Enjoy.
Well, the date for the Sawtooth Cycle Challenge has come and gone. Saturday, several of us rode the route even though the event was cancelled. Due to the event being cancelled, and having ridden 100 grueling miles last Sunday, I initially did not have any intention of going up to do another 100 mile ride 7 days later. Monday morning, I checked my email and found one from A.J., a Team In Training teammate that I hadn’t met yet, stating that he really thought I should go up and ride with everyone on Saturday. At that time, I decided that I wouldn’t respond because I couldn’t tell if I was dead or alive yet. A little later in the morning, I got a 2-hour massage, which woke up every sore muscle in my body. After a good long soak, some wonderful ibuprofen, and a lot of food, I started feeling better, though, moving slowly.
Tuesday morning, I headed to work and was feeling really good, still moving a little slowly, but not bad. I received an email (after my going radio silent) from A.J. Subject line, “seriously…”. He went on to encourage me to come, mentioning that they weren’t a hard core fast group and it would be a no drop ride. And, when I felt like it, I could get in the car and be part of the SAG wagon cheering team. I stayed silent for a little while longer. By this time, my emotions were high and (silly me) had it in my mind that I might actually try riding another century on Saturday. I sent an email to A.J. and cc’d Anne, Joe, and Allison (all of whom I had ridden with Sunday) and thanked A.J for the encouragement and that I was actually starting to think about it. I hadn’t made up my mind yet, though, and to give me one more day. All of a sudden, I got a barrage of emails that were cracking me up-all encouraging me to come (Thanks guys!). So, on Thursday, I decided to go. I was able to stay with Allison and her parents (THANK YOU!).
Friday evening, we arrived in Ketchum where we stayed, and got settled, then Allison and I went to have a carb loaded dinner. We came back to the condo and boiled a pot of red potatoes for everyone for the ride and then I went to bed. At this point, I was still hesitating about the ride and kept reminding myself that I didn’t have to do the whole thing-that I had done the 100 miles a mere 7 days earlier.
Saturday morning, the usual butterflies in my stomach before a ride. We loaded our bikes and headed out to the meeting spot. Parked our cars and started the ride after meeting everyone. I struggled the first 5 miles like usual, and then started to settle some-what into the ride. During the next 5 miles, I already wanted to quit. (Not the best place for your mind to be one-tenth of the way into the ride.) I was noticing that my palms were still sore from Sundays ride, along with other parts of my body. I kept adjusting my seating position, to give my back, bum, shoulders and neck a break, but the relief wouldn’t last long. 24 miles into the ride, we got to the point where we started the climb up Galena. This is a 3,000-foot climb in 6 miles, and I stopped at the bottom to eat a Shot Block for some quick energy. Joe looked at me and asked if I was ready. I was a little intimidated and my response was that I supposed we weren’t getting any closer to the top by standing there, so off we went. The SAG wagon gave us about 20 minutes before they started up after us. They came up behind us and got around us, pulling into a turnout. We kept going. They came up behind us again, and pulled into another turnout a little ways ahead of us. By this time, we were about 2 miles from the top. We stopped to get a quick little break and energy boost and got started again. Pretty soon, A.J. showed up and rode up the rest of the way with Joe and me. A.J. mentioned that we had just one more corner to go around and that if I looked up, I could see the rest of the riders and the cars. They all started cheering when they saw us coming around the corner and Allison started heading down the hill to meet up with us. There was enough room, as we rounded the corner, for all of us to ride side-by-side, so side-by-side the four of us pedaled to the top. I was so encouraged by that!
As you know, the fun part comes next. Down the hill we rode. The wind was blowing so hard that there were times that, due to the noise of the wind in my ears, I thought I had to have been going at least 45mph, and I would look down and saw I was going 23. I did come to a point, though, that I was going 38 and decided that with the wind blowing the way it was, I didn’t need to be going that fast and slowed down. We got to the bottom and rounded a corner and the wind hit me so hard that I nearly was blown off the road. At that point, I had been waffling about getting in the car and cheering or going on. After slipping a bit on the white line and feeling like I was fish tailing, I decided that I was done. I pulled off at a turn out and the SAG vehicle picked me up. From that point on, I had a blast cheering on the riders. I was able to help offer food and drink to the riders who kept on going and had a good time on that side of the ride. Though I didn’t ride even a half-century, I am still happy with myself that I went up and over Galena Summit and know that I no longer have to be intimidated by that hill.
