Last Century of the Year

I am happy to say that I completed my 10th century of the year. We had about 11 people who started out on the ride. Two were only doing about 50 miles, but everyone else had plans to get in 100 miles.

We started out around 8:00 am. The biggest issue with riding this late in the season is temperature change. Today, it was noticeable. When we left, the temperature was in the high 40's. By 11:00, it was in the mid-70's. Not that big of a deal, except determining the right clothing to wear. I opted to wear full leggings today...no shorts...thinking that it would be OK to keep my legs warm and avoid them stiffening when we make a stop . I wore a regular short-sleeved jersey, not being too concerned with the upper body gettting cold. I did bring two sets of gloves; one set of full fingered gloves and another pair wih the fingers cut off.

The day was perfect. Very minor breeze from the southeast, sunny with no clouds, perfect temperature...you couldn't ask for anything more. Starting at Crossroads Church, we rode about 30 miles to our first rest stop at a gas station in Haubstadt. Our second stop was for lunch at a Subway in Wadesville at mile 53. Our last rest stop was a gas station in Evansville at mile 80.

About 20 miles into the ride, I crossed the 16,000 mile mark on my bike. The odometer is still carrying the original battery that I the computer came with. It is due for a new battery very soon. So it's taken me 3.5 years to compile that mileage. I'm very happy.

Outside of a small stretch of rolling hills, I felt pretty strong throughout the ride. Considering I haven't put on a lot of miles this fall and I'm just getting over some sort of illness, I was worried about falling apart halfway through the ride. I finished the day with a 16.4 mph average (which is VERY good for me).

This is the most of centuries I've completed in a year. I met my goal for the year. Pretty happy.