Quote Originally Posted by GLC1968 View Post
I guess that ultimately, my goal would be to finish the ride and to not hate every minute of it.
That does sound like a challenging ride! But, trust your friends you have ridden with.

One thing that helped me a lot this year was reading something Chris Carmichael wrote about selecting goals. He said that you should set several goals, and put them in an order so that there is a hierarchy.

After reading his goal setting chapter in his book (I'm getting old...can't remember the name...is it The Ultimate Ride?), I very purposely set my goals in this order:

1) Maintain a positive attitude and have fun.
2) Set a PB for elevation gained.
3) Finish the century route.

I wanted my first goal to be something I could control. I couldn't control a lot of things (weather, mechanicals, etc), but I could control my attitude.

The second goal I chose because it would still give me a feeling of accomplishment, but even if I wasn't fast enough to finish the course, I still had a shot at setting this PB.

Finally, I knew that, even though I am a very slow rider, if everything came together for the perfect day, this goal would be in reach.

So, I set goals that covered the spectrum...from one I could keep even if the whole day fell apart, to one I could just barely reach, if everything all came together.

Your ride does sound tough! But, just imagine (and I mean truly visualize and imagine), how you will feel about yourself when you're done!

(One final note...you absolutely have to ride your own ride, especially not your DH's. It was humbling to my ego early in the ride to pace myself, even on the flats, while rider after rider zoomed by me...and also later in the day when I was climbing at 3mph, concentrating on keeping my tires on the white line and just breathing, rather than staggering around. But, slow & steady won the day for me. I met my goals.)