110 miles on the bike!!

BIKE: 110 miles in 6:20 (actual ride time, not including stoppages)

Finally. I've hit the century mark. Not only hit the century mark, but blew right by it and kept going. I didn't realize when I finished that I'd hit 110, I thought it was closer to 107. I briefly thought that if I knew, I would have gone another 2 miles. But in the end I'm glad I stopped. Save the 112 for the next ride, why reach all the big goals at once?

Best to break this one into segments:
Pre-ride: I'm finding I don't each much before training lately. An egg, a banana, a powerbar. Doesn't seem like much but it's working for me. I do need to drink more water though. Packing list: 3 Cytomax bottles, 1 water bottle, 5 gels, Lara bar, box of raisins, serving of cashews.

0-16 miles: I rode with MEC for the first loop of 76 miles. My biggest goal, aside from finishing, was to keep up and not get dropped. That adds some stress for me, and sometimes I end up worrying more about that than I do on good form or nutrition. But that is the type of stress I'll put on myself during a race--that distracted mentality I get in a race. So while I was distracted by the group in this ride, it was a good thing. I need to learn to eat and drink while being distracted. The miles to the first rest stop were mostly warmup, with me falling back somewhere between the A group and sweeps. I needed a bathroom break, and used the bathroom of a c-store/fishing supply. It was one of those moments that give me a good laugh. Both the store entry door and the back door leading outside from the toilet were open for anyone to peek in, but I didn't care. There were fish tanks in the bathroom bubbling away. And there was no toilet paper. A man's bathroom, apparently.

16-40 mile: Now the group was pushing the pace, and I was really pushing to keep up. The best way for me to do so was to ride the back of the paceline. The ride group and splintered quickly into A group, B group, and sweep. Shortly after leaving the c-store, we hit some bumps on the bridge which worried me about the bottle-launching bottle rack on the back of the bike. After hitting a few of these bumps, I heard the clattering of something falling off of a bike. Mine or somebody elses? Didn't know for sure, but soon enough I realized the rack had come loose and the bottles were sagging down. Again!! First time this year, but all 2008-2009 I was mad at this thing for coming loose. Not again! Knowing I needed those bottles, I started rearranging pockets in my jersey so as to store the bottles there before they fell off completely. I had to slow to do this, with one hand on the bars and the other fidgeting supplies around. This dropped me off the back of the group a bit. Fight to catch up, then more fidgeting. Any other ride there would be stoplights galore, but not now. Open road. Dropped again, catch up again. Finally I was fixed, with 2 bottles in the jersey and the rack loose behind me. If it fell off, I would leave the damned thing behind. Fighting again to catch up, more stressed about being TheSlowZebra than anything else. I dropped in behind the paceline, and the 4 of us buzzed along at 21+mph trying to keep up to the A group. This was much faster than the expected IM pace for me, but this wasn't the IM race. At one point we stopped for a mechanical and I was able to inspect the rack. A seat rail bolt had fallen off, the rack didn't come loose in its usual spot. I used a zip-tie to hold it to the bike for the rest of the ride (thankfully I had zip-ties, good idea to carry those!).

41-65 miles: We breaked at 40 miles, then took off again. While we still held a high pace, this wasn't as bad as the previous section. More relaxed, but still working. We really splintered at this point, with me riding most of the way with one other rider. During this segment, I found that Forever Pace I've been looking for: the pace at which I feel as if I could go all day long and still be comfortable. So this section was enjoyable. I was able to enjoy the roads, scenery, corn, and sunshine. The only problem I had was that the Garmin made a Low Battery claim. I put it on the charger last night, but apparently it didn't charge completely. Nuts.

65-76 miles: At the last planned rest stop, I bought Gatorade, water, and a banana. I knew the Gatorade might not sit well in the tummy, but I needed something with electrolytes and sugar. All the cytomax was gone, and I only had half a bottle of hot water left. We were just over 4 hours in by now, so that means 3.5 bottles of fluids--not a bad amount! It was just getting hot and I wanted something COLD. And I kept reminding myself that although my fellow riders were winding down for the end, I was in for another 30 miles or so. So I didn't hesitate like I usually do in buying foods. I also had to pee, but didn't see a public bathroom at the stop. I could wait 10 miles.

