We finally got going and it took a long several miles to get around the big crowds of slower riders. Next time we will definitely start closer to the front, probably with the Hells Gate Scorchers. We rode an easy 14mph for a while until we finally got some open road and were able to speed it up to 17+. I had read a strategy for this ride is to skip as many of the early rest stops as possible to get some milage in before the heat kicks in. We did this, stopped briefly after the 1st rest stop to let Chad water a tree and I had a bite of poptart (great biking food!) and rejoined the group. We skipped the second stop and by the third I had to subcome to nature. Bad idea! 20 minutes on line for a port-o-potty! If I were a guy...well, let's just say the girl behind me and I were scouting out non-visible areas to pop a squat, but couldn't find any. So, we waited, and waited, and waited. Chad was kind enough to bring me half a banana and fill my water while I waited.

Then we were off again. We skipped every other rest stop until around mile 70-75, then we began to have to break more often. We were riding really strong and I kept waiting for the pain to start. I kept thinking that we were riding too fast and would pay for it soon. We were holding steady between 19-21 and even 17+ on the hills. I kept a low cadence because I did not want my heart rate to spike in any way. Even though I was worried about the speed, my legs felt fine, so I figured I should just go with it. I guess that's what happens when you give the legs a rest day or two - they actually cooperate when you do ride again!

Shortly after mile 35 came the highlight of the ride (for me and Felix anyway). I was pulling and finally had some open road so I went aero and was cruising along well faster then 20mph. Feeling strong suddenly a pace caught up with me. The first guy went by and said "Girl, you ride strong!" and that got me smiling. The second rider complimented Felix "Nice Bike!" and the third yelled "Follow 493 - she knows how to ride!". I have to say thank you to those strangers, you made a girl's day! That really did carry me through the next 20+ miles.

We hit mile 50 and I felt fantastic. I thought to myself "really? 50 miles already! It doesn't feel like it at all". Then immediately realized that meant we had 50 more to go and came down from that high pretty much instantly.

We continued cruising on our own and I couldn't believe how strong I felt. We never got a a point where we found riders our own speed, we just kept passing lines and lines of people. We never really got open road either so I was sitting up the whole ride, I don't go aero in big group situations.

Finally around 75 miles in the heat started to get bad. This is where being a girl came in handy the 2nd time. I dumped a bunch of ice down my sports bra and that helped immensely. I also dumped some down my shorts which helped but brought up a whole new set of problems :( . We started making more frequent stops at this point, drinking pickle juice at each one to help with the sodium levels. I had a few halves of bananas and at 2 stops I had a cookie each.

We got to the 85 mile rest stop and this is where we really started seeing some scary things. People were really starting to either dehydrate or get heat exhaustion. There were cots at all of the rest areas along with incredible volunteers. This one however, the volunteers had their hands full. We got there and 2 guys were getting massages. The volunteer with one guy was forcing him to eat pickles. He kept insisting he was fine and just wanted to get back on his bike. He was not fine. Then another guy finished his massage and looked tired but ok. He got up and pulled out a small thing of biofreeze. The girl at the next cot got up and actually attacked him, wanting the biofreeze. They got into a physical altercation and 2 volunteers had to pull her off of him. Luckily I had one last pack of biofreeze so I gave it to her friend to help her out. I saw her friend at the next rest stop but not her, so I hope they didn't let her ride on. She was really far gone. It was really scary seeing people in this state. Luckily we were still feeling fine to ride on.

We left the 85 mile rest stop and the end was in sight (well, not physically in site, but mentally). Even if we slowed to 15mph we would be there in an hour. This was it! No more rest breaks! We got going and wow, hardest ride EVER! Hills, wind, chip&seal, severe heat. You name it, we hit it. And 85 miles in with only a maybe 2 bananas, 2 cookies, half a bagel and a bite of poptart and my body was not happy. We slowed down to 16 and everyone else slowed down even more. So, we just kept riding past people, just slower. We broke down and stopped at mile 90 (yes, just 5 miles after I swore I wouldn't stop again) and continued with the ice and pickle juice. I talked to a guy who had the same thought at the last rest stop and stopped here too. At least I wasn't alone in being humbled ;)

After the mile 90 rest stop we hit some really nice smooth roads. Still hilly, but the smooth pavement was a welcome relief. We picked up another rider and the 3 of us cruised along mostly in silence, knowing the end is close and we could do this. We had picked the pace back up to 20ish and skipped the last rest stop since we had a good rhythm going and road on. We had lots of open road here so I finally got to ride in aero which my poor hand needed. Then we hit the city. We were there! Well, almost. We were on city roads with lots of turns so we all spread out and started chatting, we knew we were there! Then, as my computer read 101 miles, we hit an overpass. Seriously - who puts a huge overpass at the end of a 100 mile ride??? That was cruel. My legs turned to absolute lead and I felt like I couldn't pedal any longer. We made it up and made what we knew was one of our final turns. Then we heard it. The unmistakable sound of a popped tire. Pssssssssssssssssssssssssst! Chad hit glass. 102 miles in. Just a few blocks from the finish. Our new friend apologized and road on. We found a small square of shade and he fixed it. And it flatted again. We filled it with CO2 and just hoped it would last long enough to get us across the finish. It did. Just 2 blocks later we finished our first century!

Eat earlier. Nutrition is my biggest weakness. Well, maybe not biggest, but a contributing factor. I need to get down a plan to eat before I get hungry but not eat too much. I know I ate badly here because at mile 90 I got severe hunger pains. Then after the ride I couldn't eat. 2 slices of pizza an hour after the finish and I almost hurled. I ate nothing the rest of the day, and not by choice. I did well on the hydration which was good, now if I could just nail down the nutrition...

We also should have started up closer to the front. Maybe we could have found some riders our speed earlier which would have made the ride easier and more enjoyable.

Other then that, I think we did great for our first century, it was definitely faster then the 15-16 I was hoping to average!

Dropped off the bikes in the grass and ran over to the expo to buy Chad a jersey before it closed at 3. We managed to secure a jersey and poster and then got one more bottlesox before they closed down. We then looked all around for free food. For such an incredibly well supported event, you had to pay for everything past the finish line. That was a huge disappointment so we headed back to the car and figured we'd get some food on the way home. I did all of my therapy stretches and tried to hydrate super well so I could hopefully manage to walk the next day.


Starting too far back and nutrition.


This ride was awesome. The volunteers and aid stations were incredible - I've never seen anything like it. The only bummer was the post-race party, there should have been some free food for the starving riders.