65

Yesterday I went on the longest bike ride I have ever  done. 65 miles. The furthest I had gone before was 45, so this was quite the accomplishment.

Originally Coach had put on my schedule a 3 hour ride and I was planning on doing it by myself. Until I came across this organized ride where they offered sag support, food and drinks. I mostly ride by myself, so I thought this could be fun. Only problem was that they offered a 40, 65 and 100 mile options. I can ride 40 miles in well under 3 hours so that one was not going to cut it. And then I thought... I can attempt the 65 mile loop. I asked coach and she said to go for it. So I signed up.

I got up early saturday morning (5 am yikes!) ate some breakfast, drank some coffee and left. Drove about one hour to get to the event place and when I got there it was packed! People of all sizes, ages and fitness levels. Some super hard core cyclist were giving me funny looks for wearing my riding skirt. But I was happy and excited about riding with people and going long. Coach had said this would be a "bread and butter" ride, in preparation for my 1/2 IM later in september, and to pace and fuel myself. Keep HR in zones 1-2. I was all over it. No problemo I thought! And then I started hearing how difficult this course was, how many hills there were, and my heart started to sink. My super secret goal was to finish this 65 mile ride in under 4 hours. Let me just say that it's a good thing the goal stayed super secret.

At 8 am they gave us the green light to start rolling. I waited until most of everybody had gone so that I didn't have to ride super tight with the crowds. Something about being closely surrounded by 50 people in bikes makes me nervous and I did not need to be nervous; it's a waste of energy.

The first couple of mile were without incidents. I rode amongst people and managed to keep a good pace. There were hills right from the get go, and even thought it hurt to climb them; I was more scared about going down them. Just because there were too many people in front of me and I did not know their riding abilities.

On one particular stretch of the road I was riding behind these 2 girls who were taking pretty much the entire lane. I was going a bit faster and wanted to pass them. And you know, you pass people on the left. So I yell "On your left" and the chick does nothing. I think she must  not have heard me, so I yell again "On your left". She ignores me. There is traffic coming the opposite way and this girl is pretty much riding on the yellow line. I can't go around her. When traffic stops coming I venture to the "wrong" side of the road and finally pass her. I mumble to myself "b!tch". And then she starts playing the cat and mouse game with me. As if this was a race of some sort, and I fall for the trap. It took me a couple of miles to realize that if I kept playing I would blow myself up and be tired before the  1/2 way point.

The first rest stop was at about mile 13 and I decide to skip it. My legs are not tired and I have plenty of food and drink. I keep riding, alone for the most part but surrounded by other people. I realized that it is hard to find someone that wants to go at your pace, or someone you can keep up with. When I reach the second water stop at mile 23 I stop, reload my bottle with water, use the potty and keep going. It actually felt good to get out of the saddle and walk a couple of steps. Not wanting to rest too much I get back on the bike and go to work. HIlls, hills and more hills. Some of them slow me down to a crawl, some of them make me want to cry and one of them pushed me close to seeing "the wizard". Hard work, but it makes me feel good. Oh yeah, keeping HR in zone  2... Impossible, too many climbs. So I settle into zone 3.

I stopped 2 more times during the ride, mostly to reload water bottles and to get my head wet since it was hot and I needed to cool off. 

After the last water stop I reached uncharted territory as I went over my previous record of 45 miles. My legs were sore, yes, but I knew I could finish the race. I was riding with this lady, who kept getting on my nerves, A LOT. I finally dropped her at about mile 52. 

So there I was riding alone, singing and pretty much talking to myself (yes I am crazy) when I heard "Butch no!" (i don't remember the exact name, but it will serve the purpose). I look to my right and I see a very fierce looking dog coming at me. "Oh, snap!" I thought. My head starts thinking that I am toast, and somehow I end up convincing my legs to push with every single bit of energy they have left. I start pedaling as fast as I can go. The dogs keeps getting closer and closer. I see him and try to pedal harder. He is right by my right leg now, totally unaffected by my pedaling motion. I can feel his hot breath in my calf muscle. For a moment I thought he was going to bite and get away with a chunk of my leg. And I thought, I was going to crash and he was going to eat me alive. But he didn't, somehow I was able to "outrun" him. I was able to escape "Butch the terrible", and now I was officially TOAST. The pacing I had done up until that point was totally crashed by the suer human effort I had to put to get away from the dog. And I still had 11 miles to go.

I crossed the 56 mile mark in about 3:30. I was happy and disappointed at the same time. I had proven that I could ride the distance of the 1/2 IM, but was not super pleased with how long it took me.

After that the last 9 miles were a suffer fest. Grind uphill, go down, grind up, go down. Get aero, parts hurt, get out of aero, parts hurt. Legs want to quit, head keeps saying: push, push, push. You get the picture. I slowed down considerably, my legs were D-O-N-E.

Finally after about 4:12 I rolled in to the finish. I could not help but smile. I had just done 65 miles on my bike! And even though my legs hurt and I was tired; I felt GOOD.

It was a very humbling experience. Even though it was supposed to be an "easy" long ride, it tested my limits and showed me that it is indeed mind over matter. It made me question my abilities and my determination. It was a great experience and I am already thinking about next year and trying the century ride. Want to come along??