Century training is officially under way, after kicking off the season with a metric century (62 miles/100 kilometers) yesterday.  Lori and I had a bit of an alpine start, rising at 4:45am to meet at the E.90th street Central Park entrance and cycle down to Penn Station to catch the 6:13a train to Jersey.

The Ramapo Rally near Mahwah described the route as ‘ moderately hilly’ on its cue sheet,  but after 3100′ of climbing,  my legs were toast. Thoughts of completing the 100 miler that day quickly dissipated after my first set of killer climbs at mile 33.

It was the most demanding ride I’ve had since I started long-distance cycling last year.  Although the hills were tough, the food at the rest stops duly satisfied: pb&j sandwiches,  salami and cheese sammies, cantaloupe,  and – wait for it – freshly baked chocolate brownies at mile 52. I’d never been so happy to cram processed carbs down my throat after getting back on the saddle.

I’d like to plan on riding the Ramapo Rally next year, and may just be masochistic enough to train for the 125 mile,  7,000+ feet of climbing version.  It certainly made for solid training for the Escape New York century I’ll be riding next month, as well as a Northern Thailand – Laos cycling tour I’ve been toying with in my mind for this coming winter.

Ramapo Rally: half the hills were up!