Today I rode my bicycle 64 miles (a little more than a metric century) around the Willamette Valley. I've never done an organized ride (one might say I've never done anything organized, but that is a different post). For $23 ($18 if you pre register, I, being unorganized, didn't) you get a route map, a rider number, tons of food at the rest stops, mechanical help at all (3) stops, spray painted markers at all turns, and a large slice of peach pie! Definitely $23 well spent. I've always been critical of organized events such as running events or rides like this but not anymore, I'm a converted man. The best part of the ride were the scheduled rest stops with ample amounts of food. There was no scheduled start time but with more than a thousand riders the course was busy the whole time and the rest stops were bustling.
I elected to ride the metric century as the "real"century sounded like a lot of work and I hadn't prepared for it. At the end I had the muscle strength to go 35 more miles but I'm not sure my shoulders, elbows or back would have allowed it so I made a wise choice to stick with the 64 miles.
The only downside to my ride was when I rode over a giant pot hole. My water bottle flew off of my bike and before I stopped both of my tires were flat. I was riding very close to another rider and he was also riding close to another rider. He notified me of the hole as he swerved and I didn't have enough time to react. We had the bike in working order in 15 minutes and were back to the grind. Another advantage of riding in a large event like this was that help was never far away. Nearly every minute while we were stopped someone asked us if we had everything we needed.
The ride was put on by the Salem Bicycle Club. The club also sponsors a watermelon ride and the Monster Cookie ride. Maybe next year I'll do the "real" century for one of these.
