| Where | When | Bicycle | Distance | Time | Average | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Badan IL area | 1994/09/11 | TREK 830 | 102.10 | 08:05:00 | 12.60 | 1st Century Ride |
| Sedan KS/Parson KS | 1995/06/16 | TREK 830 | 101.82 | n/a | n/a | 2nd Century Ride, Biking Across Kansas Day 7 |
| Webster Groves MO/Elsah IL | 2001/07/07 | TREK 830 | 107.74 | 07:32:43 | 14.279 | 3rd Century Ride, Heat Index 110 |
| Columbia IL/Ellis Grove IL | 2002/08/31 | TREK 830 | 104.02 | 07:16:51 | 14.287 | 4th Century Ride, Bluff Road |
| Greenville IL/Vandalia IL | 2003/06/29 | TREK 7500FX | 101.32 | 06:36:53 | 15.318 | 5th Century Ride, w/Jerry Roloff |
| Webster Groves MO/Grafton IL | 2004/10/09 | Klien Q Carbon Team | 116.16 | 07:10:19 | 16.196 | 6th Century Ride |
| Saint Charles MO/Jefferson City MO | 2005/07/01 | TREK 7500FX | 104.70 | 07:18:23 | 14.33 | 7th Century Ride |
| Webster Groves MO/Alton IL | 2006/09/02 | Klien Q Carbon Team | 115.04 | 07:15:52 | 15.83 | 8th Century Ride, w/Tom Crespi |
| Columbia MO area | 2007/09/08 | Klien Q Carbon Team | 104.35 | 05:52:23 | 17.76 | 9th Century Ride, MS150 Day 1 |
Description: American Youth Hostels (AYH) Flat as Pancake Century. It was still dark when I left to drive to New Badan. First attempt at a century ride. Hadn't really trained much but had ridden about 700 miles for the year. I was almost in an accident thanks to some bad behavior of a local riding club - they were riding as a pack, 4 or 5 abreast and a couple members crashed into each other. Rode a 60 mile loop in the morning then stopped at the park and had a good lunch. Mary and Kelly were suppose to meet me during the lunch break but I decided to get going on the final 40 mile loop. I left them a note and map in my truck and took off. They found me about the 70 mile mark. It was uplifting to see them. A fellow rider rode by and yelled "hey, no fair!".
I rode conservative, a little slower than my normal average trying to make sure I had enough gas to make all the way. I stopped every hour or so for a short rest, to stretch and for food, mostly fig newtons. I remember the final 5 or so miles: I knew I was going to make it. I was tired and my legs and butt hurt and my hands were going numb. In those final few mile I witnessed 2 or 3 road bikers sitting beside the road, looking really bad. I guess they had bonked.
I got back to the park and most people were long gone. I asked a woman to take my picture since it was my first century I wanted a picture to mark the occasion. I stopped on the way home for a caffinated drink as I was so tired, incrediably tired. I've never felt so tired in my life - tired to the bone. My hands were numb for 2 or 3 days. I didn't ride my bike again for 3 weeks. But I did the century on a mountain bike frame with big (1.9") road tires!
Previous month: 14 rides, 339.96 miles.
Year to date total mileage: 670.93.
Description: 2nd Century Ride, Biking Across Kansas Day 7. My great friend Joe Dietrick and I made it to Parsons Kansas after riding about 80 miles from Sedan. Once there we decided to double back about 10 miles to setup our century ride. This was Joe's first century ride.
Previous month: 19 rides, 669.89 miles.
Year to date total mileage: 1027.82.
Description: 3rd Century Ride, Heat Index 110. Century Ride from home via Riverfront Trail, Chain of Rocks Bridge, Route 3, Highways 143, Highway 100. I started early about 6:01am and ended at 3:41pm. The heat index at 3:00pm was 110. Very hot! I stopped at work and sat in the air conditioning for about 30 minutes. I took a more direct route home and stopped aboout 3 miles from home to rehydrate and cool off. I was so hot! I struggled home and sat on the kitchen floor - I was exhausted. Once I stood up I got a nasty leg cramp in my thigh.
