Besides the reasons we already knew before the ride, such as:
It’s only 17 miles extra
It’s in late section of the regular route
The total climb amount is small
Two extra factors are:
It’s a quite calm day. There wasn’t not much head wind, side wind during the loop
The tarmac must have been the best for all the Karra Loop’s I’ve ridden. It’s so smooth and there was a single rough section.
BTW, the host and his farming employees/friends at the rest stop are so genuinely happy to see us from all the different part of the country and the world. I had a very memorable conversation with them.
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Agreed. Your points are good news for the cyclist we met at the patch stop who asked “What’s the patch for?” Apparently, the cyclist had not intended to ride the century but mistakenly followed a group making the right-hand turn onto the loop. No worries – although surprised, the cyclist was able to complete the loop.
I would make the case for last year’s century. 2022 was a mandatory century that was essentially due east with a tail wind the entire time. It was about 10 degrees cooler, too.
I agree with Tom, ’22 was about as easy as a century could possibly be. It was board flat and had a significant Tailwind all day. This year’s century was nice conditions and I thought an easier day than thurs and fri but ’22 was easier in my book.
I agree, while I didn’t ride this year, but last year’s century was the easiest century I’ve ever done, which is approaching 200 centuries. That tailwind was glorious, and the temperature never broke 82 with low humidity. And mostly good roads.