One early century ride that I've done 2 of the last three years is
the Farmland Flat Tour in central New Jersey. It's the Central
Jersey Bicycle Club's tour, well-organized, costs about $15-20 and
gets a good turnout, so you can expect some company. The course
itself is not too hard, but if you catch a hot day, like last year,
it can be tough. A new course is promised for this year, so I can't
assess road quality, scenery, etc. The ride this year is
Saturday--yes, a Saturday century--May 5. See
http://www.cjbc.org/Farmlands2001.html for a registration form.

The Bloomin' Metric on Sunday, May 20, has a new starting
point--Norwalk, CT--and always gets a great turnout. See
http://www.soundcyclists.com/bloomin.htm for more info.

The weather is getting better every day (I hope). Motorists'
attention spans are not (though, I can dream). Ride safe!

Rick Sider