The Half and Half Century

I wanted some hills on the next big one, but I wanted a bunch of miles to get me over the 6500 mile mark. And as the summer begins to wane, I'm losing my early morning daylight, leading to later start times. With sunrise just before 6:30am, my choices for long days in the saddle are either be late for dinner (no way!) or take the Frankenbike. I suppose the third choice would be to try to ride hard and fast but, well, that ain't me. Getting in a century while fighting headwinds the last 30 miles is plenty tough enough.

I took a straight shot down to Livonia via Clover Street / Route 65 and Poplar Hill Road. My reward came in the form of shiny smooth pavement on Big Tree Road leading out of Livonia headed toward Honeoye. One of my favorite roads, Big Tree is particularly fun when you head east bound with solid Northwest tailwinds!

At mile 38, I stopped in Honeoye for a slice of pizza and a coke just before the climb into the Bristol Hills via Honeoye (US20A) and Bristol Roads (CR21). This route, from Honeoye through Bristol Center and into Canandaigua on CR32 always triggers the Wayback Machine for me, as it's part of the Gear '80 Hilly Century. Our club hosted the Great Eastern Rally in 1980 (and again in 1993) based in Geneseo and at the ripe age of 24, I led the Hilly on a day that rained most of the day. Standing in the rain at the top of the hill just east of Bristol Center and looking at the next hill to the west was "intimidating". I'll never forget it.

My next stop at mile 53 was in Canandaigua for a coffee at Dalai Java. By this point, the hills of the ride are done and heading north leads to gently rolling terrain of the Wayne County drumlins. No need to stop in Shortsville, no need to stop in Newark, and no need to stop in Sodus as it was a cool day and I had plenty of water on board. But when I got to Lake Road and turned east into the headwinds, I REALLY craved for a stop, but the next place was Pultneyville. 

At mile 92 in Pultneyville, I took a break. Ordered a Taco Wrap. And a coke. And I sat looking at my progress. By this time, my overall average speed had dropped to 14.9. I was facing another 25 miles of headwind, at the least. Not expecting a winning performance today, I rested and ate, and killed 30 minutes surrendering to the moment. I packed 1/2 of my wrap in the camelback, and rolled on.

Although it started slowly, my speed began to pick up as the wind began to soften just a bit. Just a bit, but enough. I pulled into the driveway and stopped the clock. 121 miles in 9:48. Shocked. I bested our "typical average" of 10mph by better than two hours.

Saved Century #19 to the log, then early to bed.