I can't believe I rode the wholllle thing ... !

[jobob]

The TNT Death Ride team has one last long kick-azz training ride two weeks before the actual event.

Ours was Saturday.

Coach maillotpois drew the short stick and had to ride with the Remedials (DHK, a guy struggling with injuries throughout the season, and, um, me) starting out at the buttcrack of dawn. Since DHK and mp are among my favoritest people to ride with on the team, I had no complaints.

We started in Kentfield, headed to Fairfax, and then up Bolinas Fairfax Road (BoFax to the locals) past Alpine Dam. On our way up BoFax we passed a small herd of deer (maybe half a dozen?) standing right along the side of the road watching us go by. We could have reached out & touched them, what an amazing moment.

We then headed up Ridgecrest (aka "the Seven B!tches") to the summit of Mt. Tam. Along the way I was thinking back to the time I rode the 7B's with aka_kim (the Marin century, wasit?) and what a gawdawfultime I was having back then. This time, notsumuch, yay!

Then we headed down to Panoramic Highway. There we saw a big group of cyclists - turns out it was part of the Sierra to the Sea tour, which the aforementioned aka_kim was on. Saturday was the last day of that tour. We saw no sign of Kim, though; she was probably well past that point by then. Heading down Panoramic I did get to chat with a few of the StS participants. When we reached Highway 1, the StS folks turned left to head south towards the GG Bridge and the finish of the tour in San Francisco, and we turned right to head north.

We followed Hwy 1 towards Stinson Beach but turned off just before that to head up Mt Tam again ('cuz gee, once up Mt. Tam just ain't enough ) via the northern end of Panoramic. This time we only went as far as the junction of Pan Toll and Ridgecrest/7B's, then headed back on the 7B's and descended the west side of BoFax (a bumpy descent, that!) onto Hwy 1 again.

All this time I was pretty jazzed that I was doing OK

From there we headed up Hwy 1 to Marshall, accompanied by the inevitable headwind. I spent most of that time tucked behind DHK or mp -- heh, I'm nothing if not an opportunist.

We then climbed up the Marshall Wall. The Wall was pretty slow going for me, I had to stop a couple of times to take a breather. I've found that stopping for a few minutes really helps. I rejoined my companions at the top of Marshall and headed down to Hicks Valley Rd. The route included an up & back on Wilson Hill Rd but by then my energy was waning and I figured it would be best if I just skipped that. So I headed on my own along Pt. Reyes/Petaluma Rd (into another headwind - serves me right! ) to Nicasio.

In Nicasio, the glorious snapdragen set up a SAG stop with excellent munchies and good cheer.

By the time we started climbing up Nicasio Valley Road, I was pretty darn pooped. My back started complaining and I joined the chorus. I whimpered some at coach mp and DHK, but they weren't having any part of it -- they just cheerily remarked "Well gee, it's good we're almost done, then!". Creeps.

The climb up Nicasio Valley Rd wasn't as long as I imagined it would be, which was nice, and the descent revived me some. But there was still the climb up White's Hill just before we reached Fairfax. It was just a bump in the road, especially compared to all the other climbs we'd done, but by then my tail was really dragging. Coach mp and DHK were by my side for that last little bit -- it made me take back all the evil thoughts I was harboring back in Nicasio.

The rest of the ride from Fairfax to Kentfield was pretty damn wonderful.



http://ridewithgps.com/trips/61821

It worked out to about 109 miles and 10,000-something feet of climbing.

Goes without saying, but I'm thrilled to bits that I did it.

Am I ready for the Death Ride? Eh. I might not make the time cutoff for the fifth pass (hope I can make the earlier cut-offs!), but, to be honest, completing all five passes isn't the do-all and end-all for me. I'm really happy with what I've managed to accomplish, and the Death Ride will be great fun however I finish up.

Many many thanks to coach mp for putting up with all my whining and other assorted foolishness this season.

[maillotpois]

You did great!

That ride generally makes me suffer like a dog, but I had a lot of fun on Saturday. (It was a good 20 degrees cooler than it has been in past years and that helped me a lot - now if we could only get that unseasonably cool weather to come 2 weeks from now... )

You'll do great at DR if you just decide you want to do it. And you've put so much time into getting ready for it, you really should want to. It's your reward (in a sick way) for all your hard work.

[Veronica]

Woohoo Jo! You have really put in some miles and climbs this year.

Veronica

[Catrin]

Thanks for sharing this. Your training is as much of an adventure as the event you are preparing for, which I think is as cool as it gets!

[aka_kim]

Great job! Listen to your coach, you are physically capable of doing the DR now, so the rest is all mental .

Sorry I missed you guys. I did have the option of riding to the summit, where we might have had more chance of bumping into one another, so to speak. I wimped out on that, though.

[indysteel]

Fantastic job! It sounds like a great ride. Good luck at the Death Ride!!!!

[OakLeaf]

Yikes. Good job!

[WolfGirl]

As someone who's hoping to do her first century in a year's time, I'm super-impressed (and inspired)! Way to go!

[jobob]

Thanks everyone!

Hey Wolfgirl, if it helps any, I started road biking in Dec 2003, right about the time I joined this forum, and I did my first imperial (100 mi) century in April of 2005. That first century had less than 1/10 of the climbing of the one I did Saturday.

So, anything's possible.

[WolfGirl]

Thanks everyone!

Hey Wolfgirl, if it helps any, I started road biking in Dec 2003, right about the time I joined this forum, and I did my first imperial (100 mi) century in April of 2005. That first century had less than 1/10 of the climbing of the one I did Saturday.

So, anything's possible.

Good to hear! I'm not so great at the climbing aspect yet. I'm hoping some weight training (and loss) over the winter will help.

[Trekhawk]

Congratulations!
I look forward to hearing all about the Death ride.

[Tri Girl]

I, too, am impressed!!! Living in the flat lands of the plains- those of you who live in mountainous areas impress the heck out of me.
The Death Ride scares the bejeebers out of me. I think all that training you've done is almost as impressive as the ride itself.
You'll do GReAT! It's all mind over matter. You can do it!!!