Oh my word. I haven't been out on my bike much, and I'm sure I have been out times I didn't record it here since I've been such a bad blogger, but I really hadn't been out enough to attempt a century! BUT, I'd earned a free entry last year and I wasn't going to let it go to waste. Lauren was registered for the 20 and since we started at different times it really gave me a lot of anxiety about making sure my boys were taken care of and that everyone could get where they needed to go. Luckily, the Lord is in the details of our lives and I was able to work everything out. I did end up buying Lauren a cell phone, but only because I was a little worried and wanted her to be able to call for help if needed...or have someone be able to call me if she wasn't able to!
Lauren finished well in 1:45 for the 20 miler and even left behind the TTT women that were supposed to be her safety enterouge. I think the hail and rain helped her push a little to finish. I still tease her about the fact that she never went to the feed tables to get chocolate, licorice, sandwiches etc. She certainly knows better now.
I lined up with Di and she had said she was willing to help me on my first century and stick with me. There may have been points she regretted that, but I was grateful for her patience and teaching me bike etiquitte!
I still have PTSD from this ride. Di got a flat just into Saratoga and we got it changed quickly and someone stop with a pump which was nice! Weather had been decent up to this point. As we headed out to 5 mile pass...the wind came. Not bad, but I could tell it was a cross wind. Kristy and Jessica also stopped and we caught them and rode to the next aid station. When we turned around the wind was NOT fun! The group pretty much left me and this other girl who was a strong biker, but not feeling well that day. We drafted off each other and as we got closer into Eagle Mountain I noticed Di on the side changing another tire...luckily not hers. I told this girl I was going to stop and regroup. Turns out it was her friend that Di was helping! LOL! So, we rode into lunch together after getting the tire fixed. Lunch was good, but I was ready to get on the road. The wind was getting worse and it was coming from the North. We had a long way to go North to finish. The cross winds on the last stretch to Redwood were horrible, even keeping the bike steady was hard. Then we turned South, that was nice! But with each pedal South I knew I'd have to fight wind when we turned. Then we turned. Oh man, that wind was bad...and we had a long way to go. About 20+ miles. Luckily my trusty side-kick taught me how to draft and we changed about every minute. It was nice. We even ended up rotating with anyone who would latch on. Problem was some of them didn't understand regular drafting rotation so it was kind of haphazard, but it was certainly nice to draft!!! I'd never been a fan, but now I don't want to go back to solo riding in tris! We finally pulled with a group of about 6-8 of us to the top of Camp Williams (the girl I'd ridden with and Di had helped and their group joined us). Then when we turned up Porter Rockwell things got easier with a cross wind instead of the head wind and from there it was almost all downhill to Daybreak to finish. My butt wasn't horribly sore, my back was a bit, but more than anything I just wanted to go somewhere that I wouldn't feel wind on my face for the next 24 hours!!! I was SO sick of the wind. I still am. This is why I have PTSD about riding in the wind now. I know it is just going to be bad and if I'm alone it is going to be worse! ugh. I need to get out on my bike more. This was an incredible experience and I'm grateful I was able to power through. I'm now ready to sign up for a couple more centuries this summer!!!
It took us approx 6:45 of riding time to finish the 100 miles, which is a 15mph average. Which for the distance and the wind, I'll take! I was hoping for more like 17, but there is always next time :)
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