What is a Century Ride?
A century ride for a cyclist is the equivalent of a marathon for runners. Local charities and bicycle clubs across the country set up and manage these rides for fundraising. Riders pay a fee to participate and in return, riders get food and water at rest stops throughout the ride, "support and gear", or SAG, which help riders with flats and other mechanical problems, a T-shirt or water bottle as a souvenir and sometimes a post-ride meal. The local century ride is the highlight ride of the year for many cyclists. The one ride that they will train all season for. Some cyclists ride in multiple centuries throughout their state, or region, or across the country. I rode in six centuries last year, for example. And there is a small group of cyclists that will ride in at least one century ride every month, a CAM, or a century a month.
My first century was the Cool Breeze Century, the closest century ride to me, out of Ventura. The Cool Breeze Century is put on by the Channel Islands Bike Club as a fundraiser for the Ventura Kiwanis. I bumped into the ride a few times in the past, riding a portion of the route while the ride was in progress. The ride starts in Ventura, goes north to Carpinteria, then on to Montecito and Santa Barbara. The turnaround point is in Goleta, where there is a lunch served. Then it is back to Santa Barbara and Carpinteria, where a tailwind sea breeze should help me back to Ventura. It is this daily sea breeze that the Cool Breeze Century gets its name.Training and Pre-Ride
I trained with rides of 50 miles, twice, 60 miles and 70 miles in the four weeks before the century. I also rode three days a week for 13 miles after work in the weeks before as well. So I was riding 100 miles, or more, for the four weeks leading up to the century ride. This was a lot more miles per week than I would normally do at that time. But those rides built up the endurance that I would need.The Ride
The century began at 7AM, which in mid-August, means that the sun is barely above the hills around Ventura. I ate breakfast very early in the dark at home. The Cool Breeze Century attracts 1,200 riders, and the registration tables were packed. It didn’t help my pre-ride anxiety standing in line to get my ride number and swag. They hand out the ride numbers and swag the night before, so I always came and picked up my stuff the night before from then on.I kept it firmly fixed in my mind to ride my ride and not be bothered by others zipping by me. It was going to be a long day, and I did not want to try and jump onto a fast paceline. There were pacelines flying up the Rincon Highway rolling at over 20 mph, which was beyond my slow 13 mph.
I was feeling great at the first rest stop at Rincon Beach in Carpinteria, 13 miles into the ride. I nibbled on a couple of Fig Newtons and had a cup of water and hopped back on the bike and hit the first hill of the day. On Rincon Hill Road, a Category 5 climb, I saw a family of four on a bike. It was a Triple with a little trailer with a little girl with pedals. The father in the front looked like he was thinking twice about this arrangement as they slowly pedaled up the hill. But on the following downhill, they rolled past me and others like a runaway freight train.
The next rest stop was in Montecito, 17 miles away. Rolling past the back side of Carpinteria on Highway 192 was not bad, but in Summerland, the ride organizers changed the route eliminating Ortega Hill Road, a stiff climb with an 8% grade with a longer and steeper climb Greenwell Avenue, a Category 4 climb. Greenwell was twice as long and ramped up to 10% in a couple of sections. A number of us slowly made our way up the hill, with a few muttering about the climb. Pulling into the next stop I was not hungry, so I ate a few more Fig Newtons and had a few cups of water. Here in Montecito, was the Metric Century turnaround point. Beyond this stop, there would be nothing but century riders. It was also the start of the biggest climb of the day, a Category 3 climb to Mountain Drive above Santa Barbara, the highest point of the ride.
At the next rest stop in Goleta, lunch was waiting, 20 miles away. As I was leaving Santa Barbara and plowing on to Goleta, the lack of eating at the previous rest stops caught up to me. Around mile 40, my body felt slow and tired. The five rollers between Santa Barbara and the Goleta park with lunch felt like mountains. I dragged into the park and sat down with the turkey sandwich and Gatorade, I was tired, and I had 50 miles to go.The Return
By this time, I was tired, my legs were sore, and I was moving at maybe 12 mph toward Santa Barbara. I had practiced most of this route before except for the portion that we were on now, going down Hollister Ave and through exclusive Hope Ranch. I thought that Montecito was nice, but Hope Ranch was another level up, big houses, big lawns, clubhouses, and guardhouses. I faintly remembered a long hill around this area, from driving in this area years before and I hoped that we would somehow avoid it. Of course, a long, twisty descent, I found my myself looking right at it, Cliff Drive, a Category 5 climb that I did not need.After the struggle up Cliff Drive, it is a long descent to the Santa Barbara pier, Stearns Wharf. At this point, my lunch kicked in, and I began to feel much better. I was still sore, my aluminum Trek 1000 was sending every bump straight to my body. Now time was becoming a
problem. It was about 3, and the course closed at 5 and I was 30 miles from the finish. As I pulled into the Montecito rest stop the afternoon shadows were getting longer, and the food there nearly gone. I grabbed what I could and hustled out of there, determined to get back to Ventura in time to eat the post-ride meal and not get swept up by the broom wagon.
The Finish
Fortunately, the sea breeze was a tailwind and lunch from earlier was giving me a boost. When I pulled into the last rest stop in Carpinteria (the first one on the way out), it was 4, only one hour to finish the last 13 miles. I plopped down on a bench feeling like it was a good effort wasted. There were a number of folks were there, one of which had just started cycling 3 months ago. From a couch potato to riding a century ride in 3 months. So we all decided to finish the ride regardless of the time limit. I was able to roll back at 17 mph with the tailwind and it was flat.As I got near the finish line, I saw my family standing by the side of the bike path. They were a hundred yards in front of the finish line. Now I had envisioned crossing the finish line for the last 8 hours, so I waved at them and continued on to the finish line. Although it was 5:30, the ride organizers were still there handing out bumper stickers to first time century riders, ringing a bell and cheering when they gave them out. It was a great feeling to finish and get the bumper sticker. And sit down to the post ride meal.
Since then, I have ridden over a dozen century rides, including 6 century rides last year. Now I finish in the middle of the pack, instead of the rear and it’s not as physically tough now. It is now as much as a mental challenge as a physical challenge, staying focused for the entire ride.
There are 3 keys to a successful century ride:
- Physical Ability - You have to be able to climb the hills on the route. I've seen cyclists walking up hills in the first 10 miles of a ride. That guy was in for a long day. You don’t want to hurt yourself either, tweaking a knee or cramping up will follow you around for the rest of the ride.
- Physical and Mental Endurance - Your muscles are going to be tired and parts of your body are going to be sore. You have to be able to put that aside and continue on with the ride.
- Mental Focus - You have to stay focused on your riding and staying safe for the entire ride. It is easy to get complacent about stop signs and such late in a ride. I've seen where cyclist were hurt because they lost focus. It’s a charity ride, you should be able to go home at the end of the ride for a hot shower and not busted up or worse.
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