This year's century ride, 2023 edition.

 

Under the I-5 overpass at the Sacramento River.

In spite of a lackluster winter and early spring, I found my training mileage by mid-June to be good enough to entertain thoughts of attempting a century, (a 100 mile ride), by the third week of the month. We have been enjoying unseasonably cool temperatures in Northern California lately and that is helpful in going that distance.  In addition, a bunch of personal stuff is coming up in July so riding time will probably drop. Looking at my schedule and the weather forecast, I figured Tuesday, the 20th, would be optimal.

It turned out to be a good call. Although there was no cloud cover at all the temperatures were very mild, with the high eventually only reaching the 80's, rather incredible for this late in June! It was cool enough that I wore 3/4 length tights over my riding shorts! I also wore a wool short sleeve jersey and sun sleeves. 

The bike I chose for today's ride was my '80 Mercian Olympic. The 46/30 chainwheels ensured me a good range of lower gears and reasonable cruising high gears. I used my Rivendell/Carradice Handlebar bag to stow my food and gear.

Nice conditions heading out of Lincoln.

The ride turned out to e pretty uneventful. Passing through eastern Lincoln then taking Wise Road to N. Dowd then up to Riosa Road at Sheridan. From there I turned west, and followed Bear River Drive to Pleasant Grove Road. From Pleasant Grove you head west on Cornelius Ave. which will get you to East Nicolaus, then you follow Nicolaus Road to Nicolaus and on to the the Garden Highway

My annual visit to Nicolaus. Sadly, the Post Office has been closed and is up for sale.

Riding the Garden Highway levee road is always a high point of this ride for me. I enjoy riding along the picturesque Feather River and since I do these rides on weekdays traffic is seldom an issue. In fact, traffic was virtually non-existent on the ride this year.

Look closely at the center of this picture; that's the confluence of the Sacramento and Feather rivers!

The one bad thing about riding the Garden Highway in the past has been the terrible road surface around Verona.  Well, I'm overjoyed to report that this stretch of road has been resurfaced and is now as smooth as glass! What a treat it was to glide over that stretch of road!

The once horrible stretch of asphalt around Verona is now like glass!

I came to the county park located under the I-5 overpass to find it locked up! Fortunately I was able to walk in and use the porta potty and have a snack at the picnic tables. I don't know why it was chained off...

After the break at I-5, I continued on Garden Highway to the bike lane which leads to Discovery Park and got on the American River Bikeway. Shortly after that my phone died so I couldn't take any more photographs and my ride tracking app stopped! The ride along the bikeway was uneventful and at Beal's Point I got on Auburn-Folsom road, continuing up to King where I turned off for home in Loomis. My final mileage is an estimate, 105 miles.

Thanks to the mild temperatures I completed this ride feeling quite good! No cramping at all and none over the next night, which can happen to me at times. I'm sure the cool temperatures make all the difference in dealing with this distance. I also took a fair amount of food. A half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a couple of granola type bars and a small bag of red licorice, (I'd pop one of those into my mouth once every hour or so). I think the candy helped keep me energized.

Equipment wise, the old Mercian worked like a champ! No mechanical issues at all, not even a flat. I used the Panaracer Gravel King Slicks in 32mm. I think these tires are great for road riding. They feel good, corner well and are pretty resistant to flats.

A post ride photo of my Mercian. no issues at all today!

It was good to get the century finished before July. I hope to try to get another century this year, perhaps in the Fall. We'll see.