I rode my second 100 mile (century) ride today, about 3 months after my first one. I rate it a success and am pleased with how I did. It took 6 hours 22 1/2 min to travel the 104.1 miles. (More about that in a minute!) Heart rate peaked at 145 and averaged 129 (including stops), near the high end of my aerobic level, though I spent a fair amount of time in the 135 range without a problem (see splits below). According to the monitor I managed to burn 4018 calories. My speed topped out at 40.5 mph (on a great downhill that had a warning posted to keep it under 20) and an average of 16.9 mph. I made 3 stops on the ride, beginning with the stop at the turnaround point, plus 2 more for supplies and a potty break: 14 1/2 min altogether. After I finished the ride I put the bike in the van, slipped on my running shoes, and ran down the road for 8 minutes, turned around, did a 1 minute walk break and finished running back.
Overall I think I had a much better ride compared to the one last October. My average heart rate was 6 beats less and my speed 1.1 mph faster. It's difficult to compare rides on different courses but this one just felt better.
Enough of that. Here's what I learned... First, I didn't learn from my mistake the last time. I went with no map and managed to not turn at the only turn that wasn't marked out on the course, riding 2 miles the wrong way, on a dangerous road no less, before I turned around. What an idiot! At least I wasn't the only one. So I rode 4.1 extra miles.
Second, I'm the first to admit that I'm at best only a "fair", not even a "good", rider. While out on the road today 4 cyclists riding as a group and drafting for each other invited me to "jump in". Since drafting isn't legal in most triathlons I had no intention of doing that. Besides, I consider myself a potential "road hazard".
Last, at a number of points in the ride, when I felt strong with my pedal strokes, was settled into an aerodynamic position on the aerobars, and kept up or passed other riders who looked like they knew what they're doing, I felt like a pretty darned good rider. It gives me confidence I can use in future triathlons. Then, just to remind me that I'm really not all that, as I crossed the finish line and slowed to a stop in the parking lot, I unclipped my right foot but couldn't unclip my left. At the very last split second my foot unclipped from the pedal just before I "crashed", traveling at .1 mph after 104.1 miles! Brilliant riding; next time unclip before you come to a stop!
I did try to do splits every hour but lost track a little bit. At first my conclusion was that it's not worth it. But now, looking at the breakdown, it is helpful. I can see some effort level changes, etc. that have a lot to do with hills. I can also see that my rest stops did affect my overall speed, average heartrate, and final time. What I have:
61:26 - HR143/124, 16.3mph
59:28 - HR137/129, 14.2mph
68:27 - HR143/130, 15.7mph
23:37 (3:32:59 - 54.5 miles - "1/2" way) - HR141/130, 15.1mph
~6:27 break - HR123/113,
22:13 - HR138/130, 18.8mph
~5:23 break - HR136/108
53:29 - HR145/133, 19.4mph
~2:22 break - HR135/120,
79:56 - HR144/133, 18.8mph
Run ~1.5 miles, 16:12
HR150/138; 193 cal
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