A newbie does 45 miles!

If you look on the "Northeast" thread you will see a post from me about wanting to do a 40 mile tour yesterday. Now, the farthest I've ever ridden so far is about 25 miles (I only got my road bike a couple of months ago). So here is my story...

I did it!
I did it!
I did it, did it, did it!

BTW, did I say that I DID IT?

First of all, the scenery was magnificent. This area is a beautiful part of CT, and I have never had the pleasure of seeing it up close on a bike. Many parts of it were actually meditative (especially the hills). I worked really hard on staying relaxed, which was harder and harder to do as the day went along.

The weather was not great. It rained (not hard, but a steady sprinkle) for the first two hours, so everyone was wet and cold. Then the rain went away and the wind came up. I ended up changing my clothes 3 times throughout the day just to stay warm and dry! Because of the weather, over 120 riders started the event, but only 28 finished. I was one of them that finished.

And, boy, was it hilly. The course actually ended up being 45.1 miles, not 40. I was on the bike for 4 hours and 30 minutes - an average of 10 mph. With stops, the whole event took me a little over 6 hours.

I have been working on this one specific hill in my bike training - it is short and very steep. Every time I trained, I went over and tackled this hill. At first, I couldn't even get up it, then I could get up it, but had to get off my bike and rest at the top, and just last week I got up it and even though I was pooped, I was able to continue biking. So I knew that I was slowly progressing.

Not one hill on this tour was as big or as hard as the one that I have been training on. So, at least psychologically, I was ready to tackle all of those hills (and there were lots of them). I kept telling myself that if I could do my "big hill" in training, then these hills were definitely doable.

Once again, I was the very last one to finish. So what else is new? Maybe my goal for one of my future events should be to not finish last? LOL. They sent out the "sag wagon" to see if I wanted to quit, but I was fine, and told them "No Thanks". I guess that they aren't used to having someone take that long to finish the event. Oh well, they better get used to it, because I have no desire to quit doing these type of events!

I am pretty pumped up right now - my legs are a little sore, but not bad. The area between my shoulder blades is quite tight and sore, though. I guess that is from leaning over the bike handles for such a long period of time. Other than that, I feel great. A little tired, but great!

My friend stayed with me the whole way, but something pretty scary happened to her at the end - she bonked. I don't know if anyone has ever experienced this, but it is when your blood sugar gets so low, your legs cramp up and they can't support your body weight. You just crumple to the ground and pass out. She didn't pass out, but that is only because there was a doctor there that immediately came to her rescue. If he wasn't there, I'm sure that she would have passed out. She is fine now, but it was pretty tense for a little while. I hope that never happens to me!

So that is pretty much it. Thanks to all of you wonderful women for all of your support and knowledge. I would never have been able to complete this without you.

P.S. Now I am going to have to start thinking about clipless pedals. I have been reading all of those postings and I am almost ready to take the leap.:D

Over50Newbie

Whoooo Hoooooo! Way to go! :D

CONGRATULATIONS OVER50NEWBIE!!!

Awesome job :) !!

The weather yesterday (in the NE) was horrible! Good for you for finishing!
I bet you felt great!!

Good job :)

Peace & Love,

Denise

Awesome Over50!

Rest well, and fuel your body well

Looking forward to reading about about your next 'event'

Way to go! Keep up the good work! :cool:

Hey, GREAT GOING,GIRL!!!!!

I too went from about 25 mile rides to a sudden 40 mile solid hilly ride just a couple of weeks ago, and it was not easy! I felt pretty rubbery afterwards for a couple hours. I did another 40 mile day (actually 20 and 20 this time, with an hour's rest in between) last week and made it ok again. I know that great feeling you have now of being amazed at having ridden FORTY MILES!!!

Indeed, we must always nibble energy snacks on long rides in addition to our water, to keep from the dreaded BONKING. :(

Yay to you, 40 miler!!!!

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you are an inspiration!!

CONGRATS!!! So happy for you. What an accomplishment! I haven't gone that far yet but I'm getting there. I'm so glad your friend is o.k. The support at these functions is just amazing, isn't it?

Looking forward to reading about your future events, as I know there will be plenty. (addicting isn't it?)

Cindy

Thanks Everyone,

I couldn't have done it without you!!

I"ve been last a lot of times - they check, but they're probably accustomed to people who know how to pace themselves and want to finish. When I know I'm likely to be moving slower, I'll try to be sure to start early.

YOU ROCK :) :) :)

what a great story - congratulations !

Way to go Newbie! You must of done a great job of pacing yourself while riding in hills and wet weather.

Congratulations. Rain and hills--I'm impressed. I'm a newbie too and I am always in the last group. As long as I am not completely alone, I'm fine with that. You should be thrilled that you made it when so many people didn't finish.

Hey, it takes a lot of guts to be last, and then to go into another ride knowing you may be last again. I know--I've been there. As you noted: "So what?" That's like 1000% better than not riding just because you don't want to be last.

High-five yourself! http://www.websmileys.com/sm/happy/604.gif

You guys are awesome - thanks again.

A friend of mine said to me yesterday, "You didn't finish last, you finished 28th out of 120 bikers. The other 92 didn't even finish." HA - HA . I sorta like that one.:D

Congratulations! Isn't it great to be able to change clothes when you need to? I agree, 28th out of 120 is great!! I have finished last in many running events. Who cares. We're out there! At least we're not wimping out because the weather isn't perfect! I think your time is perfectly respectable. Hills, rain, wind- sounds like my ride Sunday. I averaged 10.5.

You _can_ stave off a bonk if you feel it coming on- and can recover from it if you have calories with you. I was riding Sunday, and in the middle of a (two mile) climb, I was suddenly irresistably hungry. Not even shaky feeling yet. It was quite inconvenient to stop, after I had _just_ been at a sag stop a little bit ago but only eaten an orange slice- but I pulled over and ate 200 calories of Clif Blocks. I'm sure I could have made it to the next sag, but at what cost?

Great job! What's the next event?

Nanci

Congratulations, O5N! What a great ride report! I love the story of how you trained on that hill. It made me think of the Little Engine That Could. And the bonk is horrrrrible. Horrible. Avoid it. I'm very partial to Clif Bloks, but what ever you need to keep on your bike to avoid the bonk, do it!

Enjoy your triumph, and planning your next one!

Your friend took the words right off my keyboard -- I was about to do the math, but fortunately now I don't have to.

My longest ride is 11 miles so I am VERY impressed and also jealous that you had a beautiful location to ride in!

Ohhhh what a feeelinng ! sung poorly but with great joy in my voice

Way to go :D :D :D