I’m going to do it, ready or not. For the fourth straight year I’m going to ride 100 miles in the Honolulu Bicycling League Century ride. The course is almost always the same, but the challenge is constant. I’m fighting the terrain, the elements, father time, and myself.

The course has some hills of significance, notably Kamilo’iki, Makapu’u, and Ke’olu. There’s lots of little rolling hills as well. If you’re in any kind of shape whatsoever, the first twelve miles–when everyone and their auntie is riding–you’ll feel like Lance Armstrong, but the last twelve are a lot different.

The bigger issue for me has been the weather. Last year the ride was hotter than I can ever remember and for the first time since I started doing this ride again, it didn’t rain–which made things much worse. I ended up with a case of heat stroke.

The third fight I have is with father time. I’m not young by athletic standards, and I’m certainly getting older all the time. I’m not ancient–there are many folks older than me who are faster and with more endurance than I am–but I can only gauge how I’m doing versus myself, and I’m a year older than I was in 2008.

Finally, the biggest opponent is myself. Fortunately, I’ve been able to beat that opponent a lot on these long events. I beat myself thinking about giving up during my horrible limp through the marathon last year–if I can do that, I don’t see how I would let myself quit during this one.

Watch this space to see how I do.

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