The Longest Ride of My Life

[Alex]

I bought a new road bike at the end of last November. I hadn't cycled for several years. I did some indoor work on the trainer over the winter and decided to train for a century. (Little Red Riding Hood in June.) Today, I did the longest and HARDEST ride of my life. It was 45 miles and it climbed 5500 feet. The hardest stretch was a 5 mile climb that started at an elevation of 4649 and ended at an elevation of 6299, according to Routeslip. There were signs that said parts of the climb were 8% and 11%. DH has done this ride twice before and assured me that I could do it, but when I saw how high we were going to go, I had my doubts! I just kept at it, not wanting to stop for fear of being unable to clip in again on such a grade. The head and crosswinds were really tough. At one point, I swear I heard DH call back to me, "You're there!" "Yahoo!" I thought. I even said to myself out loud, "I ROCK!" Well, it turns out we still had over a mile to go to the top. When I came around the bend and saw what lay before me, I let loose with a spew of invective! Unfortunately, the wind was blowing hard and DH was a bit too far ahead to hear my colorful language. (I asked him later what he said and it was "You're ALMOST there!")

DH is so very chipper and chatty when he bikes with me. Today, he was saying things like, "This is your BREAKTHROUGH workout!" Uh, yeah. I was just concentrating on forward motion and nothing else. He volunteered, during one part of the hardest climb, that it was the most intimidating part of the ride because you could see how far up you had to go. At that point, I looked up and saw the twisty, climbing road and said, "But, it's not as bad as it looks, right?" He said, "Oh, no, it IS that bad!" I sweetly suggested that if he couldn't say anything inspirational, that it would be best if he said nothing at all. We both had a good laugh over that!

I've done some 40-mile rides over the last couple of weeks, but they weren't anything like this. I really wish I had brought my camera because the views were phenomenal. I sort of doubt I'll be seeing those views again any time soon, because that was one heck of a hard ride.

Other than being tired, I feel great. DH is a great biking companion, even if he is a bit chatty. He thinks 100-mile mountain ultramarathons are "fun" and he started doing Olympic and Ironman-length triathlons last year. Riding with him pushes me to another level, which is a good thing, when it's all said and done!

Alex

[mimitabby]

where was your ride?

sounds like quite a workout!

[pooks]

After reading your report -- I am going to go rest on your behalf.

(By the way, you DO rock!)

[Starfish]

45 miles and 5500 feet of climbing is a pretty good ride in anybody's book! Great work!

[jobob]

Heck yeah, what Starfish said! Well done.

[jobob]

Oh, and Alex, you'll do FINE on LRRH. It has about 1000 feet of climbing.


Ed. to add: Ooops, I lied. I just checked my journal and last year's century ride was 1200 feet. Oh well, you're doomed.

[Alex]

Mimi,

The ride was on the east bench of Salt Lake and Utah counties in northern Utah. The neighborhood at the top of the biggest climb has a website with some cool pics.

http://www.suncrest.com/photosandmaps/views.html

Alex

[Alex]

Although I'm sure climbing will make me stronger than riding on flats, I've been thinking that I should do some longer flat rides (up to 75 miles or so) before LRRH instead of a whole lot of climbing. Whatcha think?

Alex

[jobob]

Although I'm sure climbing will make me stronger than riding on flats, I've been thinking that I should do some longer flat rides (up to 75 miles or so) before LRRH instead of a whole lot of climbing. Whatcha think?

Very good idea. You need to get accustomed to the time in the saddle. Although don't neglect the climbing altogether, since you're quite right in that the climbing will made you stronger. And if it happens to be windy the day of LRRH, you'll be grateful for the stamina that the climbing gives you.