Great day for a century. Relatively cool and lower humidity day for the start. Had a good group to start with at 7am sharp: Bernhard P, John P, David N, Dan C, Craig, Farooq, Bill M, Sammy M. I was wondering how my new Century route through Sudbury would work out. The first section onto Water Row in Sudbury was a lovely way to start along the Sudbury River. A lot of meandering in Sudbury, but finally got some long flattish stretches to get the paceline going on White Pond and Boon Roads. Got two non-NVP people in the group: Karen from Scituate and Greg. Karen is a brevet rider, so great on the endurance part. They stayed with us for the rest of the ride. Lost Bill, Sammy, and Howie at some point. Regrouped at the first rest stop in Harvard. We were the first big group out and managed to stay ahead through the day. The new route on Littleton Road in Harvard is less jarring than the old route with the wall on Old Littleton Rd. Got a good paceline going again through Littleton to Ayer and up to Groton. The stretch on Nashua/Kemp/Groton up to Dunstable rest stop goes quickly. After Dunstable the first time, on the Hollis loop, I love the stretches on Fletcher, Twiss, and Dow up into Hollis. The views were great and lots of quiet roads. Pine Hill is a little challenge, but then you get Ranger and Rideout as a reward. The climb up to High Street in Dunstable is really pretty. Bernhard, Craig, Dan, and I were taking turns at the front. The pace was brisk: we averaged 18.7 mph in the first 70 miles to the third rest stop (second time) in Dunstable; last 30 miles were 17.9. After Dunstable 2, the pace dropped a little as we slogged up Scribner Hill. Got through the high density traffic bits in Dunstable and Westford. Kept a nice group pace into Carlisle, Concord, and on to Lincoln. Lost Farooq on the ramp from Concord to Rt 2. Rode carefully past Walden Pond, then bypassed Baker Bridge this year, just opting to go on Codman Rd, which was lovely and less busy than Lincoln Rd from Lincoln Center. We had the lovely sweep of Oxbow to put us on to the home stretch on Sherman's Bridge. Craig led me out, but Bernhard put down a blistering final effort, and go the win ;-) Fantastic day for a century and all the rest stops and everything went beautifully. A grand day out.