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.
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