Last year, my goal was to ride at least one century (100-mile ride). I did that three times over -- my first one ever on May 12, then on July 7, and the final one on October 7. Between the July and October one, I was off the bike for 2 months due to a shoulder injury sustained while doing some off-road biking.
The next logical goal would be to do a multi-day ride or harder century rides (e.g., more hills, tougher riding conditions). Or if I were really a glutton for punishment, randonneurring. It's safe to say that while randonneurring intrigues me from an endurance standpoint, I am not all that keen on 3 AM start times!
- Do I do RAGBRAI?
- How about the MS150?
- Team in Training's Lake Tahoe Ride?
- Tornado Alley 110?
- Hotter 'n Hell Hundred?
RAGBRAI is one of those must-do at least once in your lifetime deals. It also requires a lot of gear -- camping gear -- that I don't have. Plus I'm not sure I am ready to camp in a field with a few thousand of my closest friends.
MS150 is a good intermediate level challenge. 150 miles in two days. Not too hard -- I'm in the condition to do it now. Plus the dollars raised go to a good cause. There's a team at work I have been invited to join.
Team in Training is one of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's fundraisers. I hear it is a stunning ride, but also challenging. The other challenge is meeting the fundraising requirements, which are a substantial.
The Tornado Alley 100 is high on my list for its uniqueness (the ride touches 4 states in one day), its proximity to STL (it's in Joplin), and its fun jersey.
The Hotter 'n Hell 100 is compelling because of the conditions (August in Texas), but also because they claim to have one of the fastest 100-mile road courses. It would be very cool to be able to get a century done in under 5h:30m (so far my best time has been 6h:19m).
This is a very complicated case, Maude. You know, a lotta ins, a lotta outs, a lotta what-have-yous. And uh, lotta strands to keep in my head, man. Lotta strands in old Duder's head.I'll keep you posted.
4 comments:
The MS ride also includes an extra 25 mile loop each day. So if you want a bigger challenge, so the MS 200. And also consider rest stops. They occur every 10 miles or so. So if you want to up the challenge even more, set the goal of only stopping at every other one or some interval like that.
Thanks for the info on the 150. For the century rides I am considering doing this year, I had the same thought about eschewing some of the rest stops to make it more challenging. Thanks.
I saw your ride list and if you want to ride with 10000 other cyclist the HHH is the one. This will be my 5th year and only death would keep me from doing it. I also did the Tornado Alley last year and really enjoyed it. I'll ride it again this year.
Thanks, Stephan. I'll give the HHH more thought. I may have to pass on the Tornado Alley this year again b/c I hear my brother-in-law is getting married on that weekend. GAH! Wish they had consulted me before choosing the date. ;)
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