Pinensula Metric Century

A co-worker (Dave) and I signed up for the 100K PMC route for yesterdays ride and he was kind enough to pedal at a pace I could keep up with. Some of the hills were significant in elevation gain and really tested my leg strength/lung capacity, but I made it up all of them. The views on the coast line weren’t the greatest because the sun didn’t come out until the end of the ride, but what we did see was quite impressive. The route was marked, but some of the painted directional symbols need to be done again because we missed a few turns. Luckily, Dave has ridden the area several times in the past and got us back on course. The guy commutes at least three times a week with a 37 mile round trip and this was just another weekend ride for him.  

Dave and I at the finish.

Showing off our bad ass commuter muscles, we showed up with fenders, bike racks and fat tires still installed and we were the only riders to do so. The rest were all roadies, prepped for speed instead of distance. We may have been heavier and slower, but we still showed up a fair number of the speedsters and the softer ride was well worth it. : ) I feel we didn't do too bad on time since we left at 0730 and finished at 1300 stopping at each of the three rest stops for food, fluids and a restroom break . The volunteers were serving Strawberry Short Cake at the finish and if I didn't have another 45 minutes in the saddle I would have kept eating until they cut me off. It was gooooooood. Doing a long ride without any mechanical issues is a bonus and we were fortunate to fall into that category. I did encounter some ghost shifting, but I’m hoping a new cable will fix it. My rear wheel stayed in place, so I guess my drop out fix is good to go. Together we did 62 miles, but I road home to make it 75 for me and the longest ride for the year. I’ll need to get more miles in if I’m going to hang with my brother during the Midnight Century.