Previous month: 17 rides, 670.43 miles.
Year to date total mileage: 1585.97.
Description: 4th Century Ride, Bluff Road. Century ride on the Bluff Rd, Route 3, Shawnee Town Trail Rd. I was trying to get to Chester IL but was discouraged due to traffic on Route 3. I turned of on Shawnee Town Trail Rd, rode a bit and turned around. I stopped a butcher shop and got a sandwich to eat. A young man came out and talked to me as I ate. He was kind enough to refill my water bottles. I stopped at the grocery store in Praire du Rocher on the way there and back. I saw the following dead things: 8 racoons, 1 deer, 1 fox, 1 cat, 1 skunk. Also saw 10 trains. My right leg cramped at 99.90 miles. I dangled my right leg and kept pedaling with my left to get to 100.00 miles. I was conerned that I might not be able to restart if I stopped. Silly I know. I slowed my pace and made it the remaining 4 miles.
Previous month: 6 rides, 169.48 miles.
Year to date total mileage: 1083.12.
Description: 5th Century Ride. AYH Filecracker 100 ride. Original route only 96 miles. Rather warm at the finish 89°. With friend Jerry Roloff. Just for the record the AYH Firecracker came up a bit short in 2003 as it was only about 96 miles. It was disappointing that the route wasn't actually 100 miles long. Jerry and I doubled back a couple miles to make up the missing 4 miles in order to get our true 100 miles. Jerry pulled us along and kept our average speed up. This was his first century ride - he rode a mountain bike. The bike is a 2002 model TREK 7500FX Fitness bike equipped 700 x 32 road tires. Some pictures are available on Fotki.com.
Previous month: 15 rides, 773.52 miles.
Year to date total mileage: 1670.65.
Description: 6th Century Ride. Route: Big Bend, Germania, Broadway, Riverfront Trail, COR Bridge, Trail to Alton, Great River Rd. 100 miles in 6:08:53, 16.2. Temp 60-69°. Lunch at Lilly's in north Grafton IL. Personal bests in distance and average (for a century ride). Took 23 pictures along the way which are available at Fotki.com .
Previous month: 10 rides, 289.36 miles.
Year to date total mileage: 2418.49.
Description: 7th Century Ride. Route: KATY all the way. 100 miles in 6:58:45, 14.3. Overcast for most of the morning. Mild day. At the 75 mile mark my front tire was sliced open by a piece of glass. I made emergency repairs and limped on to Jefferson City. Took 44 pictures along the way which are available at Fotki.com .
Previous month: 12 rides, 352.98 miles.
Year to date total mileage: 1425.10.
Description: 8th Century Ride. Route: Webster Groves MO to Creve Coeur Park, Page Avenue extension (Highway 364) to Saint Charles MO, north and east on 94/H to 367, Clark bridge to Alton IL, lunch at Subway. Confluence Trail to Hartford IL, east to South Roxana IL and the Watershed Trail, to Edwardsville IL and the Schoolhouse Trail to Madison IL, 203 to Collinsville Rd into East Saint Louis IL. Eads bridge was closed so we backtracked to the ML King bridge (not a bike friendly bridge). Hit 100 miles at Union Station, downtown Saint Louis. Then home via Forest Park and Maplewood.
With Tom Crespi, his first century ride. 100 miles in 6:14:21, 16.028. Partly sunny, mild day. Took 21 pictures along the way which are available at Fotki.com .
Previous month: 11 rides, 345.71 miles.
Year to date total mileage: 1909.47.
Description: 9th Century Ride. MS150 Day 1, the hilly day. Route: Big loop south of Columbia MO. The century route added a loop north across I70 on the east side of Columbia. The entire may be viewed at the All Sport GPS website.
Road the first few miles with Kevin Craven, til the first rest stop. Good day for riding distance as it was overcast, moderate in temperature, humidity and no rain! 100 miles in 6:31:39 clock time, 5:37:53 riding time, 17.7 average. Took 42 pictures along the way, including pre and post-ride activities, which are available at Fotki.com .
Previous month: 9 rides, 296.35 miles.
Year to date total mileage: 1903.47.
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