From: pamela@keps.com (Pamela Blalock)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.rides
Subject: December Century - Finally
Date: 20 Dec 92 20:54:31 GMT
Organization: KEPS Inc.

The December Century is complete.

Last year, when a group from my club decided to attempt to do at least
one century a month throughout the year, we knew that the first two
and last two would be the most difficult. We set up very few rules.
Centuries could be completed any time during the month, on any course,
with the only exception being that during cold weather months, they
must be completed in a cold weather state. In other words, I couldn't
do this one in Florida!

We had actually planned to try and do our final one as a group on the
first Saturday of the month, but a couple of inches of snow Friday
night discouraged all but one rider from showing up at 7:30 Saturday 
morning. I admit it - it was NOT me. 

The following weekend, we received the worst (or best) storm, in my 4
winters in New England. We got between 2 and 3 feet of snow in the
suburbs, and even Boston got a foot. It started Friday afternoon in
the towns to the west of Boston and at about 11pm crossed I-495 headed
toward the coast. By the time it finally stopped Saturday night, there
was more snow in my driveway than I had ever seen in my lifetime. Now,
I'm a southerner, so that doesn't mean a lot to my current neighbors,
but even they admitted it was a lot of snow.

We all chipped in and helped with the shoveling. The weatherliars (tm)
had only predicted a few inches, so no one was really prepared for this, 
especially the companies contracted to plow driveways and parking lots. 
Our particular contractor finally showed up late Sunday afternoon. 

Anyway I used the weekend to do some bike maintenance, reaquaint
myself with my trainer, and to play on my cross-country skis. I also
looked at the calendar and began to wonder if I would be able to get 
the December century in or not. 

Despite no longer believing those people on TV who make a living
guessing at what kind of weather we might have the next day, I
carefully hung onto every word, and tentatively scheduled a ride with
mu friend, Linda, on Saturday, December 19. Rains and warmer
temperatures in the middle of the week had washed most of the snow off
of the roads, although there was still quite a bit piled up on the
sides, melting during the day to create a sometimes dangerous commute
home each night.

We decided to ride from her house in Hudson NH to Hampton Beach and
back. It was the first century route I did after moving up here, and
despite having over 3000 feet of climbing, I remembered it being less
hilly than most of the routes I did this year. Starting at her house
would cut off some of the distance, but I just planned make up
whatever distance I needed at the end.

The weatherliars (tm) had predicted highs in the 40's, so when we
started at 8:00am with the thermometer reading 28, we were confidant
that the sun would come out soon and it would get warmer. 15 miles
later, despite having toewarmers, Linda's toes were really getting
cold, so we decided to stop at a convenience store to warm up a bit.
Both her water bottles were partially frozen and she finally managed
to get the valves freed of ice enough to get some very cold liquid
out. I tried not to look to too cocky as I drank freely from my
non-frozen Camelbak. We managed another 15 miles before cold feet
caused us to stop again. I began doing calculations of riding time and
daylight and started to worry about making it back before sunset at
4:10. Linda decided to try another pair of toewarmers, and offered me
her discarded pair, saying there was a little heat in them.  I was
amazed how this little heat for her, made my feet feel almost hot,
which could only mean that my shoes were a good deal more insulated
than hers.
n
We were fairly close to the beach at this point and the hills would be
leveling out soon, so I decided to close my underarms zippers since I
would no longer have the hills to warm me. Fortunately it did begin to
warm up a bit and we even saw the sun for about 5 minutes. Our own
feelings of warmer air were confirmed by a bank sign showing a
temperature of 34F. It never got warmer, but somehow, being above
freezing seemed to help.

Many parts of the coast had been heavily damaged by last weekend's
Noreaster, but Hampton Beach had faired very well, especially with the
new wall, separating the beach from the currently empty row of parking
spaces. We made it easily through one of the most popular coastal
towns in New England due to the light winter traffic and very unusual
lack of headwinds. We turned back inland and toward our midway stop at
Wendy's, where I enjoyed a delicious bowl of chilly, while Linda
feasted on a baked potato, smothered in cheese. We hit the road home
with it's rolling hills soon after. I usually begin to warm up around
50 or 60 miles, so I was really feeling good, as well as worrying
about daylight. Thanks to warmer air, and therefore warmer feet, we
made it back to Linda's without having to stop again. Unfortunately,
our mileage was only 88 miles at this point and darkness was headed in
soon, so I decided to enjoy some hot chocolate and warmth, before
heading home to get a bike with lights with which I would complete the
100 miles.

Fortunately, my commute bike was all set and ready when I arrived
home, so I pulled it out of the garage and headed back out for my
favorite 15 mile loop from Lowell.

It took longer than usual, and more bikes than usual, but it's done. 
Yippee. YaHoo. Horrah!!

Along with doing a century a month for the year, I managed to complete
23 others (for a total of 35), 2 150's and 7 doubles. Along with my
partner, Steve, I managed to get an ailing tandem up Mount Mitchell,
and I was part of the first mixed tandem team to complete Boston
Montreal Boston. These rides made up half of my 9000+ miles for the
year. Commuting made up another third.

Well, those were my New Year's Resolutions for last year, and what
provided me with focus this year to get through all the difficult
times. My hardest ride by far was the 7 mile ride to Al Lester's
graveside service, after he and Andrew Spiller were killed by drunk
drivers in a 24-hour race, in which I was participating. Al's mother
had the great insight to ask us to ride our bikes to the service. This
gave me reason to get back on the bike, which I might not have been
able to do otherwise, and I'm sure is what Al would have liked. After
the deaths of my friends, riding and my riding goals became a sort of
therapy for me.

Next year's goals for riding include a cross-country tour. I sent
off my deposit for Pac-Tours a couple of weeks ago. So there will be 
plenty of centuries and doubles in preparation for this event (to do 
and to write about).

And I'll probably make those same old resolutions of being a nicer
person and losing 10 lbs, but my most important one is to try to save
lives, by keeping friends from driving drunk. So I'll ask you all to
remember at this festive time of year to choose a designated driver,
drink at home, stay with friends, or in a hotel, and never, ever get
behind the wheel of a car drunk. Please pass this message on to your
friends, family, coworkers, strangers, and for those with teenagers
children, especially to them!

Thanks for letting me share my year with you. I'm really looking
forward to reading all those ride reports from people taking part in
the first rec.bicycles.rides century-a-month challenge.




-- 
Pamela Blalock                                    pamela@keps.com
KEPS, 164 Lexington Road                          12 down, I'm done
Billerica, MA 01821-3984                          time to start over!