Not the 2nd Century as in Before Christ or Anno Domini, but the 21st Covington Century 100-mile bike ride with options of 30, 50, 80 and 100 mile loops. This organized event is sponsored by Project Adventure Kids, a very worthwhile non-profit residential program that has been improving homeless, neglected, abused, at-risk Georgia teen’s lives since 1981.
In the back of my mind I had planned this to be my first century, but since this goal was accomplished last month I almost canceled this ride to go with Susan, Naomi, Leo and Tracy to the beach on their spur-of-moment Tybee Island R&R. But on further thought I figured the ride would better for me than sunning in the sand.
Since a 100-mile ride was not a priority I felt rounding up some other riders and biking at whatever gentle pace worked best for the "team" was a good idea. After putting out feelers Marc White (Naomi and Leo's dad) was the only one who stepped up to the plate.
We met at Project Adventure and bumped into Louie and his friend, Patrick, who were going to put another century on the score board. They were soon lost in the crowd and, obviously, well ahead of us at the start.
Marc and I both had earler reviewed the routes and ride options online and we quickly decided the 30-mile loop would be no challenge. The 50-miler would be the minimum distance and when we reached the break off point for the 80 or 100 ride we would reconsider our options. The south end of the 50-mile circuit turned out to be the hilliest, but overall this is a very gentle course. It is billed as "Georgia's Fastest Century" - more on that later.
Under cloudy skies and mid-70 temperatures we started our ride, along with 1000+ other riders, through the rolling Georgia horse farm countryside. South we rode to near Monticello, then north to the second rest stop in Newborn. Here we made our fateful decision and branched out on the 80/100 mile ride. As we headed further north Marc commented, "If I'm going to ride the 80 I'm doing a 100". The die was cast. This would would be Marc's first Century. Forty-six miles into the ride we watched the blue arrows, representing the 80-mile ride and painted on the pavement, veer to the left while we chased the 100-mile red arrows. It was the point of no return.
Next stop Rutledge where a well stocked rest stop was set up in the picturesque town square. I must note here that the Covington Century has the best road support and rest stops I've ever experienced. Now a bit further north to Hard Labor Creek State Park, which wasn't so "hard" but it did include one long upgrade as we turned west towards Social Circle. For us the weather now turned for the worse - mostly sunny and near 90 degrees. Seventy-five miles into the ride our average per hour rate had dropped into the mid-14 mph range. As we pulled out of Social Circle our rest stop hosts promised that the final 20-mile segment would be the easiest. After peddling a few miles west to the Alcovy River we turned south for the final run back to Project Adventure.
At the finish our stats were 103.2 miles at 14.3 mph. We spent 7-hours 11-minutes in the saddle, but a few long rest stops increased the total ride time to over 9 hours. This may be the "fastest century" for most but the near-empty parking lot silently announced that we were almost dead last. As it turned out only two riders were still on the course when we finished.
A chicken sandwich on the hour-long drive home, a long shower and a soft bed brought to a close this fine, enjoyable day. Thanks Marc, for joining me in this ride.
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