Jeff - ya we have hills here in central Washington.
Since this was the second ride of the year for me I chose a fairly level route along the Columbia River, but... in short order I'll be tossing in some brutal hills. Sigh...
My riding partner wants to do a Century on June 1st... I dunno, I'm 30 years older, and I've done century rides. We have different enthusiasm levels for that particular ride...
Guy
I've only done one century ride... from here up to Corvallis and back, on the side roads, basically. I'm with ya there, not my favorite thing. Like I say my contact points (butt, hands, feet) start barking in various degrees right around 40 miles which turns the experience into one of suffering tolerance as much as endurance. I particularly don't like what starts to happen with my left hand- numbness that can linger. So, we go for more like 30's now and make them spicy.
We also do the "ride your age" thing. It gets harder every year.
The Coast Range and the eastern foothills of the CR out west of Eugene and Junction City are a smorgasbord of pastoral rural rides with all the hills you could possible want. I have a favorite route from my house and back that comes in around 26.5 miles; the heart of the ride is a there-and-back of a 7-mile long road called Butler. Butler is all hills. You are either climbing big steep hills or blazing down them. It's pretty much perfect.
Pretty stoked at the possibilities for my new mountain bike. If nothing else- no cars! Like THAT.
