BIKE: 125 miles in 7:20. Ave 17mph.
100 miles in 5:54
112 miles in 6:32
Yup, a 200K! This was a ride that almost didn't happen. I selfishly planned a great route, invited a few trusted friends, and planned planned planned. But there wasn't much I could do about the weather. The radar looked clear but it was still cloudy and misty. I can handle some mist. So off I go.
0-75 miles: My group of 4 reduced to a group of 2--me and IT. He's a steady rider with a great attitude who I was happy to have along for this segment. The rain wasn't bad, but the MCT paths were wet and debris-covered. Aside from a train in the first 2 miles, and a near miss with an old black dog, this first 75 miles rolled on by. I had a low spot in miles 20-35, just a low mental energy and lots of doubts about what I would after IT broke off and I went out to finish the miles. This weighed heavily on my mind until I just decided it--I would finish this, and I would stay on the MCTs.
Once that was out of the way, I focused more on the ride. This first part of my route followed the Ice Cream ride roads from a few weeks ago. By adding back in the loop for the long route, we added about 10 miles to the ride. Fine for me as I was out for the miles. Thankfully IT was willing to go for it. We had headwinds and crosswinds on the long stretches. Winds suck, but I've learned to Embrace The Suck. We wove, rolled, turned... hit some more rain...and made it to the truck at 74 miles in 4:30. This first part went great, my nutrition was solid, hydration a little low, my stomach doing great, my feet not hurting (but I was getting tired of them being wet), but my butt was uncomfy. That just reminded me to keep form on the bike.
75-125: I was on my own for this one, and I'd planned it that way so I just rolled right into it. My original plan was to do 120 miles, but I calculated that if I rolled all the way up to the end of Watershed I'd get 125! How could I resist?
The first miles zipped right along, I'd downed a 2x caffeine gel- that certainly helped. Then it started to rain. Hard. Other cyclists stopped under overpasses, I just kept going. It was hard to see at some points, my feet were wet again, and it was probably a stupid thing to do. But it stopped soon enough.
Taylor Swift's "Ours" was stuck in my head.
Rolling rolling rolling, everything feeling good. I kept thinking about food. When can I eat again. What's next to eat. What will I eat. So I ate, another powerbar, another gel. More caffeine!
Hit the turn around before the end of Watershed. Hoped my math wasn't off. Cuz I was certain that I'd do another out-n-back from the truck just to hit this magical 125 number...
When I finished the 75 miles, I was just under the 17mph ave, but in this segment I hit 17.0. I kept watching to get to 17.1 but it's hard to shift the averages like that at the end of a long ride! I was feeling really good and picked up the pace on the way back.
I started singing "Even If It Breaks Your Heart". Outloud. Softly, but outloud. Taylor just wasn't rockin' enough for this. I needed to keep moving.
There were many times that it crossed my mind to stop and rest, but I never did. That's just the head playing tricks. The legs and heart don't want to stop, it's just a head game. But the head wars with itself, part of it saying "oooh just a few minutes rest" and another part says "but the more we keep going the sooner we are done!". This latter part usually wins.
Unless it's CDA, then the former wins. Dammit.
A few near misses with some kids, a deer that came awful close, and an intersection that I couldn't remember if I went through or not yet...this last part went better than expected!! I'd thought I'd hit that deep dark feeling but I didn't.
On the way home--ACDC's Thunderstruck. I'd heard this on the way to a rain Castlewood a few weeks ago. Still fitting.
125 miles. Hot Damn.
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