In 2015, I registered to take part in NYC Century Ride with my Brompton, a 100 miles tour around New York City. Circumstances, however, didn’t allow me to participate. I wasn’t in New York for the subsequent yearly rides, and the 30th and final rally was held in 2019.
As I have time and willingness to torture myself, I decided now is a good occasion to make up for that lost opportunity. I found a map of the last Century ride, put on the jersey I received for the 2015 ride, and off I went. A small detail: I am on a Keto diet, so I couldn’t bring any of my favorite dried fruits to munch on during the day to get some sugar and energy. But as some of you know – I like a challenge.
I set off early morning so it was relatively cool at first, but a couple of hours later the temperature started to rise and by noon it was around 30 °C. The route was a mix of streets and parks – not too bad over all. Even though I munched on nuts along the way, when I hit the 100 km mark I also hit a wall. From that point on, despite my legs not being tired, I had no energy to push the pedals and my brain felt a bit hazy. Of course, there were subway stations along the way but I was to stubborn to quit, so I kept chugging along and twelve hours later I was finally back home where, after a cold shower, I went directly to bed.
One-man 31st Century ride was over.
The ride in numbers:
160 km – distance cycled
50 g – daily carb limit when on a keto diet
1.5 kg – weight lost in a single day