Metric Century – First One!!

This past weekend the first ever New Moon Century was held. I had intended to do the full Century, but after reading the route description I thought I’d be better off with the Metric. I couldn’t have been more right. The route started off pretty mellow. I rode with a pack of riders for just about the first 20 miles. After the first rest stop though, I was on my own. I managed to catch up to another rider and we rode together for the next 15 miles or so to the next rest stop. It was here, at mile marker 40 where it got tough.

The climb up Mulholland was long and steep. About 2000 ft in 10 miles. I’ve been told that we climbed it the easy direction, but it was tough for me. This is where the Long Haul Trucker is not ideal. My bike weighed in at about 45lbs. I was being passed left and right by riders on 20lbs or less bikes. After about an hour and half or so of climbing I made it to the lunch stop.

Not expecting to see any of our group I made a sandwich. First I noticed one of our guys sitting on the grass resting. Then another of the group pulled in behind me! He had the joy of fixing 3 flats! It turns out that my slow pace up the climb had actually caught me up with the faster riders due to their issues. Slow and steady wins the race!

From here it was only about 10 miles to the finish, so the 3 of us rode together to the end.

Here’s a map of the route. Click the button on the image to see the Elevation Profile.

It was a great day, even though it was hard. I am glad I did it though. So glad that I’ve already signed up for my next one. With less climbing though!