LiveStrong San Jose Century
This was my first century ride in over 10 years. Oddly it went pretty much as I remembered the others going. Pretty good for the first 80-85 miles with the last 15 miles feeling longer than the first 85. :P Here's the "official" report I sent to my sponsors:
I felt strong going in to this ride, although I did not get as much sleep as I hoped which seems to be the norm for most people before events like this. :P I got there early. Ved volunteered to help out with the ride/run so he drove me in at 6:30AM. The start time was 7:30 but there were speakers, etc. Carly Fiorina who was the CEO of HP and is currently undergoing chemotherapy gave the send off speech, and it was good. I’m actually impressed that she was able to do that while undergoing chemo! The girl who sang the National Anthem is another cancer survivor. It’s an amazingly emotional ride. The stories I heard brought me to tears so many times, but I really enjoyed riding up to someone with a tag in Memory of, or In Honor of and asking about their friends and family.
The start line and the first few miles is always a sight to behold as 3000 + cyclists start off all together and ride the streets of downtown San Jose. The streets are actually closed for the cyclists for the first 5 miles which is very nice. Everyone is excited to start and very friendly. It’s a good group who does this ride. Ved was there at one of the intersections cheering me on. It was really nice to have someone shout “Go Chris!” I sat a little taller in the saddle and squared my shoulders. I would do this ride!!
We rode through San Jose and headed towards Saratoga. We passed within a mile of our house and every time I ride this, I think that I should just sleep in a bit and pop in from home. :P But then I’d miss all of the excitement of the start line and that is worth the extra 10 miles. :P
The first rest stop was in Saratoga and that was where my mechanical difficulties started. Nothing major, fortunately. First I could not get my heart rate monitor to register my heart rate. I had it attached to my bike and I finally figured out I had to restart it as I can only be away for so long before it refuses to reconnect. So that little problem was solved, and I started riding along. Got about another 4 miles when I realized my water bottle cage was loose. I didn’t want to lose it, so I stopped and realized I had the wrong tool. Fortunately a Course Marshall stopped and had the right one. He also told me that the previous year, a cage had come loose and fell off a bike, causing four people to crash, sending a couple of them to the hospital. I was glad he fixed my cage. Just to note, I had three other people stop to offer to help. Great people, I tell you.
Then started probably one of the most fun 30 miles on a bike I have ever ridden. We had a nice little hill outside of Los Gatos, which last year gave me all sorts of fits, but my riding had improved enough that I barely felt it this year (yay!), then it was rolling hills through woods and past lakes and rivers all the way into Gilroy. I was averaging 20 mph and it seemed effortless. Man, was that a fun time. The rest stops came every 10 miles at the point and the people were friendly. I did get a little bit nervous, though, when I passed the turn off for the 65 mile ride and realized that I was completely alone on the road. Not a person in sight. All I could think was that my technical difficulties and my refusal to push too hard at the beginning had put me in dead last. Oh well, I thought, I just have to finish – I don’t have to come in first. But for all of my bravado you can imagine my relief when I got to the rest stop and there were a lot of people of all shapes and sizes, all doing the 100 miles. I felt so much better! I also have to admit that it relieved me that I wasn’t last. :P
Once we hit the southern most part of the ride, we turned north, and that’s where the headwinds started. We had a strong headwind pretty much the rest of the ride back. The east side of Santa Clara county is not as pretty as the west, and the result was a lot of flat, open farmland with nothing to break the wind. You’d never believe how much nothing can exist so close to the Bay Area. It’s pretty incredible to see all of the open land. We did occasionally turn and ride through some pretty little glens, but for the most part it was flat farm land all the way back towards San Jose. Not a lot of fun with the wind blowing like it was, but at least it was flat without big hills.
Then we turned East and headed to Metcalf, the dreaded Category 1 climb at mile 71. There was a rest stop right before the climb and I dallied enough to have to reset my heart rate monitor again. I was a little tired from the wind, but over all I was feeling strong, so I finally just decided to go for it. 1.8 miles of a pretty steady 20% grade. Tough. I powered up the first part and got about a third of a mile and had to catch my breath. I stopped and watch as the guy I passed slowly rode past me, then I got back on the bike and followed him. I went slowly, very slowly – about 3.5 mph – but, kept me able to breath and ride. I did get off the bike about a mile in and walked in about 50 feet until I realized that it was actually easier to ride the darned thing. So I hopped back on and just kept my head down and my slow, steady pace. I was listening to music on my iPhone the whole time, and had it on “shuffle” where it plays random songs from my lengthy play list. I think my mom decided to pipe in at that point because I ended up cresting the hill to Queen's, “We are the Champions!” So typical of Mom! With a silent thought of thanks to Mom, I stopped at the rest area at the top of the hill, and filled my water bottle with the coldest, best tasting water I had on the entire course.
From there, we had some rollers, a short steep climb, then a bunch of down hill. I was riding at a pretty good clip when I hit a pothole and jarred my arm pretty badly. For a moment I thought I might have to stop the ride, because I could hardly use it, but I figured there was only 15 miles left and I’ll be darned if I gave up because of a hurt arm! I don’t need an arm to pedal. Well, right when I was thinking I was going to finish in style I hear a “POP” followed by a “woooosh.” My front tire went flat – probably from hitting the pothole. I removed the tires and realized I had forgotten to pack my levers for removing the tire. Just about the time I was going to sit down and have a good cry (seconds, really), SAG (Support And Gear) pulled up in their handy dandy mini van, and I felt like Richard Petty at a pit stop. They had the tube replaced and back on before I could blink. I have to say that these guys are really good! So with my new tube I pedaled the last 15 miles towards the finish line. And my arm was feeling better, so all thoughts of quitting were gone.
Okay, up until then, the ride was fun and doable, but for some reason the last 15 miles were hard. It was into the headwind again, and through some of the least pretty areas of San Jose. I was never so happy as when we turned towards San Jose, away from the direct headwinds. I ended up finishing with another rider and he and I counted down the miles. Of course, we turned and saw the finish line, so we sprinted – and hit the finish at 20 mph. Not bad for a pudgy old broad, eh? Total ride time was 7 hours, 11 minutes and 52 seconds (gotta love technology). Will I do it again? Hmm, let’s just say that riding 100 miles is like giving birth. Right after you do it you swear you will never, ever, ever do something so stupid again. EVER! Then, you start to remember the good times, and suddenly it becomes not quite as bad. So, today, the day after, I’m already thinking “Maybe…”. We’ll see. Probably not that one again, though. I am actually feeling not too bad today. I definitely have no desire to be on a bike, and I have aches and pains pretty much everywhere, but they are not major. I more tired and hungry than hurting. I guess that means I trained well.
I could not finish this report without thanking you for your support! Every time the going got tough, I remembered my mom and her battle, and my friends how are going through the battle as we speak. What I experienced yesterday was nothing compared to what they are going through. Your donation will go to research to prevent this horrid disease as well as relief for the families who are dealing with this right now. So, thank you for helping me bring a little relief to those suffering. Together we WILL make a difference.
Love to all!
