I was hoping to do a Century ride since at Zion, I only did 95 miles. The night before the ride, we found out that the ride was shortened by 10 miles. I was disappointed, but since this was a charity ride, I was perfect fine with it. After the ride, I was actually very grateful!

The start was a bit of a huge cluster, and it was difficult to really just "take off", since it was downhill/flattish for quite a while. I rode with my friends, and I wanted to stick with them for the rest of the ride.

There was a few of us that we finally got together in a paceline, and then it was my turn to pull, and what happened? I'm pulling up a hill climb. This made it very difficult because I did not want to keep turning my head to the left looking for my friends, so I figured that I will meet them once there's some space. I looked behind me quickly and I see my friend Tana, so I assumed that there was others behind her, so I just kept on going until we made a turn. Finally some space, and I looked more carefully, and found that I lost the rest of the group on that hill. I soft pedaled and chatted with Tana to figure out what to do. We both really did not want to stop, especially since it was like at mile 10, and it's a long day ahead of us. The guy that was with us, decided to go back and reach the group. We never saw them again until after the ride.

Tana and I just pedaled together, and decided that we would meet them at the second AID stop (by the roundabout that caused a LOT of confusion among the riders!). We waited for like 20 minutes or so, and decided that we'll continue on, and do the long stretch of road that we'll be doing a U-Turn on, and another long stretch of road with yet ANOTHER U-Turn, then see if we can see them back. There was a LOT of rollers. Some steep, some long, some easy. This is not for the faint of the heart! Tana and I decided that we'll meet them at the lunch station. Onward we go...lots of hills, but beautiful view. It was a little bit breezy, but nothing terrible.

Lunch Station - I had my little sandwich, but I really wasn't hungry. I made sure that I ate oranges as lack of hydrating fruits/food caused my stomach issues at Zion. All was good. Tana and I found out that the group missed the turn to the 2nd aid station, and went further, and added 10 miles to their route by accident. They were about 13-15 miles behind us, so we weren't going to wait an hour for them, so off we go!

No issues, except the rentless HILLS!! We both took them like a pro and we both have a great cadence/speed together. She's known as the fast one, and I was kind of shocked that I was able to keep up with her perfectly. I'm not sure if she took it easier due to the long ride, or what, but I'm glad I had someone to ride with!

Just before the 2nd to last aid station, we both were climbing and Tana had a bike problem. Her spoke broke, and her tire will NOT spin. 1/4 mile was the aid station (whew!). They had SNOW KONES! I was so happy and impressed to see them there. They were heaven, and I was able to add as much syrup as I wanted! Tana unfortunately, was not able to ride anymore. The mechanics only had front wheels, and doesn't have the aeroblade spokes that Tana had. Sadly, at mile 65, I had to say goodbye to my riding partner. I rode with another guy from her bike club (Prescott. I knew Tana when she lived in LV before moving to Prescott). I rode with him for a while (he's riding a recumbant), he BLEW me on the descents, so I worked hard, but I blew passed him on the ascents. Kind of evened out!

At mile 72 - Is where things got just bad. They decided to have a route through dirt and gravel, and it was a hilly ride. I just got brand new tires, and they're not really as strong as Gatorskins or Rubinos. So both of us decided to walk the mile of the dirt road (ruined my cleats, since I didn't bring my cleat covers, but I don't care...cheaper to replace cleats than tires, and what if I fell?!).

After that, we rode for a little while, then came a very steep climb, I lost him. Went to the last Aid station, and the winds started to really pick up. He told me to just go, since I've been waiting for 15 minutes already, and I could feel my legs getting cold. So I finished the rest on my own, and it was going to be all downhill...on a highway...with 20-25mph HEADWINDS...on a CHIP AND SEAL ROAD. UGH! It's like a triple whammy!

It was seriously TOUGH and mental games were bouncing around in my head. I was going at a pretty good clip, but not as fast as I would have if it wasn't windy. I was able to catch up with a bigger guy, and he pulled for me, then he got a flat. Oh boy.

I was getting quite fustrated, and the miles were going very slow...at least it felt like it was! I finally saw the fairgrounds, and I was just estatic to FINISH!

Changed out of my bike shorts to comfortable pants, ate a little food (I don't normally get that hungry after a ride!), and waited around for the rest of my friends. They finally came in about half hour after I did. We exchanged stories about the hills, hills and more hills, and the wind. :D

Honestly? NOTHING! I'm grateful that I had a riding partner that had a good moderate pace, and I didn't feel like I was pushing too hard. I was pushing it, but at a comfortable pace. If it wasn't for the wind, I probably could have avg'd about 16mph for the ride. The group that I left, avg'd 14.5.

I'm also extremely grateful that I had NO problems whatsoever with my legs, nutrution, etc. I did have some issues with my brake calipers keep rubbing the rim of the tires. I have to get that fixed before San Diego.

Got my massage, and the guy said that my IT bands and quads were really tight, and he smoothed the best he could. I think I will try to go for a sports massage once or twice before San Diego and some foam rolling. Since I didn't stay at a hotel, I didn't have access to a bath for my trusty ice bath.


Mother Nature is a bully at times! :-) Truely, with the training that I had, I am very surprised at how well I did. I didn't feel like I was exhausted, I didn't feel undertrained.


Since this was for Charity, there was a LOT of volunteers, AID stations and a good varitey of stuff for a cheap price. We did have to raise money, but at the same time, we got pretty good stuff. I was happy, and they had everything I needed. Oranges, Snow Kones, lunch, dinner, various crackers, Gatorade (I don't drink Gatorade, so I brought my own electrolytes), various sodas, drinks, water, ice, and chocolate milk after the ride, etc etc. Yup, I'm happy.