Baldy's first century

[Baldy]

Woohoo! I did it
Cant rely on the blokes with the baggy greens to get one so I had a crack myself It wasnt planned, I was just going to do my normal ride to fern tree but felt ok so just kept rolling along. Had a great day weather wise but no photos as I forgot the camera again....I need to get myself a mobile phone [for the camera and as an emergency device] The computer was showing 98kms when I got back to the turn off to my place so I went past for a couple of km's to knock it over.[which felt a bit weird ]
I signed up at bikely and made a map of the ride, its fairly accurate except where I rode on the cyclepath from Claremont to the city and it took a couple of wrong turns in the city on auto mode but after 6-7 goes at it with it crashing and me having to start again its bloody close enough[so damn annoying]. the total distance allmost matches my bikes computer anyway. I mainly did just for people who arnt familiar with the area and place names.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Hobart-Century
[Quick rundown for locals: Claremont-Ferntree-Sandfly-Margate-Howden-Blackmans Bay-Kingston-Sandybay-Claremont]

Stats off my comp are:
Distance: 102.26
Max: 65kph
Time: 4hr 21mins
Average: 23.5kph

Most of you lot would leave me for dust as you can see by the ride time But im fairly happy with it, I never thought about the time....just making it without any dramas was enough, dicky knee feels ok....the back held up...good enuf

cheers
Baldy

ps: I tried to get the map to display in this post but couldnt work it out, it said to copy and paste some html code or something?

[Kalgrm]

Well done Baldy. You're a bloody legend mate!

The first one is always something to celebrate.

Cheers,
Graeme

[justD]

Well done mate and a nice way to end your year!

Don't feel bad about your speed, I've done a fair number of centuries and still average less than 23.5kph.

Nice achievement for the year. Are you going to join me in aiming for an imperial century next year?

[Wino]

Sensational effort, well done!

There nothing better than a great day out in the saddle, good weather, no mechanicals problems, you're feeling good and it all goes well.

Respect!

[Baldy]

Thanks very much guys

I pulled up ok today, bit tight this morning but after some work in the garden am feeling better.
Also I forgot to say it wasnt until about the 70km mark at about sandybay I think that I started thinking geez...I'll just about need to do 100km to get home. I only expected the loop to be 70-80kms but its been years since ive driven via Longley/sandfly and the Km's soon add up eh!

JustD, Geez I dunno about that....it would have to be very very late next year I dont really have any goals other than to do some touring. I just ride for fun but for motivation when things get a bit gnarly I think about it as practice/training and every km I do now will make things easier when Im on the road touring one day.[hope to do a few short ones before the end of summer/mid autmn]

cheers
Baldy

[RobRollin]

Congrats mate! You got in before 2010! Sorry I wasn't with you. Hopefully we can catch up for a ride in 2010. I am planning on a fe wmore 100km rides with the groups of riders I Hobart.

[Aushiker]

Hi

Well done.

I have moved this to General Discussion so the wider audience can pat you on the back

Andrew

[stubbie]

Well done Baldy, at that speed I'd probably be eating your dust.

[trailgumby]

Outstandnig result, mate. Excellent average speed for such a distance.

Legend!

[Mulger bill]

Hail Centurian

Nice one Baldy, your average is close to mine so it must be slow

Cheers
Shaun

[Baldy]

haha thanks Andrew, I forgot not everyone is as compulsive as me checking the active topic section everyday

Thanks everyone, I feel like im slowly improving. One thing I still struggle with is eating and drinking enough, did that ride on 2 banannas,3 nutbars,1 sausage roll, small can of V and 2 bidons of water. I reckon most of the ride was running on the xmas day feeding But next time I'll try to eat and drink much more, the only time I found the going tough was over the little hill in Howden. It caught me by surprise I guess because I had never driven it so wasnt sure what to expect, turns out it was steep enough to keep you honest and slowish kind of surface. It seemed to drag on a bit further than I thought but after cooling off a bit on the run down into Blackmans bay and a slow recovery crawl up the hill to Kingston beach I got a 2nd wind

No doubt I'll do the same route again, its fairly scenic up around Fern tree and down towards Longley and I was playing the tourist a bit, rubbernecking at all the new development/houses since I was a kid and lived in the area. Oh and the average could easily be improved with less bird watching at Kingston and Sandy bay beaches But I dont really think about it, its jsut something I check when I get home. But it still doesnt mean much because I dont really have any routes set in stone, its like a rabbits warren of hills and backstreets between my place and the mountain so its good for variety. Not to mention the wind must play a big part in your average for any given ride...so its all a bit lost on me But I do understand it could be usefull for someone who is fair dinkum about performance and improvement for racing.

I'll get some photos next time and add them to this thread, it said on that bikely thing theres bout 1400m of climbing in that route which amazed me a bit but gives some nice vantage points for views into the bay at Margate and beyond. And of the mountain from the hill going over Howden. I know Tas might be a bit backward but geez we look good doing it

cheers
Baldy