This last weekend I completed my first century ride: 100 miles of riding outdoors. As you can imagine, this was a big feat for anyone, including me.
The idea for a century ride came over last winter, when I was contemplating summer riding goals. I ride on my spin bike during the week (45 minutes, minimum) and on the weekends if the weather permits, I’ll ride outside for longer stretches from 1.5 to 3 hours (22–45 miles) which are normal rides depending on the heat and threat of rain. In the dead of winter I decided that I should set a goal for riding 100 miles this spring. It sounded like a good idea at the time.
The planning for a century ride took a lot more time than I originally thought. Since I was doing this on my own, and not part of a charity ride with a course already chosen, I had to find my own course. This involved riding on the different trails in the North and Northwest suburbs of Chicago. Google Maps has a nice “bike route” feature, where it can tailor trips towards bike trails or bike friendly roads, this was invaluable in finding good routes.
I eventually chose two connecting trails, the North Branch Trail and the Robert McClory Bike Path, which are mostly north-south trails. The plan was to start in Harms Woods at Glenview Road and Harms Road in Glenview and head south to Foster Ave. in Chicago. Turn around head north to the end of the North Branch Trail at Dundee Road, cross the street and enter The Chicago Botanical Gardens, north to Lake Cook Road and follow the path east to the McClory Bike Path further north to Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The Morning
I woke up at 3:30am even though my alarm was set for 3:45am. I made three fried eggs, toast, and reheated some bacon. I wasn’t that hungry, but I knew I had to eat so I would have energy for the ride. I packed four large bottles of Gatorade in a cooler and filled up the half gallon igloo with ice water. I ride with two extra large water bottles. I also brought 4 packages of Vanilla Bean Gu gels and one pack of Gatorade Energy gels. My wife made me three peanut butter sandwiches while I packed the car. We left the house around 4:15am and arrived at the trail in Glenview around 4:45am.
I was surprised that the Dark Sky weather app was alerting me of light rain as I was setting up my bike. I was monitoring the weather all week and the forecast was sunny and a high of 70. Even though it was drizzling, I hopped on my bike at 5:15am and headed south through forest preserves to Chicago.
I had a lot of riding to do, so it did not make sense to wait for the rain to stop. About 10 minutes into the ride, the rain increased from a drizzle to a downpour. I was soaking wet after a few minutes of that downpour. It was really hard to see with water dripping off of my sunglasses right at sunrise. The rain really distracted me from getting into a good pace as rain complicates different aspects of riding. First, it’s next to impossible to use an iPhone with a wet screen while riding. It’s hard enough using it while it’s dry, but wet the screen is almost completely non-responsive. Your brakes don’t work. Your bell is dampened and hardly makes a sound. And then there are the deer. On this segment to Chicago and back to Glenview I saw a total of nine deer. Three were sitting in a grassy field next to the trail, the others were either standing at the side of the trail watching me ride by or running next to me on the trail for a short segment.
About a mile from my turn around point in Chicago, I came around a turn to find the underpass completely flooded. It rained heavily for two days earlier in the week so this wasn’t a complete surprise. So, now I had to make up 2 miles somewhere along the way.
Once I turned around, the sky was clearing and things were back to being blue skies. I was starting to dry off and finally got into a good pace as each of the distractions disappeared.
20.2 miles
I met my wife where I started the ride and ate half a sandwich and drank some Gatorade.
I then started the longest riding segment of the day. The plan was to continue to ride north through The Chicago Botanic Gardens, then head east on to the McClory bike path. The path takes you north through both the beautiful suburbs such as Highland Park and Lake Forest, and also through some not so beautiful suburbs. Ah, the duality of Chicago. My rest stop was at a dog park next to the trail which has a water fountain for both dogs and humans. Ten minutes into this segment (just past the Lake Street bridge) I ran into another flooded trail. The trail was only flooded about 20 feet, so I could easily see the other side, but I couldn’t tell the depth, so I went for it. Both of my shoes were submerged, just as I was starting to dry off from the morning rain shower.
This segment was 26 miles and was expected to take under 2 hours of biking. Once past the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, the trail turns from asphalt to gravel. The gravel was really soft and wet from the rain earlier that week as well as that morning. The wind was coming out of the north for the entire morning, so a headwind until I could turn around in Wisconsin. Nothing is more demoralizing than a headwind for what would become over 3 hours of riding.
