Team Portland's first century! Our furthest, hottest, flattest day.

Today we cycled 109 miles!! We are EXHAUSTED. We rode from Columbus to Eaton, Ohio, which is 20 miles west of Dayton. Today was most of the team's first century (mine included).

Our 109-mile route from Columbus to Eaton.

In the morning I just mentally prepared myself to be on my bike all day. I tried not to focus on the mileage as we were riding, I tried not to calculate what percent of the ride we had completed, and I tried not to look at the time too much. It worked! I had a great day.

I wish I could say the day started off without a hitch, but alas, that was not the case. We meant to set off at 7 am (earlier than we've ever started before) in order to get into the host in a timely manner. However, due to people having trouble getting up, people collecting their stray items from all over the frat house, and a last-minute flat tire, we didn't get rolling until around 7:40. 

The first turn we were supposed to make was a road that was closed. Luckily the water van had gone ahead of us, and thanks to some quick problem solving they chalked out an alternate route for us before we even got there. But soon after, we were supposed to get on a bike trail, and it turns out the trail was closed for construction. We ended up sitting at a stop for close to a half hour while the water van scouted out an alternate route. It was frustrating because we were all pumped up for our century. But the water van did a great job and we were soon on our way and back on our route. Then we were on our way!

Water stop #1. (Yes we do have a poster of Jared's face and yes it gets displayed at every water stop.)

Our food schedule for the day was amazing: We had stops at mile 20, 40, 60, and 80. At mile 60 we ate our actual lunch, but we ate a bunch of snacks and mini meals at the other stops too. Snacks we eat at water stops include Clif bars, clif shots, trail mix, apples, bananas, protein bars, and PB&J. Lunch was nothing short of fantastic. The food van hooked us up with an incredible amount of food: burgers and fries, wraps, fried rice, and bagels. 

The team digging in to our abundance of food at our lunch stop.

Sarah taking a quick nap at lunch.

Needless to say, we went crazy eating everything in sight. Everybody did a great job hydrating and eating. We didn’t have any issues with heat exhaustion, dizziness, or dehydration. Also, the vans did a great job being where they said they would be and getting food, so we had no hangry riders today!!

It's kind of hard to see since we're totally blocking the letters, but it says London - when we went through London, Ohio on the bike trail.

For a solid 60 miles of the ride, we were on the Ohio-Erie bike trail! It was an awesome trail… perfectly paved, perfectly straight, and most importantly… perfectly flat!!! The miles rolled by easily and we pacelined and drafted in the relatively safe environment. It really makes the ride easier to do that. When we pacelined we were cruising at an average of 18 mph and for the 5 miles before lunch when we all just wanted to get to the stop, we were pushing 21 mph!

The team on the bike trail

Unfortunately, halfway through the ride, Angelica took a spill while her group was pacelining at 20 mph. Their wheels got too close and she panicked, swerved off the trail into some gravel, and went right down. I didn’t see the fall, but my group approached just after. She was okay but bleeding and shaken up. She got picked up by the van and has a sprained wrist, and will be off the bike for 2 days. It was a reminder that pacelining can be dangerous because of the close proximity between wheels and the nonexistent reaction time you have to react if the person in front of you messes up. We were lucky no one else fell with her, and that her injury will be healed in just a few days.

The team going through Dayton. This is the Miami River. That fountain thing was awesome. 

We continued on and pushed through the heat and the miles. The last 10 miles of the ride were just plain torture for basically everyone. Even our strongest riders were saying things we’d never heard them say before. My legs were burning everywhere, and every pedal stroke was a major effort. That’s when the worst part of the ride occurred: at MILE 105, we came upon a HILL. Even though it was tiny compared to the other hills we’ve done, getting up that hill was such a struggle. I almost stopped in the middle because I thought I was going to pass out. But I did make it.

The team chugging along around mile 95.

This is what I look like after biking 100 miles 

Note that I said today was the furthest day so far... but I did not say it was the longest! That’s because we made great time. Even with Angelica’s fall and a couple flats, we still got in around 6:45 pm, which is earlier than we got in our first few days of riding. We had under 7 hours of ride time and averaged over 15 mph for the entire ride, which is pretty good for a century.

109 miles... woo!!!

Other noteworthy things on the ride included getting chased by multiple dogs (luckily all friendly, and they couldn't keep up with us), a lady who we met on the trail who handed us $15, a nice man leading a troop of boy scouts on a 35 mile ride who took our picture for us, and no less than 4 different groups of people watching us go by that asked "...Is this a marathon?!?" A little concerning that people think you can do a marathon while cycling... but they cheered for us, so we forgive them.

We stopped at Wendy's for free Frosties less than a mile away from the host!

Now, after we’ve showered and eaten a giant dinner at the Preble County YMCA, our quads are all burning and people are limping around groaning, but we are happy and proud of the team’s great accomplishment today.

Tomorrow we finally get out of Ohio… Indiana here we come!!!

P.S. Don't forget that you can ask questions! Post any questions (or comments) in the comments on any post and I will reply. Also – please share my blog link with anyone you think might enjoy it! To follow us on Twitter: @4KPortland. Thanks for the support :)