The Eccentric Hobbyist: Second Century of the year

I was off on a Sunday night (due to a trade) so Linda and I decided to do the Cider Mill Century that day. For those who don't know, a century is a 100 mile ride. These are not races but there will always be enough testosterone present to spread the group out. Most of these rides are well sponsored with food/drink/ help stations every 10 mi or so. These stations are called SAG (Support And Gear) stations. If needed, you can always call it quits and take a "SAG" back to the start/end line. Most of these well organized rides are therefore just called "SAG rides". If you ever want to test your limits but are afraid of being out alone, this is your event. Most, if not all, offer shorter courses - as short as 25mi and as long as 75mi. SAG rides cost between $10 and $30 and you really can get your money's worth if you stop at every station. We typically skip a few stations as the goal of riding 100 mi is not to gain weight! Just about every SAG ride has a charity component - to which part of the entry fees go. Probably the most well-known SAG ride is the MS 150 - an annual two-day charity ride for Muscular Dystrophy located in major cities all across the US.

You can see from these pics that it was foggy on the way to the ride and plenty cool at 7am - 59 degrees or so. I put on some arm warmers and Linda brought a light jacket. It warmed up quickly and we shed these by the second SAG stop. The last century we did was with a heat index of 107. This one had temps topping in the high 80s.

Since this was a non-competitive ride, I decided to take out a vintage steel bike - a 1977 Peugeot PX-10. These were popular race bikes of their day and are becoming quite collectible. They are still a quick and smooth ride.

Linda rode her triathlon bike. She had raced the day before and has another next weekend so she wanted to stay familiar with this bike. You can see her jacket and my arm warmers strapped to her aero bars. Velcro straps(available in rolls) are great for long rides. We took some to Italy and learned we would never leave them behind again.

At about mile 15 I stopped to help a guy with a flat tire. Linda rode on with a couple we had started talking to. After the repair I rode with the two guys I'd helped until about the 30 mi. I was telling them of our Italy trip when ahead I saw a cyclist wearing a jersey I had seen in a small shop in a little town in Tuscany. Small world! I raced ahead and struck up a conversation. The female rider had received the jersey as a gift from here sister who lives in Tuscany - she had yet to ride there. Too bad, I could have talked about it forever. After our chat, I accelerated back up to my two friends who had gone ahead. At about the 25 mi stop, I found Linda. It was there she got her tattoo!

In this picture you can see the other tattoo she frequently wears - a "chainring tattoo." She somehow gets these about every time we ride.

We would ride with the "Tuscany" girl and her friends until the Century cutoff where I would have to go a separate way while they completed the 70 mi route. I would see my two "flat tire" friends several more times but eventually went ahead. The little Peugeot passed a lot of newer carbon bikes on the century route and even managed 19.4mph over the last 54 mi.