Activity: road cycling
Location: Chaneyville, MD > Lower Marlboro > Prince Frederick > Lusby > North Beach > Owings > Chaneyville
Distance: 101 miles (rolling hills)
Duration: 4:53
Weather: sunny, dry with some breeze, 67-81 degrees
Avg HR: 140 (max 171)
Type: aerobic

ABRT’s Bay Country Century. The route is fairly flat, with lots of short rollers along the entire route (around 3,000 feet of elevation gain, give or take). I got off to a later start than my friends who also took part, so I rode over 90 percent of this ride alone. Furthermore, I never drafted anybody (though some riders drafted me), so this was basically my chance at a solo century PR. I covered 100.0 miles in 4:50:50, which is the fastest I’ve covered 100 miles without any group tactics.

I rode the first 50 miles in 2:20:00, which is the fastest I’ve ever covered such a distance, solo or not. Miles 50 to 80 were slower than I’d liked: I mis-timed some hills, which slowed my pace more than I wanted, but I made a lot of it up in the last 20 miles.

The weather was absolutely perfect: a few high, wispy cirrus clouds, but otherwise deep blue skies. The wind picked up as the day went on, but it wasn’t too bad. And the temperature was perfect for a long-distance ride.

And post-ride, there was no queue for the massage therapists, so I indulged in a 20-minute workdown of my legs and shoulders – so nice!