I DON'T SUCK!!! Solvang ride report
I did the Solvang Century this weekend. The most "interesting" event I have ever done for a few reasons. First of all I did this event last year. My girlfriends and I didn't train as much as originally planned and debated if we were up for 100 miles with up to 5,000 feet of climbing. We had never done that much climbing before and it was only my third century ever, my friend's second. We ended up doing it and were thrilled with how well we did it. Solvang is BEAUTIFUL and we had such a blast last year that we were looking forward to doing it again all year.
This time it was a couples weekend. My best riding buddy, Dawn, and me and our hubbies. Well, when the ride started, I found it very difficult to keep up right from the get go. I was frustrated, but chalked it up to the wind. Lots of wind. It was depressing, though. Dawn and I are usually pretty compatible on flats and low elevation changes, though she typically beats me up most hills. I didn't quite understand why I was struggling to keep up with her, and then lost her early on before the first substantial hill. Other than the wind, I surmised she had simply gotten stronger than me and, therefore, I suck! How depressing is THAT?!! :confused:
I struggled with the wind and trying to find someone's wheel to hold to for as long as I could. Dawn waited for me at the top of the first real hill. She was ecstatic about her new wheels, which she was riding on for the first time, and how easy it was for her to climb with them. Oh goody. I got those very same wheels, Eastons, a month ago, which were a little lighter than my previous wheels. Anything I can do to help my climbing. I was dreading her getting them, because she already climbs better than me and it was going to be a huge weight difference on her bike. She lost almost a pound of weight.
Anyway, we continued on and I found that even on the downhill, which I usually excel at and pull her on, I was struggling more than I should have been. Again the wind? I lost her when she grabbed onto a faster group's wheel on a descent and I couldn't get on the train. Ugh!
When I pulled up to the first SAG, she was talking to her husband and telling him how much she loved her wheels. She was beaming and I was fighting tears. I went in the port-a-potty and found myself full on breaking down in tears. I remembered I was PMS-ing, so that didn't help with the emotions.
I pulled myself together and got back out there. Her husband, Eric, was going to stay with us now. My husband was long gone. A very strong rider. Dawn and Eric had no idea how I was doing mentally and emotionally.We started off on a flat road and, again, I'm struggling. Now I'm REALLY fighting the tears. I went in and out of crying. When the first hill came, I lost them and decided to tell them the next time I saw them that I'd really rather they didn't wait for me. I was so messed up mentally and hated the idea of holding anyone back or waiting on me, and probably more than anything, constantly comparing myself with them. If I were on my own, there's no one to compare to other than the strangers around me, which is depressing enough.
When I saw them at the top of a hill waiting, I pulled over and told them and couldn't contain my tears. They felt horrible. I felt horrible. I couldn't explain myself. I was just having a hard time and didn't really know why. Either I was having a really bad day, or Dawn was all of a sudden much stronger than me, new wheels and all ... or a little of both. I don't know.
We took off from there, they went on ahead, though my friend really didn't want to. Who's going to moo at the cow's with her, she had asked!
Anyway, it wasn't long after that that everything changed. At mile 30 it occurred to me that my front tire was flat. Oh goody. I pulled over. I was glad it was the front. I can change that, no problem. I took off the wheel, opened my bike bag to find NO tube or C02 cartridge. Ugh! I completely forgot to replace those things after Dawn had needed them on a previous ride. Luckily cycling is a very friendly sport and there's always someone willing to help. A couple of guys came along and saved me. I offered them $5 for the tube, but they wouldn't take it. They said labor was $1,000, though. Bummer! ;)
Well, it turned out I had a sharp metal thing, a teeny nail or something, in my tire, which meant I had a slow leak. And it didn't occur to me until I started off again and found myself going faster all of a sudden ... that THIS was the reason I was having such a hard time! What a revelation! I DON'T SUCK!!!!!! :eek:
Oh my gosh, what a difference. I started up a hill and found I was not only NOT getting passed constantly, but I WAS PASSING PEOPLE!!! But wait, there's more. I then realized I was hearing a constant noise from the front tire. I pulled over to find that my front left brake pad was rubbing BIG TIME. Not just a little. Oh my gosh. I was riding with a slow leak AND a brake pad rubbing.
I was SO exhilerated. I was a new woman! I was passing people left and right. Passing, passing, passing ... pulling some guy for the longest time and loving every minute of it. WOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I found my friends at the next SAG and jumped for joy with Dawn as I told her that I don't suck. She was so happy for me. Now I was pretty sure I could hang with them and looked forward to riding with them. Funny thing is, Eric had hardly trained for this event and it wasn't long before he started cramping and Dawn and I took turns pulling him. I found out later that I had pulled a little too hard for him. ME! Pulling TOO HARD! What a crack up!
The wind was relentless and really messed with our pace. We took extended breaks at the SAG's to help with Eric's cramping, and Dawn's legs were starting to get pretty sore. At around mile 76, before the first killer climb, we took an "extra" break, where Dawn almost cried from the pain in her legs. She found someone to give her Advil, which helped immensely. I pulled most of the next stretch, trying to go a pace they could both handle. Quite a difference from the beginning of the ride and unlike anything I had every experienced. I'm almost always the weakest one. I did not mind going slower for them at all. ;)
Well, with my slow first 30 miles, all the long breaks, and killer wind slowing us down no matter which direction we went, we had both a really slow average pace and over all ride times, but I didn't care too much. All that mattered to me was that I DON'T SUCK!!!!!!!! :D
