Today marked my first 100+ mile ride. Actually, it was a 110 mile ride, but it seems that just getting beyond the 100 mile barrier is what is important. We have a 95 mile ride tomorrow, but for some reason it sounds easy, even though it's only a few miles shorter than today.
Getting through today's ride was an intense experience. One I haven't felt since training for a marathon a couple of years ago. There's a different level between being in shape and going through a century. Your legs want to stop moving, and they ache differently than when trying to ride hard. Time moves in very weird ways. It was surprising how fast each water stop came up, but each mile after about 70 dragged on and on. Somewhere after lunch I began to crave meat. I can't tell you much about the places we rode by today, my focus wasn't on any of it. I'm pretty sure we passed an airport, and there was definitely some farm land, but other than that there's not much that I noticed. This morning we were in downtown Columbus, and it would be a hassle to drive as far as we rode.
I'm proud of myself for the ride today. I'm proud of the team for the ride today. I'm glad I was able to stay awake long enough to write this post.