I rode, but only did the 56 mile ride. I woke up that morning with it in my head that I would only do the 50+ mile ride. I emptied the extra food from my bag and headed out. I got to the start and as we were taking off, I signaled to my husband that I forgot my gloves. Yep, I'm the virgin Century cyclist. My dear husband wanted to make a mad dash back to the hotel and bring them back, but I said no. I was totally soaked before we actually even left the start. This was my first ride in the rain, as I've been in a drought all summer. Remember, I've only been cycling for 7 weeks.
My thought was, as long as there was no lightning or thunder, I was ready for an adventure. The police escorts stopped traffic so we had the whole bridge to ourselves. That was very cool. It was also the only time I was in my smaller front gear. The rest of the ride, I stayed in my big gear. There were times that we literally pedaled through 6" deep water and I asked myself wtf was I doing out there. When I got warmed up and settled in, I tried to lead as much as possible, only to keep down the splash from the other cyclists tires. Selfish yes, but as I told my kids, this weekend was all about me! When I was able to, I broke away from the group and rode by myself. I love to use that time just as in my marathons. I think about my family, my friends, my health and the charity for which the ride sponsors. I realize how very rich my life is and I embrace it. I also tried to work on my cadence because Savannah is so very pancake flat. We don't have that in the Athens area.
At 27 miles, I stopped at the 2nd rest stop. Nutter Butter cookies rock! They're my all time favorite. The rain had let up and I pondered with doing the 100. Made a phone call to DH and he was supportive. He just asked that I let him know what my plans were. I talked with a Boy Scout leader that said the storm had just parked over Savannah and it wasn't moving. That was enough for me and I went on to do the 50 miler. Thank God, because 2 miles down the road, the sky poured rain by the buckets. The only animals I saw were road kill. Armadillos by the dozen. A few snakes, a deer, a turtle and the largest damn frog I've ever seen. I'm telling you that they all probably damned drowned! No dogs to contend with as they were smarter than me and stayed inside. When the rain, was light, I heard the croaking of frogs, the singing of birds and the chirping of crickets. It was a beautiful ride and I hope that when I do it next year, the sun is bright and shining.
I will tell you that there were a couple of times when I took my glasses off because they were either fogging up or they were so wet that I couldn't see. I ended up with a laceration and a bruise on the side of my eye. I didn't even realize that I got something in my eye. So now I'm on an antibiotic and steroid. Lesson learned that I will keep the glasses on, no matter what.
I'm still looking for my 1st Century ride and I'm thinking of Claxton.