Long time no hundred mile ride! It’s hard to believe that my last century ride was six and a half years ago.

I did that last one on the road bike; but yesterday I got to reminiscing about the centuries that I did with the hybrid. Especially the first one.

That first two-wheeled century was a major aggravation in one way. Somebody had been strewing tacks on the bike path, and I wound up getting two flats. I wondered whether it might be a copycat case from that year’s Tour de France.

In addition to the delays caused by flat tires, I made a halt at around 58 miles to change into fresh shorts. After that I felt much more comfortable. It was October, and still quite warm.

Ten miles or so later, I needed to stop at a convenience store for another snack or two. I was getting very, very tired by then, and was starting to feel bonkish besides

It gets dark pretty early in October. At about 6:30 pm I had to stop and put the lights back on the bike. I still had  some 15 miles to go! The headlight soon began to go dim; so I had to stop again and get out the back-up headlight.

And then the handlebar bag kept knocking the light off the handlebars! Halt yet again to hang the handlebar bag from the bike trunk’s handle. All those halts were a big bother. My legs were so tired that starting up again was no easy matter.

It was 8:15 pm when I finally rolled up to 100 miles. I was worn out, but the satisfaction of seeing your bike’s computer turn up triple digits makes the long, hard day worth it!