Six weeks ago I challenged my friend Adam to what would become an epic cycling endurance contest. We track our mileage and vertical elevation gain using Strava and get points for every mile and 100 vertical feet we ride. (You can see the official log of our rides in this spreadsheet.)

You might be interested in my post on the first three weeks, "The Great Bike Bet of 2011". During those three weeks I built an early lead by coming out of the gate hard and setting the bar by riding 230 miles a week! Adam, to his credit, didn't let me pull away after my fast start. Picking at my lead little by little.

See also, my post on weeks four and five, "More mileage, camaraderie, and road rash as The Great Bike Bet of 2011 gets interesting." The highlight of these weeks being Adam's take over of the lead and my injury on a Point Reyes truce ride with him.

This is a post about week six, my first week back on the bike and the second to last of the competition. To say it was pivotal is an understatement!

My First Century

Saturday morning was my first day back on the bike. I still had a pretty big series of scabs, but I was feeling good enough to ride. I met friends at about 9 and set out across the Golden Gate Bridge and into Marin to ride the 100 mile ride that had taken me out the Saturday previous.

After riding a ways past Fairfax (about 30 miles) my support had to turn back as I turned onto Sir Francis Drake past the spot where Janice picked me up last week and into Inverness toward the hill on which I crashed. I arrived at The Busy Bee bakery around noon and hopped off the bike for some food. Realizing I had forgotten my debit card I turned pale, but the woman behind the counter told me not to worry, gave me my receipt, and told me to pay her on my next time through town. Without those calories the rest of that ride probably would have been unbearable.

I continued on past the spot where I had crashed the week prior and out towards the ocean. I turned back (stopping to shoot this picture of the Point Reyes cows) at the 50 mile mark and continued on through Nicasio, into Fairfax, got lost and found, and eventually stopped with 100 miles under my legs!

Adam rides 200 miles in two days, and I chip away at his lead!

While I was riding my first century ever, Adam was completing his second. Then, on Sunday, he repeated the feat! By the time Monday rolled around he had amassed a 346 point lead, the largest of the competition. So, I did what I had to and responded by riding 200 miles over three days, finishing the week with 300 miles (all over four days), and narrowing the deficit to 76 points on the strength of three 55 mile night rides of Paradise Loop!

After six weeks (three of which I beat Adam and three of which he beat me) we have each ridden more than 1,300 miles and ~70,000 vertical feet of ascent. With six days left to ride we are separated by a very slim margin!

Regardless, with effort and drama like that which we've gone through we've both already won. We achieved our goal of motivating ourselves to get in better shape. We've both become stronger riders, lost weight, and done things no one thought we could do. What happens next is anyone's guess!