHAT WAS I THINKING?: 06/01/2010

Of all the things on the Bucket List, completing a metric century was right up there with kissing Reba McEntire and winning the Mega Lottery.

This year the annual Elephant Rock Ride would present the opportunity. Yea, I've completed many 100 mile training rides, the single day Triple Bypass 120+ mile grunt from Evergreen to Beaver Creek, the 405 mile Ride The Rockies challenge, and the 140 mile Fruita to Moab adventure but I have never set my sights on completing a 100 kilometer (Metric Century).

Sag Wagons

Sag wagons will rove each of the courses with water and road assistance to help riders experiencing mechanical trouble or those who become too fatigued to finish. Please be prepared to handle your own flats and minor repairs. the Colorado State Patrol, The Douglas County Sheriff's Department, the El Paso County Sheriffs Department, and the Castle Rock Police Department will be on hand to make sure your ride is safe and enjoyable.

Returning from Florida with a sinus and chest infection and as the sole provider for the wiener duo of Cinnamon and Sugar for the weekend, the thought of 7 hours and the usual 100 mile E-Rock ride was a little overwhelming. Why not attempt the metric challenge in under 4 hours and beat the heat and wind typical of late afternoon rides along the I-25 region between Castle Rock and the Palmer Divide.

One hundred is also:

The number of years in a century
The number of pounds in an American short hundredweight
The number of tiles in a standard Scrabble set[citation needed]
In Greece, India and Israel, 100 is the police telephone number.
In Belgium, 100 is the ambulance and firefighter telephone number.
In United Kingdom, 100 is the operator telephone number
Hundred Days, aka the Waterloo Campaign
"The First Hundred Days" is an arbitrary benchmark of a President of the United States' performance at the beginning of his or her term.
100 is the HTTP status code indicating that the client should continue with its request
With a 7:30 start, the Yeti Road Project and I rolled out of the start gate with a large wad of Kleenex tucked in the right jersey pocket. Not to get cocky or anything but the the entire first 2 hours was spent bumping slower brain-dead riders off the yellow lane divider line in order to keep the self imposed 15mph average rolling.

Grabbing a package of Pop-Tarts from a volunteer cruising by the first rest station, I continued choking down the cold breakfast with gulps of Powerbar Endurance drink in water bottle number 2.

Wind does not wait for the afternoon and my solo personality does not allow me to bunch in with the amateur rodies clumped together trying to impersonate a TDF peleton. I gear down grab the drops and spin middle ring what seams like for an eternity. Before I know it, the Palmer Lake rest is there and I take a break, pee, fill water bottles, PBJs are great and on to Roller Coaster Road.

Back at the RV at 11:15am, wieners are still sleeping in 61 degree (16.1 celsius) comfort with the 12V fan. I beat the 4 hour goal with an average of 30.2 k/hr and a max speed of 88 k/hr flying down to kilometer 70. Didn't feel like anything other than a 62 mile ride on a Sunday. Metric centuries are over-rated.