I plan to continue to ride into the next month or two, until the weather gets too bad to ride, and then take a break from road riding, at which time, I will take more spin classes. Hopefully I don’t loose what I’ve gained over the Summer and into the Fall. Then, January, the season for America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride starts, and we will start training in February again.
If you still haven’t donated, it’s not too late. My goal has nearly been reached and then after that, it is icing on the cake. Please consider donating to this great cause of finding a cure for Leukemia/Lymphoma.
Thank you all so much for your support!
Julie
37 miles, 3 hours 21 minutes. 11 mph Average Speed. 38 mph Max Speed Total Miles on my bike: 814.3.
Sunday morning, we met at 7:30 in the parking lot of the Optimist Foot Ball Field. By 8:00 we were on our bikes and heading down the road. Brad, Joe, Allison, Anna and me. Julie was there as well with the Sag Wagon, all decorated and painted with all of our names on it. It looked SO cool!
We got good and warmed up and headed on our first of two loops. This is a link to the map that will show you what we did if you are interested: http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/id/garden%20city/278128409810917846
Julie played leapfrog with us by passing us in the van, then sitting and waiting. As we would get close by, she would cheer for and encourage us. We’d keep going and next thing we knew, she was passing us again, music playing and cheering us on, then she would find a place to sit and wait for us again. Warm Springs was a nice quiet road, and then we turned onto Hwy 21 towards Columbia Village. This hill wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We got to the top and fueled up with red potatoes and salt, among other things and then kept going. We were making great time and headed down Federal Way. Those hills are really fun going down. We found our way through town back to Hill Road. Next stop would be the Chevron Station at Beacon Light and Hwy 55. By this time, I was ready to shed my leg and arm warmers. We fueled up again and headed North on Hwy 55. This is the part of the route that had me a little terrified. Knowing the road is a 7% grade was a little daunting, but we headed out anyway. Here I started remembering that a lot of cycling is mind games, and I was concerned that I was too late and had psyched myself out. We were going along the flat area before the first hill, Anne and I were talking, when I noticed a snake on the side of the road. We were riding side by side, and Anne was closest to the still laying creature, when, just as she got beside it, it started wriggling and squirming and was trying to make it’s way off the road. I think she scared it. Of course, as you’ve seen in my other postings, that I don’t like snakes, so it gave me a start, too, and of course, the heebie jeebies.
We arrived at “the hill” at last. I told Anne that I’m a slow climber so feel free to go on ahead of me if she wanted to. Pretty soon, she did pass me up. Then Brad passed me up. Julie was driving circles around us-going up the hill, finding a place to turn around and coming down the hill, finding a place to turn around and going up the hill. It was always encouraging to see her come, because I my speed was about 4 mph, and it made me remember that I wasn’t out there alone. At one point, I was by myself and I heard “GO TEAM” from an oncoming car. I don’t know who it was-maybe it was Julie? Maybe it was someone else, but that encouraged me. At some point on this hill a flash caught my eye. It was blue, so I looked around to see where the light came from. My first thought was that a police officer had pulled someone over. My second thought was that a police officer was pulling me over. Yeah-right, I thought to myself. Pulling me over for going a blazing speed of, what? 3.7mph? I looked around and didn’t see a police car, but found the flashing was on my bike. Curiously (and cautiously), as I kept pedaling, I leaned forward and looked at my right gears/breaks and saw another flash. This one was white. That’s weird. I didn’t know I had blinking lights on my bike. I kept pedaling and every once-in-awhile, the flashing caught my attention so I kept leaning over, trying to figure out what it was. (It also made me think of the song “Fireflies”.) It finally dawned on me that the sun was hitting a reflector on my bike and was causing this one area of my bike to reflect the light from the reflector. Well, it kept my mind off of pedaling up the hill for a little while anyway.