During this segment, my knees start to really ache, which was sooner than I expected, so I was really looking forward to getting off the bike to rest for a few minutes and stretch. As I approached the dog park I saw a Trans Am parked with someone in the drivers seat and two young men on bicycles next to it talking with the driver. As I got closer I could tell that one of the bikers had a wad of cash in his hand and the other one had something else in his hand. I determined rather quickly that this was a drug deal going down and as a safety precaution I continued riding past the dog park. About ten minutes later, the trail turned back into the safe wooded trail and I stopped to stretch and take a break. I was really mad that I couldn’t stop to get some more water and to sit down for a minute. I called my wife to tell her what happened and let her know that she will have to meet me sooner than we planned. She left the Starbucks in Lake Forest and headed to the rest point just over the Wisconsin border.
On the way to meet my wife, I hit the halfway point in the ride. My knees were really sore, I drank all of the water I had on my bike and already ate 2 Gu’s. And to be honest, I really didn’t feel that I could finish.
Once you cross the border into Wisconsin the trail turns back to asphalt. While waiting for my wife to arrive, I was able to get an extra mile on the path.
I had another sandwich, bottle of Gatorade and a clementine. It felt really good to be off of the bike. After a pep talk from my wife I continued north to the end of the Kenosha trail. My knees felt so much better and I was re-energized to complete the northern segment of the ride. The trail ends in a shady suburb of Kenosha and I knew I was about 13 minutes from seeing Lake Michigan and finally turning around.
The spot I chose along the shore of Lake Michigan (picture at the top of this article) was a subdivision that attracted a lot of other bicyclists. I lost track of the number of packs of riders heading north along this side street that followed the lake. After a brief stop to drink some water and check out the very loud waves, I turned my bike around and started the journey back south. I met my wife at the same spot just across the Wisconsin border for a water refill and a snack.
The ride back south was mostly uneventful, no activity at the dog park, I was able to stop and refill my water bottles and have some Gu. My knees at this point were really aching, and my wife was able to pick up some Aleve and meet me at the Lake Forest train station, which was just before our previously planned stop at the Fort Sheridan Starbucks. That was a quick stop to take an Aleve and drink some Gatorade.
I passed the Fort Sheridan Starbucks about 10 minutes later and I knew I had one hour left of riding, which to me at the time sounded like such a relief. At this point I knew I could finish the ride, now mostly dry with the sun out and full water bottles.
Going through the submerged trail was fun, there were two camps of people sitting on the side of the trail near the water. The first were people deciding if they should go through it and the other were people drying off after going through it. I gleefully went through it without a thought, as I was almost done riding.
100 Miles
The last half mile is mostly a straight shot and I decided to sprint this portion with whatever gas I left in my tank. My wife and daughter attempted to call me during this last segment, both calls were sent to voicemail as I was huffing and puffing to my finish line passing bikers out for a leisurely ride.
When I got to the parking lot, my wife wasn’t there. I called her and she said she was still driving from Lake Forest and was a few minutes away. She arrived soon afterwards and got a very sweaty hug.
My arms got a little sun, but my legs got no sun because they were completely covered in gravel, as was my bike.
On my drive in the car home I continued to drink Gatorade and actually felt pretty good. It took about thirty minutes to get home, and that feeling good ended as soon as I got out of the car. My left leg immediately cramped up, so bad I couldn’t move and it hurt so bad I was crying and laughing at the same time. I couldn’t move my leg for about 10 minutes, my wife got a chair and I had to sit next to my car in the driveway for another 10 minutes while I stretched.
Once I showered and started icing my knees, things started to get back to normal. The icing helped a lot with my aching knees, the next day my muscles were a little sore, but my knees felt fine.
Final Thoughts
This ride was tougher than I thought it would be, the headwind took a major toll on my knees, and I didn’t really get the benefit of a tail wind on the way back due to changing wind conditions. That was rough.
I learned that in the rain, the following things do not work as they normally do: my bell, my iPhone, my brakes, my concentration and my vision.
Long rides like this are really half mental and half physical conditioning. The last 20 miles I was pretty delirious, it was hard for me to do simple math to calculate how much distance and time I had left. You could say I was officially dehydrated. Proven by the cramps in the driveway.
Would I do this again: Yes. Would I do things differently? Yes. More water, more Gatorade, less gravel roads and less drug deals. I am also planning on purchasing a real road bike next spring. Look out!
