No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn

So I seem to be consistently a week late with these reports, which in turn causes me to miss updating on some of the lesser workouts during the week.

Anyway, last weekend for the summer solstice, I joined Coach Cane and his crew for the No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn Century in Prospect Park. It was the first century I had completed since Texas 4000. I'd done plenty of rides in the 80 mile range, but just hadn't logged a century. I really hadn't put a whole lot of miles on my legs this year either due to training for the 50 miler.

I met up with Ross and we rode over to the park together. Once there, I consulted google maps on my phone, we rode down to City Coach and we dropped off Ross' bag. We rode back up to the park with Jonathan Cane and met up with the rest of the group, including my friend Dave who I met on the memorial day weekend rafting trip and Johanna and Doug who I worked with at JackRabbit. We started riding at 7 p.m.

Starting out, we were hammering pretty hard and riding at well over 20 miles and hour. We had to slow down and the first several laps due to and ambulance treating a rider who had been hit by a car. The park was packed with people and we found ourselves dodging runners, riders, balls, and children. I got a flat fairly early on and Ross stopped with me while I patched my tube. We both lost a lap, but hopped back on the pace line when the riders caught up to us. As the sun set, the park began to empty, which made for easier riding. I flatted again around mile 40 and just swapped out tubes. I jumped on the pace line when it came around and continued riding.

I knew we had a quick rest break somewhere around mile 70, so I was trying to hold off stopping to go to the bathroom. Every lap completed, I wished for the stop because I felt like I was going to explode. We kept going and going. Eventually I got my wish and we made a quick stop and I was able to relieve the pressure, fill my water bottles, and grab a quick bite to eat before we were back on the bikes.

Around mile 89, I got dropped fairly severely. I knew there was little chance to catch the group and I was fighting even harder by riding alone. However, I was determined to finish even if I had to ride by myself. I started hammering hard (I don't know where I got the energy) and was able to catch the group after a couple of miles. I latched onto the back of the group, where I stayed for most of the remainder of the night. When I caught back up, Ross informed me that we had 4 remaining laps.

My legs were very fatigued and felt like jelly, but I just kept pushing. We were almost done. I finished out the ride with the group. Although I was 2 laps down from the flats, I ended up riding 117 miles due to the ride to and from the park. It was the first time I'd ever done that distance (nearly) straight through. I'd always had break. It was definitely a challenge and a struggle, but I hung and and finished. There was definitely something very cool about riding in the dark with the park mostly empty as well. That ride struck something in me. I think I want to try a few bike races.

We ended up averaging 18.95 mph, which definitely isn't too shabby. I'm in for next year!