A little bit further up the hill, I was feeling my muscles burn and on the edge of cramping. I was also to a point in my mind where I was pretty well convinced that I wouldn’t make it up the hill without the help of the SAG wagon. I saw that Julie had pulled over and was waiting for me so I stopped for a break. As I pulled over, the realization hit me, too, that I had bonked and needed food and water. I gulped down half of a water bottle, and tried to eat a bit of sandwich. One bite and my throat tightened up so that I was having a hard time breathing, and I just about threw up. I stretched out a little bit and ate a shot block (energy booster), drank a little more and started feeling better. I was looking up the road thinking that I was “just about to the top-that HAD to be the top-and if it indeed WAS the top, I was going to make it,” when a familiar car showed up. It was my Mom and Dad (along with Molly-my pooch). I chatted with them for a minute and then started riding again. At this point, the shot block had kicked in and all of a sudden, I felt like the rest of the hill was a little easier. Amazing what happens when there is energy in the system. I had two corners to round, and just before the second one, I saw Allison heading back down looking for me. (THANK YOU ALLISON!) As soon as I got to her, she crossed the road and followed me the rest of the way to the turn off to Old Hwy 55. We all stood there while I did a little recovery and talked and cheered, and of course, we all posed for pictures.
Next is the fun part, though a little scary. We headed down-hill on Old Hwy 55, you know, where you can actually see bread loaf rock. We rounded a corner and came across a couple of “spectators” that nearly made me jump out of my skin. A huge bull on the very edge of the road on my left, and a huge bull a little ways off of the road on the right. The one on the left was watching us as we passed. As soon as I passed, the one on the left crossed the road behind me. Whew! No big deal. After that, we got to a part of the road that is not maintained, so we had to watch for and dodge potholes-some not easily seen. There was one area where we had to get off and walk-but only for about 20 feet. There were also a couple of tricky maneuver points where we had to pay attention. Then to chip sealed road that made every bone in my body reverberate by the time we got to where old and new Hwy 55’s intersect. We were to the bottom of the hill-nearly. We made it through Horseshoe Bend and up to the gas station at the head of Hwy 52 and took a break to fuel, use the restroom, etc.
The next portion of the trip was pretty uneventful. It was a nice part of the trip that followed a river on a gently curving road. A few mild climbs and a couple of steeper declines. People were playing volleyball by the river and having a picnic. We stopped at Black Canyon Park and rested in the shade. My feet were screaming at me-I think my shoes were too tight, so I took them off for a few minutes and sat in the grass. Then I decided to walk down to where Julie was so that I could re-fill my water bottle and eat. I decided to walk because I knew that my bum needed a break from the bike seat and couldn’t bear the thought of getting back on right then. When I got back to my bike, I started lifting up my leg to get on my bike and it just flopped back down to the ground. I had to laugh when I realized what I had done. Brad looked at me and laughed-then said, “Come on! Break over-let’s go.” I did it again, and finally got enough momentum to get back on the bike. By this time, we were at about 73 miles. We were about 7 miles outside of Emmett where we were going to stop at another gas station to use the facilities and re-fuel for the final climb of Old Freeze Out Rd.
Break over in Emmett-here we go. I was feeling really good at the end of this break, thinking, “I can conquer this hill!” I had that feeling until we started up a small incline that wasn’t even “THE HILL” yet. Then my legs started screaming at me, but I kept on pedaling. I made it to the top with Julie following close behind and everyone was waiting there for me. Once we got onto Hwy 16, Brad and Joe wanted to draft and asked if anyone else wanted to be a part of the pace line. I said yes, so I jumped in line at the back. Brad let me know that if they were going to fast to shout out. There came a point when I noticed that we were going a little over 19mph and I was starting to fall off of the pace line. I said that I thought 19 was tops for me right now. Joe and Brad slowed down a bit and we started descending a bit. I could feel that we were going pretty fast, and I was keeping up pretty easily. Going up hills, I was focused on keeping up, and then going down small declines, I still was keeping up pretty well. I heard Joe say something, but couldn’t make it out. Then I heard Brad say, “She lied”. Apparently, we were going about 25 mph and I was keeping up without any problem, so he was saying, jokingly, that I lied about 19 being tops for me.
