92.5 miles and still smiling

Well, now that I did it I’m smiling. 

Things I heard about the final 92.5 mile training ride out of Middleburg:

1. After this ride, Tahoe will seem easy. (How is THAT comforting?)
2. It’s kind of a combination of parts of all the rides we’ve done before (which parts? The hard parts? The rest stops? The part where I ride my bike?)
3. Just get in your (really low) granny gear and spin up Mount Weather, you’ll be fine. (My bike doesn’t have a “granny” gear)
4. Mount Weather is from about mile ten to mile twenty. (I’m sorry, what was that now?)
5. Most people training for a 100-mile ride only train to 70-80 miles. TNT over trains you! (Argh! Why am I riding 92 miles?)
6. There’s no dreading allowed in Team in Training! (well, I’ll just keep it to myself, then)
7. Just make sure to eat pasta for dinner on Thursday and eat really well all week. (because the weight I gain will anti-gravity me up the hills?)

My riding buddy Carrie had a wedding on Saturday so wasn’t going to be able to ride with me. This was a bit of a bummer - we ride at the same speed, and the comfort factor of knowing that someone will be there the whole ride is enormous. Riding alone is harder in so many ways, mentally and physically: it’s boring, you have to make extra sure not to miss the turns and get off course, there’s no one to compare your suffering to, no one to draft with and no one to share the experience with. But amazingly, the day before the ride, my mentor Lisa emailed and offered to ride with me. She’s stronger than I am, and when I said that I didn’t want to hold her back, she said she’d been feeling a little off all week and was happy to ride a bit easier. She didn’t have to offer twice!

Friday night I went through my checklist the night before, and prepared my food, clothes, bottles, directions, gear, sunscreen and breakfast (I read The Checklist Manifesto near the beginning of the season. Short answer: Checklists are awesome.) I had a solid dinner of steak and pasta, and lots of water (hydrate hydrate hydrate) and tried to get to sleep early.

Because this was such a long ride, we met up at 7AM to ride out at 7:30AM. The meeting place was a school in Middleburg VA about an hour from my house. My alarm went off at 5:30AM, I fought the urge to stay in bed, then the urge to bag the ride. I had ridden 82 miles already – more than most people ride to train for a century. Carrie was riding 60 miles the next day –I could just ride with her. In the end, I reminded myself that it was just a bike ride and kicked my own butt into gear. I was out of the house by 6AM but feeling oddly nauseous. I get migraines a few times a month, and had one the day before. Best guess was that it was a migraine without the headache (seems random but it happens). I took some migraine meds in the car and kept on driving. The sky was grey (rain was forecast for the afternoon) and I was tired but damn it – I was going to ride the longest training ride! Bragging rights were at stake, I wanted to be really ready for Tahoe and plus I’d told everyone I was going to do it.

I arrived, checked over my bike, loaded up my pockets with lots of bars, gels and other snacks, clipped on the cue sheet (92.5 miles!) and geared up with a light vest over my Team in Training jersey. It was muggy, about 70 and rain was threatening – too warm for a rain jacket, and hopefully I’d be near the end before the rain started.  While we went over the cue sheet, I checked to make sure I had everything I needed, and went back to the car to get my sunglasses -  gotta keep the bugs out of your eyes! 

 
So the ride started off climbing, and kept climbing pretty much through to the first rest stop at 26 miles. Some were little hills, but Mt Weather was big. Without a granny gear, there’s only so much incline I can manage before the hill beats me and I have to walk. The mountain was pretty much made up of two big climbs. The first, at about 9 miles, I got in my lowest gear and kept riding (just keep swimming, just keep swimming) after what seemed like a really long time, I turned the corner on a switchback and the road just leveled out and then came to an intersection. I stopped, huffing and puffing and did everything I could not to throw up. Somehow I managed and we kept riding.

