05.11.2010 | 10:31 am
First, can I just say that I’m so stoked to have been a part of this? I have to confess that I have only just gotten into riding over the past year. I have been eyeing the sport for several years, but only just started about 10 months ago. I LOVE IT.
Second, I’m the type of person that probably would jump off some sort of bridge is someone else did and asked me to. I’m not saying it’s smart, but I do have a hard time backing off a challenge. I knew the second you started talking about 100MoN this year I would starting throwing my money at the opportunity to officially participate. I also figured training would happen. I’m a planner. I like to train for things. But sometimes, life gets in the way. But that doesn’t mean I’m smart enough to reschedule or not show up. This spring, life got in the way. My longest ride EVER was 40 miles. 100 miles of nowhere? Sure, why not…
But…Ouch.
I met fellow Fatty supporter and 100MoN’er, Chris on a recumbent, through the blog.
We decided to loop Hains Point (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3714132), a 3.2 mile loop, roughly 34 times. It tends to be windy down there on the water, but it’s usually quite nice so we decided to go for it.
It was a whole lot windier than this weekend than we had banked on. The Virginia side of the point was so windy that there were huge white caps on the waves (that’s right, there were WAVES in the Potomac River) and riding speed was almost half the speed as the DC side.
The DC side was GORGEOUS. So beautiful. Calm waters, very little wind, sun shining. Fabulous.
So, that sort of sets the scene for an awesome/horrifying 100 miles. 1.5 gruesome, windy, soul stabbingly painful miles and 1.5 gorgeous, butterflies and rainbows happy miles. On the DC side, you forgot about death awaiting you in the VA side and on the VA side, I swore that as soon as I was back at my car, I would unclip, pack up and get the frack OUT of there.
The first half was great. The wind was not horrible and I had a few pals meeting me for lunch. They said they were going to cheer for me, but then they fell asleep.
Understandable, I suppose. Riding in circles might only be fun for those doing it. I don’t know. But, eventually they did wake up and cheered me on for a few laps. And my main squeeze eventually rode around with me a few times on his cruiser.
With a marathon left, my friends bid me adieu. The wind got stronger and I losing steam. Of course quitting was not an option. It was not an option because I absolutely LOVE the shirt and I have a thing about wearing race shirts I didn’t earn. And I had already worn it pretty much exclusively since it arrived so I was committed to finish.
At last, victory was mine. I finished 100 miles, huge grin plastered on my mug and beer in my sights. It was really hard but I learned a ton and most importantly, I can now wear my ridiculously awesome shirt.
I can also say that I am 100% totally and completely addicted to the sport. Like crack addicted (not that I would know). Oh, I also got some sweet bike shorts tan lines going on. They ROCK.
– Anne P, Washington DC
Comments (17)
05.11.2010 | 10:06 am
I have officially finished my 100 Miles of Knowhere.
I am a student at George Fox University finishing up my MBA degree and wouldnt ya know it, I have class tomorrow. So I took a day off work and did it early.
This is the first time I have done a century ride and the first time I have really gone over 30 miles in a sitting (I have been commuting to work for a year now and do about 100 miles per week…so I figured I would give it a shot and do ALL of it in one day…on top of the 70 I have already ridden this week).
I started at 8 and finished at 3:53. My daughter (Mechanic) was up most of the time playing in the front yard with my wife (Executive Chef) and she clapped or waved every time I passed. I couldnt stop grinning!
I rode a .4 mile loop around the block my house is on and confused many neighbors and Waste Management Trash Collectors.
Thanks Again For the Fun!
–Kit Wagner Portland,OR
Comments (3)
05.11.2010 | 9:40 am
Five of us in Seattle joined in on the 100 Miles Of Nowhere, and for the second year the weather was good enough to have it on our roof deck: sunshine, cool breeze, views!
We did our best to minimize the time on the rollers (you know, for the sun) so we were all on big Kreitlers and we all finished under three hours.
Thank you, Fatty, for putting this event on, and thank you TwinSix for putting together such a great swag bag and supporting us so well! You really make this a fun time, and for a great cause!
Observations:
- The first 20 miles are a LOT easier than the last 20 miles.
- You sweat sunscreen off your body pretty quickly.
- Four sets of rollers + one trainer on a roof deck pretty much make a house uninhabitable.
- My wife was a fantastic host, allowing us to spend increasing amounts of time complaining about actually doing this again. Plus drinks and pizza at the end – perfection!
We had a great time! I’ll be there again next year (once I forget the misery!)
– Tom W, Seattle
Comments (13)
05.11.2010 | 9:00 am
Because it’s generally HOT in Phoenix this time of year, we held the 100 Miles of Nowhere on March 27. We had 27 riders and raised $1780 for Team Fatty (along with $1780 for the Cardon Children’s Medical Center Pediatric Oncology program).
It’s our second year for the 100MoN, and we plan to make it a regular annual event.
You can see our pictures and more write-ups on our Facebook page.
The weather couldn’t have been better for the ride, with the exception of a little bit of wind in the afternoon. Turnout was great, and pictures have been posted. We had 5 Centurians, 4 new ones and the first ever repeat Centurian in 100MilesToNowhere history.
Thanks to all of you who participated, manned the rest stops, or contributed, this year’s 100MilesToNowhere was an outstanding success. We raised $1780.00 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and $1780.00 for the Cardon Children’s Medical Center, Pediatric Oncology Program!
Comments (3)
05.11.2010 | 8:00 am
An Introductory Note from Fatty: Today, expect lots of posts, but don’t expect me to be the one writing them. These are your stories and your pictures from the 2010 100 Miles of Nowhere, with which we raised tens of thousands of dollars for LiveStrong. How awesome is that?
I jumped the gun again this year. Had to, due to a number of reasons. Same course as last year. ~8000 feet of climbing with most of that packed into one short steep section.
Four of us finished the full hundred miles. The other two got 50+ miles each.
This is done by doing 106 laps on 29th Street in Rochester, MN, hence the name 99 of 29.
I suppose it should be 100 miles of 99, but 99 of 29 sounds so much cooler.
This year brought 3 new changes. 2 good, 1 bad.
- Good: A cheering section. At the end there were over a dozen folks cheering me around.
- Good: Other riders. Riding 106 laps around the block is a LOT less boring if you have other riders out there with you.
- Bad: Wind. Lots of wind. Mid 20mph to 30mph winds throughout the day. Made a tough course tougher.
A full report can be found here.
– Neil O Cary (The guy in the FC jersey in the middle)
PS: Want more? Greg sent in a link to his blog detailing his 100 Miles of Nowhere experience. Check it out here.
Comments (6)
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