As we were moving along, I heard a truck horn, looked up and it was my sister. She started driving circles around us, as did Julie. Before we got to Hwy 16 and Beacon Light, I told Brad and Joe, “It looks like a party on the corner.” Sure enough, everyone was standing there, waiting for us to cheer us on. We rounded the corner and kept on going with their cheers in our ears. By this point, we are at about 93 miles. Just keep pedaling. Just keep pedaling. At about 95 miles, I had to stop because my feet were screaming again. I loosened them up again and Julie pulled up, handed us some water and then went to the finish line to wait for us.
About mile 98 or 99, we had to stop for a stoplight. I came to a wobbly stop and just about didn’t get unclipped. I told Brad, “I’m getting dangerous.” So he asked if I wanted him behind me to watch me or in front of me to help pull me. I decided in front of me. Mile 100+, we made it to the finish line, everyone cheering. Mom came up to me and handed me a milkshake (just the perfect remedy), and we all sat and talked for a little while before going to dinner.
Today I slept in, walked around very slowly, had a 2-hour massage which woke up all of my aching muscles. I think they were in denial before the massage, but afterwards, reality kicked in. Epsom Salt baths and ibuprofen are fantastic cures for sore muscles. A little ice cream helps too.
100.63 miles, 7 hours 26 minutes. 13.8 mph Average Speed. 36 mph Max Speed Total Miles on my bike: 777.2.
Stiff Hair from hair product getting sweaty
Gritty skin from sweat
Sunburned skin from Sunscreen letting me down (or maybe I just forgot to re-apply)
Fatigued legs, but not so fatigued that I can’t walk
Sore bum-sore enough that it is tough to sit-but it is do-able
Getting re-hydrated
Getting re-fueled
Aah, sweet shower
Aah, sweet bed
This has been a good day!
More about the ride tomorrow…
For some reason, I’ve been having a difficult time writing about our 77 mile ride last week. So this one is going to be short, sweet and to the point. Please bear with me.
On Monday, Sept 6th, (Labor Day) Brad, Allison and I did a 77 mile bike ride. We started at Fred Meyers in Nampa cycled out to the Boise Airport, past Birds of Prey entrance back to Nampa, around Lake Lowell, back to Fred Meyer. WOW! Amazing ride! This was the first time that I didn’t take a nap after a ride because I actually had energy left over. I’m not saying I didn’t hurt-just had energy.
We passed Roy and Sue’s house, Diana and Ken’s house, Dan and Julie’s house, and Mom and Dad’s house. At one of our stops to re-fill water bottles, Alicia was walking in to the convenience store, so she stopped and talked with us for a little while before heading off to slide down the Bruneau Sand Dunes with her kids.
I didn’t see any snakes, on this trip-could be that when we started, it was about 45°F and didn’t get any warmer than 69°F that day.
Well, I’m out the door for our 100 mile ride here shortly. More to come on that.
77.19 miles, 5 hours 28 minutes. 14.1 mph Average Speed. 91 (more like 36) mph Max Speed. Total Miles on my bike: 674.6.
Friday, Sept 3rd. 94°F
Met Allison at Camel’s Back Park at 6:30.
Started riding.
Dropped my water bottle
Sprinklers
Shade
Cars
Sun
Climb
Heat
Head felt like it was on fire in the sun
Climb
Shade
Saw 4 deer
Climb
Rest at the top of a hill
Coast down
Neighborhood
Sun
Heat, but not as much
Climb
Climb
Coast
Climb
c-l-i-m-b
coast for a short distance-stop
climb
climb
climb
c-l-i-m-b
coast for a loooooong time-wheeeeeee!
Climb
Fox
Coast
Headlights
Ride faster
Street sweeper
Take detour
Safely back to Camel’s Back Park
Talked with friends until after dark
Milk Shake stop
Home
I am a few weeks late in posting about my last two rides, so I’ll do my best in capturing them in this blog and the next.
About 3 weeks ago, the plan was to ride out to Idaho City from Harris Ranch. That Saturday night, we had, what I heard later, to be upwards of 80 mile an hour winds. Sunday morning, the air was fresh, nice and cool. On my way to the meeting point at Harris Ranch, I was driving past a golf course and saw that huge tree branches, severed from their trees, were hanging on power pole wires. One power pole had fallen over and the wires were caught in a tree. Tree debris was all over the roads and I was wondering if our ride to Idaho City would be filled with avoiding fallen debris on the roads. Thankfully, we had very little to contend with. We had 5 miles from our starting point to the beginning of the Hill Top hill, which is just about perfect for a warm up for me. I still struggle to breathe and pedal for those first 5 miles, but after that, I get in my groove and am ready to roll.
