Century Ride of 9.7.08 (and massive UPD)

[David_Stone]

Today would have been the first ever 6-person Century completion ever, except only one of us actually rode the 100 miles, and it wasn't I.

The riders
Me, Roland Kays, Perry Woodin, Steve Relles, Adam Cohen, and Andrew ___, a 19-year old I'd not met before. Roland and I were on geared 29s, but the others were on Cokers. We all arrived at Central Park North except for Adam, who had parking issues following a flat tire that he had to fix late in the game. He still managed to pull off 75 miles, which is quite impressive. Steve also finished with Adam, while Perry came in at an impressive 55; I'm not sure about Andrew).

Start
The other 5 of us took off a few minutes earlier than the training wheel crowd, but they quickly passed us when I took everyone 5 blocks out of the way by accident (I possess a wonderful sense of misdirection). Eventually we headed down a slightly different route that allowed us a faster, smoother (and longer) ride towards the Brooklyn Bridge. We stayed together until the first rest stop (at mile 14) after which Roland and I zipped off with the goal of 100 miles; the others had to contend with choosing 55 or 75-mile options due to the time constraints (12 hours max).

Going for the hundred
Roland and I had a great time. The route took us around all of Brooklyn, which had a pretty flat route, and thence around Queens, which never seemed to end. In fact, the break between rest stops is surprisingly large at that point, going from mile 42 to 71 without any peanut butter or bananas. We took our own breaks frequently, partly to rest my groin or Roland's legs.

Pain and breaks
It was odd how each of us suffered differently, especially since I was not expecting any troubles after having such a relatively pain-free Lobster. But the breaks made a huge difference, and by mile 71, we'd made great time and were looking at finishing by 5pm (that is, in 11 hours, total). This was not to be.

More pain: a massive UPD for me and wet pants
A few miles later, as we finally arrived in the Bronx, it was time for me to upshift yet again. I was just ruminating over how many times I'd successfully shifted up to that point -- 50? 100? -- when suddenly the gear didn't catch and I fell over backwards like a bowling pin. Happily I was wearing a helmet, wrist guards, and even a fanny pack hydration system. All of these were essential in my coming out of the fall with nothing more than two tiny scratches on my elbows. But in falling, I smashed my helmet on the ground. I wasn't dazed, but it was certainly the hardest I've hit my head (out of three times total). The fall didn't hurt my shoulders only because I didn't have time to move my arms from my sides, which might have resulted in a worse fall. But as I lay there realizing that I was ok, I wondered why my pants were wet: my hydration pack had ruptured. Having checked that my body was unhurt, I next checked my 2nd-most valuable possession at the time, but luckily my iPhone was ok. Phew!

Gun shy and sore
At this point, I had ridden about 78 miles. There was still time to complete the 100, but I was nervous that my head or neck might have some latent injury and that I had no water for the remainder of the ride, tho I could always buy liquid, so that wasn't a big issue. The real issue, however, was my bum. I was really sore at this point, and I worried that I'd only be making things worse if I rode for 3 more hours. I decided to quit the ride a bit early and headed to the race's endpoint while Roland rode on thru the hilly Bronx. He ended up finishing the ride (about 105 miles) in just over 12 hours.

Rosy cheeks
When I got to my mom's afterwards for a shower, I took a look at my bottom. It looked like one of those cartoon Santa faces from the 1960s with really red cheeks. The shower was painful and the drive home (80 miles, or just about the same distance it took me 10 hours to ride) was a bit uncomfortable.

The good news
Well, I was happy that my ride didn't tire my legs or make any other muscles sore and that I was able to ride nearly 85 miles after having only ridden about 25 since the Lobster. It's too bad about my seat and about that UPD, but it was still a great day.

[harper]

Originally Posted by David_Stone

When I got to my mom's afterwards for a shower, I took a look at my bottom. It looked like one of those cartoon Santa faces from the 1960s with really red cheeks.

Didn't one of those cheeks wear my tattoo a few years ago?

Good ride, David. You're no sissy.

[tomblackwood]

Great write-up, and sounds like a great ride even with the unhappy ending on the century quest. It sounds like you had a "perfect storm" of protection to keep that fall from being much worse.

You mentioned this was the first-time 6-person century attempt, although I had thought this had been done previously during the 2007 ride around Lake Tahoe. Irene, Nathan and Beau, M. Scalisi, and Ryan Woessner are all listed together in the "Who has completed a 100 mile ride?" thread, but I thought that day that Scot Cooper and John Foss also did the century instead of the normal 75. I might be wrong, since I didn't actually see them do it. They pulled away from me by Mile 5, and I didn't see them again until I finished the 75...a very long time later, and after all of the centurions had finished.

[tholub]

I had a fall on my bike, when the seat post clamp broke while I was riding with no hands, unceremoniously dumping me on the road at something near 20 mph. You don't want to see the pictures. I couldn't sit down for a week. But no serious damage; you're fortunate to have a lot of flesh down there.

An incredible ride anyway. Frankly, I think it's incredible that anyone still considers doing long road rides after RTL. I've had my life fill at this point.

Hope you recover quickly!

[nathan]

Sorry to hear about the crash David, but it sounds like it could've been much worse.