 

We made a left turn across a 4 lane divided road and hit the main part of Mt Weather. Straight ahead, and straight up. So I got into my lowest gear and started climbing, and climbing but I could feel that the first climb had taken it out of me.  About halfway up, Mt. Weather kicked me in the butt and I got off and walked the rest of the way to the top.  It was exhausting too.  At the top, some teammates were waiting and cheering us on, and taking a few pictures.  I stopped.  I breathed.  And then, because we were only at about mile15, I got back on my bike and started riding again, because we had another 75 miles to go.  Those of you who have been following the rides may remember Karen (and her husband Rob) from such rides as The Hidden Amish ride in Southern Maryland.  Karen met me at the top of the second big climb on mt weather and rode with me the whole way too.  Lisa was a bit ahead of me at this point, but found me at the first rest stop.  But I get ahead of myself.  

At the start of the ride, Coach Bill mentioned that we should look for the sign on top of Mt Weather.  So every time we crested a hill, I looked for a sign that would be in some way entertaining or meaningful.  I saw a lot of signs, none of which were either. But we kept going up and up and eventually we were descending (which was awesome) and we were past Mt Weather..  The sign will remain a mystery - at least until next year.

More rolling hills until we hit the first rest stop at 26 miles - it took us two and a half hours. Much longer than usual before getting a chance to stop.

As I said, Lisa was waiting here and after some food and drink we took off - Lisa, Karen and we also picked up Kirk and Joan with whom we rode for most of the ride.  They introduced me to the delights of having candy in your pockets along with the energy bars and gets.  They had red vines and those chewy Life Saver candies.  I've picked up some candy for Tahoe.

The rest in bullet form, because I'm not being paid by the word and you have a life to get back to.

 










 

 

• More rolling hills.  All the time.  Hills hills hills.
• Headwinds too, but with 5 of us we were able to draft.
• It rained.  Then it got sunny.  Then it clouded over again.
• Second rest stop came really quickly after the first, despite being about 18 miles down the road. It was poorly marked and a few folks missed it which would have sucked.

• Third rest stop took forever to get to.  I think most of us rolled into it feeling pretty well drained.  We had "lunch" - turkey sandwich fixings - and it really helped, as promised by Karen.
• Apparently I can eat a turkey sandwich and then ride another 20 miles. Now I know.
• The ride was long (the long long ride) with many a winding turn.
• Some of the scenery was totally gorgeous.  Horses, cows, farms, fields, low stone walls, green woods.  
• The last 10 miles it rained.  Real raining rain.  Fortunately, I had my vest and it was pretty warm.  Two words though: soggy shorts.

And then we were done.  We pulled back into Middleburg and into the school parking lot and I was beside myself with happiness.  I had done it!  92.5 miles - a personal best to be proud of.  We took some photos, and then joined the BBQ.

I had a recovery drink, then a  burger, chatted about the ride, the rain picked up and I was done. Left to right below: me, Karen, Lisa and Joan.

The most important lesson I learned on this ride was that I could really tire myself out with hard climbing, but then recover, keep riding, and find the strength in my legs again. This is a very big deal.

So after all my pre-ride concerns and (oddly enough) while the ride was hard and at some points seemed like it would never end, it never broke my will. It seemed about as hard as the rides before, which were hard but shorter, but just kind of went on a long time.  Eight hours and forty-five minutes to be exact.  My watch said 4:30PM and 4500 calories when the ride ended.  I credit the good ride to a season of training and to riding with a group - I can't thank Karen, Lisa, Kirk and Joan enough - they really put the "Team" in Team in Training.


And now, Tahoe.  We leave on Friday.  My bike is on the truck heading out west, our bon voyage party is tonight and surprisingly, I'm not too nervous about the ride.  I really feel like I'm ready and I can do it. It snowed in Tahoe last week, but the long distance forecast is for a low of 45, and a high of 71.  Looking forward to the beautiful Sierras and seeing my bike again.


GO TEAM!