BIKE 112 miles in 6:31:51, ave speed of 17.1 mph
Two loop course with many hills, bumpy roads in places, but overall fair and fun. Very pretty rural roads.
Another PR! 1 out of 4 in my AG, 5 out of 18 females.
I felt great getting on the bike. Not too much of the just-swam dizziness or stomach upset. My only complaint would be my right calf, it was still tight and mildly pained. It's hard to write up something so long like this and capture everything!
I came up with my mantra words quickly into the ride: Steady, Smart, and Strong. I chanted them when needed. Be steady and don't interval. Stay smart with decisions about effort and nutrition. And be strong when needed, but not on hills!
LAP 1: From our course preview, I knew the first hill was a doozy and early in the ride. Sure enough, it was biggie! Had to stand on the pedals! Once done with that, there was a long stretch on Belding where I found a headwind. Not a strong one, but enough. I did my best to not look at the Garmin, it would been depressing. LC passed by me like a shot somewhere in the first 10 miles - whooooooo she was flying! I was jealous, but stayed focused on my race. This was hard to do with the half athletes going by.
My nutrition plan was simple: every 30 mins a shot of EFS or a third of a Powerbar. I brought the PB&J and Nutty Berry bars because they broke up easier and weren't sticky. I stuck to this plan whether or not I felt like eating, and if I needed more I took it (although in the end I didn't).
Lots of little things happened or crossed my mind. Somewhere between 10-20 miles two male half athletes plagued me. They seemed to be friends, one would shoot ahead then wait at a corner, or they'd ride side by side (until I yelled move over! and passed them). I'd pass, then they'd pass, then I'd pass...ugh. At one point I yelled again at one for weaving and riding the middle of the road. It's like it was there first ever bike ride!? The faster one had 2 gatorade bottles in his rear rack, so he became Double Gatorade Guy. The other one was just Idiot. At another point I got stuck on a hill behind a guy who had just passed me then slowed. The road was in poor shape and when I stood the rear tire slipped. Of course a course ref moto rides by at that point...left me wondering the rest of the day if I had a penalty or not.
My right calf was still stiff and sore at least up to mile 20-30. The top of my right ankle where my shoe touches hurt a bit. My butt was just staring to hurt too. But otherwise good energy and mental function. Was singing a lot of Katy Perry Roar :)
At least the first half of the loop was south and east, into SSE headwinds. So I was happy to turn north! But found more headwind!? There was a short out-n-back for full athletes (in which DGG and Idiot passed me again...grrrrr!) The westward portion of the course seemed soooooo long, maybe because I don't remember seeing a 40 mile sign? Near the end of my loop the full athletes were on their 2nd loop already, and before we got back on Belding one of the weaved left and took out another full athlete just seconds behind me. I was literally seconds away from that crash! At this point I started looking for my 3 full distance team mates, and saw all but IT. Down the big hills to the round about and start the 2nd loop. I did the first loop - not sure if exactly 56 miles or not - in 2:15.
LAP 2: At the top of the hills was the Special Needs stop. Potty break, refill all bottles (didn't take any water from the course), grab nutrition from the SN bag. This was a refreshing stop! I needed it, and enjoyed it.
This lap felt better than the first one to my surprise, even at the end. I was wondering about IT, not sure if I missed him going by or if something had happened to him. He should be ahead of me, and he was! I saw him around mile 70 or so and it took a long time to catch him. I wanted to speed up, but knew it wasn't good for me. It was exciting to see him and know I was going to get to talk briefly to him and ask how his only century ride this year was going. And good to know he was OK. Turns out he had a flat.
The roads were much emptier this time around. I knew my landmarks now, knew about hills and obstacles, knew to look for the blue mail box post that inspired some odd thought about a blue mailbox blog in the first loop. Didn't see the christmas tree farm on either loop, that we saw on the preview and sang christmas songs too. I thought I'd be lonely at this point, I could see other riders but it was just me in my head most of the lap. My arms and back were getting tired, my neck hurt when I looked over my shoulder. My calf and ankle were doing kinda OK, and I occasionally had some right hip muscle pain. I figured it was all connected to the cramps, I was compensating or the tight muscles were pulling wrong on another.
Riding down the long hills to the TA felt great, like a reward. Still surprised at how good I felt (the tailwind the last few miles helped, seeing 23+ mph was a boost!) at the end of a long day.
Overall, this was a great bike. Overcast skies for the first loop really helped, and the sun wasn't unbearable when it finally did come out. Aside from a hillier-than-expected course and a headwind-from-everywhere I nailed it. Perfect hydration and nutrition, a plan to keep in place: just water in the bottles supplemented with EFS and powerbars. Another bonus was that my feet didn't hurt like they almost always do in long rides or headwinds.
T2: 4:47 Another smooth, calm transition. You'd think I'd been doing this all year and not for only the 2nd time! I wasn't hurting, no pained feet like Wisconsin. A volunteer helped with sunscreen, otherwise I was on my own. When she sprayed me I felt my wetsuit hickie on my neck, ouch! Potty break and out the door!
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