Last minute change of plans
Originally, I had planned the perfect route, marked a September weekend in the calendar, and left everything ready. But then life happened. Apart from the century ride, we were also planning to challenge ourselves with the longest road climb in Czechia, up to Zlaté návrší in the Krkonoše mountains. As September moved along, I realised I could only realistically do one of these before the weather turned too harsh in the mountains, or my deadline for writing about the century ride came and went.
So, I made the not-so-smart decision: combine them. Why not attempt the longest climb and the longest ride of my life on the same day? What could possibly go wrong?
The new route
The climb is no joke. Nearly 20 km with 1 100 m of ascent, including a brutal 7 km stretch at an 8 % average gradient. For a rider like me, that’s already a proper challenge. And then the idea was to ride all the way back to Prague afterwards, for a total of about 165 km and 2 000 m of climbing. Not exactly the kind of century you’d pick for your first one. Especially considering the previous longest ride I did with my girlfriend was just 90 km with under 1 000 m of ascent.
But we committed. There was no going back now.
A shaky start
We arrived at a hotel in Krkonoše the evening before, so we could head out early and finish before sunset. Unfortunately, things didn’t start smoothly. Pre-ride nerves, a loud street outside, and a late dinner meant we both slept poorly. In the morning, we moved slowly, and by the time we finally rolled out, it was already 8:20, an hour behind schedule.
The big climb started just 10 km into the ride, and to my surprise, it went pretty well. Knowing we still had 100 miles ahead probably helped us hold back and keep a steady pace instead of blowing up early. Reaching the top was euphoric. We took a short snack break, asked a kind hiker for a photo, and then turned toward home.
The mid-ride crisis
That’s when reality hit us.
At our first refill stop, we realised we’d been riding for 3,5 hours and only covered 55 km. We were under slept, the midday sun was beating down, and our legs were still heavy from the climb. The thought of doing 110 km more, farther than we’d ever ridden, was crushing.
We started having serious doubts but kept going. Every small hillock felt like a mountain. Sweat was pouring, energy fading. At around 80 km, quitting wasn’t just in the back of our minds. We genuinely considered calling it and taking the train back home. At a café stop we topped up bottles, grabbed strawberry ice cream, and agreed to keep pushing for now and see how we feel later.
Crossing the 100 km line
Crossing the 100 km mark gave us a mental lift. It was officially our longest ride yet. We also finally managed to settle into a proper fuelling rhythm, something we couldn’t quite get right during the big climb. Our energy picked up and we were determined to finish the ride.
Carb mix to the rescue
But the hours were taking their toll. My girlfriend struggled with an unrelenting headache. For me it was knee pain and stiff neck and traps. And we both had digestive discomfort, unable to take in solid food without nausea. That was the point where carb mix saved the day. Being able to drink our energy allowed us to keep going.
With about 30 km to go, we realised there was still a chance to finish before sunset. That gave us a new focus, and we pressed on. The last 10 km were brutal for me, every ache and pain screaming, while my girlfriend seemed to be hitting her stride, like she could have carried on even longer.
The finish
We rolled in just as the sun was setting. 8,5 hours of pedalling, 11 hours total with breaks. Tired, sore, but happy.
I should also note that my girlfriend was just 3 months post abdominal surgery on the day of the ride. She missed 2 big months of cycling and was just getting back into it. I’m seriously impressed and proud of her.
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Lessons from the day
Aerobic endurance wasn’t the limiter. I spent almost 7 hours of the 8,5 in the endurance power zone or lower. I was never limited by my legs, lungs, or fitness. The thing that made it so hard were the relentless aches and negative self-talk when the brain was running out of energy.
The lows will always pass. My girlfriend had this to say: if you feel terrible, stop and have a snack. Then make a deal with yourself to keep riding, and reassess after another 20 km. Both of us had at least two of those moments, and every time the bad patch passed.
Changing plans last minute is not a good idea. I’m proud we pulled it off, but we agreed that to really enjoy ourselves, we don’t want to feel rushed. Having to constantly push to beat the sunset took away from the small joys: a relaxed café stop, a detour to a viewpoint, or simply soaking in the moment. For the future, we want our big rides to be challenges, yes, but also adventures we can savour.
What I learned is that if you really want to finish a century ride, you probably can, even with poor planning and insufficient preparation. But you have to be honest about what the experience teaches you. For us, we got a better understanding of what we enjoy about cycling. Our next long ride is likely to be closer to 100 km than 100 miles. We are ready to collect more endurance cycling experience and see where it leads us.