76-91-ish miles: For this section, I was alone. Quick pee, map check, and goodbyes with group. I wanted to keep going while the going was good. I also stopped at the truck to grab my watch, fearing the Garmins demise before I came back. The distance I could check on a map, the ride time I need the watch for, since fueling and logging depend on it. I rolled out on the same course as the morning, planning on riding to the first rest stop and back again. The day had warmed up, but the light winds out of the south had stayed the same. So I fought a small headwind on the way out, but otherwise good. I substantially slowed down from this morning! With no paceline or other riders to gauge off of, I rode my own pace. Tired, warm, but feeling good. At 82 miles, the Garmin gave another Low Battery beep, then died. I was terribly disappointed that I wouldn't see it read 100 miles. But I shrugged and started the watch for time. I wove my way through the rural roads, luckily found the turns even without signs, and took note of a bike-chasing dog. On a hill of all things. A gravely hill. More on this later. I reached the turn around feeling good but on the downhill slide of feeling not so good. And so it begins.

91-ish to 110 miles: I had a tailwind to help in this section (that was part of the plan from the beginning) and I was starting to need it. But I was happy that The Stupids hadn't come by yet, I was still making good decisions, staying positive, and not making mistakes. Good fueling and hydration are key to this, I've learned. But while I was feeling OK, my motivation started to slip a little. I started looking for home. And that dog. I had a plan for that dog, and it involved a mouthful of water from the aerobottle. I knew I'd be climbing a hill with small gravel near the dog, and I knew I'd want to keep my hands on the bars the entire time, and the best suggestion for driving off a dog was a squirt of water from a bottle. And those 2 ideas weren't compatible, I needed to take a hand away to grab a bottle. So I decided to get a mouthful of water from the aerobottle and wait for the right moment. As I approached the farm, not 1 but 2 dogs came running out. Yikes! But they didn't catch me in time. Just as I was about to swallow the water, another dog came out from the neighboring farm! Apparently this brown dog was asleep on my first pass, but this time woke up with all the neighbor dog's commotion. A big brown dog, a particularly fast looking big brown dog. Yikes again! Still holding a mouthful of water, I waited to see what he would do. Well that wasn't hard to guess, he came at my front wheel and shoes. I took aim... and SPLAT...right in face!! Nice shot at 17-18mph!! He stumbled it a bit, looked surprised, but came right back for more! Can I throw in a 3rd Yikes here? YIKES!!! At the same time I went for another mouthful and stoop up to get some speed up the hill. The second shot didn't hit it's mark, mostly because the dog was falling back behind me. Only at the top of the hill did I get a good laugh in. haha, dumb dog.

This brief period of excitement wore off fast. I needed to get home, I was starting to lose interest, a sure sign of dehydration and fatigue. While I wasn't far away, I added to it by taking a wrong turn at one point, adding 1.5-2.5 miles to the trip. Luckily I had the iPhone to guide me back to the route! The last 2 miles were a mix of elation and fatigue. My feet were just starting to tingle. My legs were tired of spinning. And my chest wall and lungs were tired, that same feeling I get after a marathon. Where's the parking lot? Where's the truck? Was I still going to run after this? I'd been asking myself that question for the past hour. Should I run? I don't need to, but isn't that the end goal here? But do I need to today? Will it push an injury?

I reached the truck feeling surprisingly refreshed. I did it!!! And the stupid Garmin missed out on it all. I decided against the run. Why ruin a good morning with a tough run, why push the legs too far on their first century day? Run maybe later, and run tomorrow. I felt good the rest of the day, no more tired than any other long ride. What a rush!

The last 34 miles took 1hr 37 minutes, still 19mph??? Again, this is time without stoppages for breaks and map reading. I'm not sure that is the right time. In fact, the 6hr 20 mins is ride time only. So in the future I need to ride without the stopping. Do I really plan to stop at Casey's in WI? No!