On our century ride last year, there were indeed 6 unicyclists who set out to do the full 100 and all of us did make it. It was Scot's second century but the first for the rest of us. I'm not sure of everyone's time but Beau and I finished in 11:20 if I remember right.

Here are photos etc: http://nhoover.smugmug.com/gallery/2955744_deRzP

Get well quick,
Nathan

[David_Stone]

Sorry for misreporting about the 'largest group to attempt' .... Somehow I'd gotten that impression. Too bad we didn't have a bit more time or at least two more riders could have finished.

[steveyo]

Wow - this thread got posted fast. When I got home, it was all I could do to drag myself upstairs and crawl into bed.

I'd had the 100-miler in my sights, but after some lolly-gagging and a long line at the first rest-stop's bathroom, I began to realize that there wasn't enough time for the full monty. Adam had planned on the 55 mile loop, but we compromised on the 75, farther than either of us had ever ridden. We took our time with leisurely breaks (12 hours, but only 8 hours of riding).

This event is incredibly well-run. The well-marked route does a great link-up of existing bike-paths, parks and New York's mammoth bridges. We also had the good fortune of perfect weather, breezy, upper 70s, and the hurricane the day before left the air crystal-clear, a rarity in the Big Apple.

With 6000 bikers, we were the subjects of constant questions and extravagant praise. One lovely, hard-bodied cycle-mama told me "You guys are rock-stars!" Made my day.

[einrad101]

Hey,
Even though I didn't complete the century i opted for the 55 due to time, and a pain i was developing in my achilles. i finished the 55 at around 1:30 ish.
The 55 seemed to be a let down because i had done two 60 miles before this without feeling like the way I did after and when i woke up this morning. But I saw some really cool parts of NYC, and riding over the Brooklyn bridge in the morning was awesome, and differently one of the coolest things i did.

But i am must say we were a well known group of riders by the time the day was over. And I think we changed a lot of peoples views on us. I most of heard "hey your one the unicyclists" like 100 times, and everybody was constantly asking us questions about our way of transportation.

I think Dave and Roland met Sal (one of the marshals), and i ran into him later. He has plan to buy and learning on the 36, even though i did my best to talk him out of it for a smaller tire first.

How did the other cokers fare? We got parted in between the first and second rest stop. If my achilles was hurting so much i would have loved to at least done the 75 miles.

I am looking forward to doing these again next year, and guess I will be on the big one getting in even better shape for it once my ankle feels better.

[siafirede]

Who has completed a century on a guni? So far I only know of Roland and another rider from Seattle that posted about doing a century on his 29er guni.

I don't think there have been many!

[steveyo]

I found a nice google map of the century ride, but it doesn't show the 15-mile, 35-mile, 55-mile, or 75-mile cut-offs.

From the website http://www.nyccentury.org/, here's a small map showing those cut-offs...

[David_Stone]

Originally Posted by siafirede

Who has completed a century on a guni? So far I only know of Roland and another rider from Seattle that posted about doing a century on his 29er guni.

I don't think there have been many!

My 2nd century was on a 1st generation Schlumpf, back in 2003 I think. Funnily enough, it mis-shifted, too, but I happened to be leaning forward and wasn't hurt -- just scared. I guess that may have been the first geared century bit I don't know.

I found yesterday's riding easier than when I was on my Coker (my first century, I think it was 2001) because I shifted often and didn't kill my leg muscles.

[capuni]

After the 1st rest stop, I never saw David again. And Andrew never sat still long enough for me to get a photo

So... here are some photos of me (Perry), Adam, Steve and Roland.


Perry at Nathan's Famous in Coney Island


Adam and Steve at the finish


Roland at the finish


Roland purging. Check out the kid pointing to him.

[David_Stone]

That photo of Roland puking is too funny. Poor guy. I talked with him this morning, and he said he was feeling better.

[johnfoss]

Great write-up! Don't worry David, even if you didn't finish the 100 miles, you'll always be a Centurion! Plus I guess it wasn't your first century anyway. Certainly if that ride was all on roads that are open to traffic, it was a ton more work mentally than a ride around Lake Tahoe. And, from my experience with the Bike New York ride back in the day, it's bumpy! Or was that just my old hard-tire big wheel?

The Tahoe ride of course has a lot less oxygen (lake level about 6300' and the ride isn't flat), so each has its challenges. On the '07 ride I made it all the way around the lake, which is 72 miles. That's still my longest ride to date. This year I had some new milestones, of which many of us share at least one:
- My longest unicycle race ever (RTL of course)
- Longest MUni race ever (NAUCC MUni Marathon, 17km)
- Full marathon in under 2 hours (1:48)
- Full marathon without a dismount (ouch!!)
- Possibly my steepest-ever uphill ride of any length (Unicon Uphill race)

[Klaas Bil]

That was an entertaining read, the more so because a week ago I met Roland and rode 50 miles with him. That was my longest ride ever, and I know I'm not ready for double that distance. Congrats for Roland finishing his century and all other riders for getting that far.

David, when you said "the gear didn't catch" when upshifting, did you mean it stayed in low gear, or it was temporarily a coasting hub? The first happens all the time to me and it's usually no problem (except one of frustration if it happens too often), so I'm guessing it was "in between two gears". That's scary! But I thought that that problem had been solved by Florian?