I am finding that I am getting stronger with each ride. This one, I didn’t have to stop on the way up to the top of the hill to take a break. Once at the top, going down the other side is always a blast-unless you get the willies when you see snake carnage on the side of the road-like I do. Something would shimmer and glint in the sunlight and I’d realize what I was seeing and would swerve slightly to avoid running over the bodies. Some of the snakes that I saw looked like they could have been 2.5” in diameter. Hmmm-that sounded almost like the road was plastered with snake carnage. In reality, I think it was only 3 snakes on that downhill portion of the ride, but three snakes is 3 too many for me.
We came to a part of the road that was under construction. There was freshly paved road, but it was one lane and controlled by a traffic light. So we sat at the red light and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
FINALLY, it turned green and we let the cars go first. As soon as the last one went, the light was turning yellow and we took off. There is NOTHING like being on a freshly paved road on a road bicycle. WOW! So smooth-it’s like butter.
The rest of the way to Idaho City is a gradual climb. A climb so gradual, that a 15 mph speed is not difficult to achieve. Not difficult, that is, unless you have a hollow spot in your stomach. About 5 miles away from I.C., I asked if we could stop so that I could put a little somthin’ somethin’ in my tumbly to quench the rumbly. We stopped long enough to do that, but apparently that was too long. I had been keeping up with Joe and Brad really well, drafting behind them. Once we got going again, I absolutely could not keep up. It’s like an energy zapper was at that particular place in the road and stole all of mine.
When we got to Idaho City, we stopped at Trudy’s for breakfast. Joe said that it is tradition that we stop and eat there. We all sat down and figured out what we wanted to eat. I was concerned that if I ate anything, it would re-visit me on the side of the road on the way back. Especially on the back side of Hill Top. I asked Allison if she wanted to split something. She agreed, so we split a breakfast burrito. Oh man! It tasted good, and splitting was definitely the way to go. Three of the 5 riders that day had never ridden to Idaho City, so Joe offered to pay for breakfast and we all thanked him. His reply was, “Don’t thank me until the end of the ride.” This was said with a twinkle in his eye and a bit of an evil grin playing around the corner of his mouth. I’m thinking, “Uh oh. I think I’m in trouble.”
On the way back, we had a head wind. This particular section of the ride, I was thinking, “In order to survive, I have GOT to keep up with Joe and Brad.” So I tucked in right behind them and all the way through the canyon, I was able to do just that. Joe would “pull” us as we would draft behind him. Then Brad would take Joe’s place and Joe would fall behind me. Allison didn’t want to draft-which probably helped build her endurance and strength, and she didn’t fall far behind us. Mary was coming at her own pace and was behind Allison. (Mary amazes me-riding with a broken tail bone.) At one point, Brad asked if I wanted to try pulling to see what it was like or if I wanted to save my energy. I said both. So I pulled out in front. I looked down and saw that I was going about 24 mph. We rounded a curve and all of a sudden, within about 50 feet, I was down to 19 mph. Part of that was headwind, the other part, just not being used to pulling people behind me. I heard Joe in the back say that it was a nice easy ride back behind me. But as I slowed down a little more, Brad asked if I wanted to keep going or if I’d had enough. I told him I was getting tired, so Joe pulled up in front of me. This put Brad behind me. Pretty soon, Brad could see that I was struggling to keep up with Joe so he jumped in front of me so that I would have the advantage of two stronger riders pulling me. That helped a lot.
Finally, we got to the part of the ride where we started climbing again and then, we were each on our own at our own pace. Head winds coming at you when you are going up hill is NOT fun, but we all did it. My breakfast did not re-visit me, in fact, I think it really helped me finish. I was the last to the top of Hill Top (which, by now, does not surprise me), but I made it…without stopping. From there, it was mostly down hill all the way back to my car.
67.5miles, 4 hours 57 minutes. 13.6 mph Average Speed. 35.6 mph Max Speed Total Miles on my bike: 578.5.
