As a former mountain biker, I never saw the allure of a long road race - thought it would be boring pedaling mile after mile with the only hazard being a dead possum or two.

Wow, was I wrong! Beautiful country side, small town squares, antebellum houses, cotton fields and friendly folks sitting on their porch.

Rookie mistakes lead me to absolutely blow up at mile 57 or 58 and come as close to bonking during that last uphill segment than I ever have: thighs were positively on fire, lower back sore, traps and shoulder blades tight, disorientated and mind was numb - all I could think about was finishing.

The thought was like a record skipping on the same word: finish, finish, finish ...


Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Only drank 2 @ 20 oz. bottles of Gatorade - even though I was wearing a camel back. While the rain kept it cool, it fooled me into thinking I was not thirsty.

Also, only ate 2 gels + 2 bananas - probably needed more fuel than that.

Literally, I could barely walk. I grabbed a burrito (it was a Willy's .. they must have sponsored the race!!!!) and a couple Gatorades to knock down. Tried to have a conversation with a guy who let me pace him for the last 25-30 miles (before I blew up), but he just smiled knowing that I was having a difficult time stitching two relatively similar thoughts together.


Faster was not really the objective more me in these type of things ... farther is.

As this was the longest distance I have done (ever), I would say everything could use some improvement: 1) get to the race on time; 2) listen to the course description/follow a pack; 3) hydrate, hydrate + hydrate; 4) eat more carbs/provide more fuel for the body; 5) be more astute when it comes to looking for markings on the road; and, most importantly, 6) train for long races by building up the bike leg from the Sprint/Oly mode to longer distances.

I suspect the lack of hydration as the core reason for blowing up. This was semi-confirmed when I got home + finally felt the need to urinate. (Yep, it took me two hours of drinking literally 1 gallon of Gatorade to finally feel the need.) When I did, it was the color of ice tea!

Lesson learned.



Post race was not much ... but boy did they have food! (Willy's burritos!!!)

Great race hosted I believe in most part by Serranos.