So, I rode in my first organized ride this weekend. If I had to look at it piece by piece, I would say that it was a pretty miserable experience. However, overall, I'm looking forward to doing it again (and better!) next year.
First of all, I'm NOT a morning person. But, I wanted to get an early start to give me plenty of time to finish (and I was meeting some people from the "team" at work). So, I dragged myself to the start at 6am. Unfortunately, it was cold (for me anyway...around 65F) and rainy. I had planned on doing the 75 mile ride, but the cold and rain changed my mind. I wimped out and took the 35 mile option (although, I think there should be a rule that says the miles count twice as much if you do them in the rain). We finished the 35 miles in roughly three hours, but I caught a little bit of a cold.
Sunday morning, I got up early, determined to do the 75 mile option. When I went to pick up my bike, I found that I had ridden through glass the day before and shredded my tire (and it was my first time out on those tires!). I replaced both of my tires, with a warning from the bike shop guy that these were a little slippery at first. I rode my bike toward the starting line, and as I took that first turn I (of course) slipped on gravel and slid about 3 feet across the road. Good thing I'm used to falling. :)
Then about halfway through the ride, I noticed I was having a hard time clipping in/out of my pedals. Apparently, walking through mud is not such a good thing. I cleaned off my shoes/pedals the best I could, but as I was pulling into the next rest stop, I realized i couldn't unclip on either side! I panicked a little bit (I already fell once!) because as hard as I was trying, neither of my feet were coming off. Luckily, the BF had ridden ahead and made it to the rest stop a few minutes before I did. He was walking around as I pulled in, so I yelled at him to let him know he needed to come help me. I knew he could hold me up (that's how I first learned to clip in), so I told him what was going on with my shoes, and that he needed to grab my handlebars (i'm sure the people at the rest stop thought I was crazy). Luckily I coasted to a stop, he was able to grab my bike and hold me up, while I struggled like crazy to unclip one shoe. I got one foot on the ground, and he had to walk over and turn my foot with his hand to get the other one free.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. I struggled a bit during the last 15 miles, but I finished! It took 6 hours of riding (plus a little more than an hour for lunch and rest stops), but it actually turned out to take less than I thought it would. Oh, and I did manage to get sunburned. The funny thing is, it's only on the front half of my body. :)
After all of that, I'm looking forward to doing it again next year and being able to do the century ride.
