3 BIG rides 9 days apart.... possible?

[Pedal Wench]

I'm glad to see everyone thinking that you can do this! I'm doing a century on Saturday and a metric on Sunday, and I (and everyone I know) was beginning to question my sanity! Saturday's is a gorgeous ride that I didn't want to miss, and Sunday is the Diabetes Tour De Cure, so I CAN'T miss that one! Good luck - if you can do it, maybe so can I!

[CorsairMac]

I'm gonna try my first century Sat too, only it'll just be me, myself, and I - and Allez!.....I'm so stoked about it. I figured I'd MTB Sun, just for something different to do!!! I'll be thinking about ya both days!!!
Wishing us Both luck!

Heck we're Women, Hear Us Roar!!!....we can do Anything!!!

[Pedal Wench]

Corsaire Mac!

That's funny - this is actually going to be my first 'organized' century! All my other ones were just me! Well, actually, the very first was with my BF down in Miami (he lives there) and then I did one with 3 other people, but nothing organized, with rest stops and stuff. I'm looking forward to it! You can do it - I know you can. Stop often to eat, and get some 'real' food. I usually hit the wall at around 65-75 miles. Just take a good break then, off the bike, sit down to let your legs relax, get some good food in you (hate admitting this, but a real coke with sugar and caffiene does wonders at this point...) and then the rest is just a short 30 mile. You can ride 30 miles, right? It's all a mind game - have fun playing!!!!

I can't wait until Monday to hear everyone's stories!

[bikerchick68]

Corsair... please post and tell us how great you did after completing your first century! It's a big deal and definitely something to be proud of!!!

Audio-A... if you like riding with others you'll love the organized ride! I do waaaaaay better when I have someone (or a bunch of someone's) to chat with as I ride... the nice thing about these events is they're not typically races. I go as fast I feel comfortable going on the day in question! Sometimes I finish in great time, and other times I struggle and anm happy to finish

Cali- temps have warmed up down here and we're looking at a spectacular weekend as far as the weather goes... Julian should be AWESOME!

[Bike Goddess]

All right the 3 of you- have a great time at it!

Advice regarding centuries- Make it a POINT to drink ONE bottle (minimum) water, drink whatever between rest stops and then drink some more when you get to a rest stop (no need to eat alot- just enough to energize you- remember food in another couple of hours-) If they have sports drink I suggest you dilute it with water in BOTH bottles, yes BOTH! This will keep electrolytes in your body. No need to Bonk ever!!!!!

(Advice from someone who has done 4 centuries this year and so far logged about 2600 miles since Jan 1st- no guy in a diner! )

Have FUN! IF you take care of yourself, then you can talk with people you pass or who pass you- neat bike, great shirt, etc. It makes the ride more of a community effort and you'll love the responses!!!

One last piece of advice- keep drinking AFTER the ride. VERY IMPORTANT!

Let us know how you all do! No hiding out, now!

[CorsairMac]

Well, I was awoken at 4 am with very high winds and by 6 am the winds were 27 mph gusting up to 37 mph. By start time (9 am) the winds were still 25 mph with gusts up to 30 mph SE. My route would've been spent in cross/head winds about 70% of the ride ending with a 500'+ elevation gain on a 5-8% grade all in headwinds. So, today is a quiet at-home day! I decided since I'm not a pro-racer and this wasn't an organized event or group ride where I might be able to draft or at least shelter in a pack that I just don't need to be out there fighting these winds. There will be other Sats.

Audio/Cali: how did your rides go??

[Bike Goddess]

Smart lady that you are! I would have stayed home too Riding is supposed to be fun. With those high winds, heck no!

[Pedal Wench]

One down, one to go...

Today's organized ride was a bit interesting. There were 100, 50, and 10 mile (family ride) options. As it turned out, only about 15 people did the 100. 10 of them were a team of hammerheads. They headed out of the parking lot and I never saw them again. One guy was riding about my speed, and we headed out together. Stayed together for most of the first 60 of the ride. The other 3 non-team riders caught up to us and we all rode somewhat together - two of them were always way ahead, then we would catch up at lights and the numerous times we got lost - the route markings weren't really terrific. When we got to the rest at 57 miles, someone said that the team guys were there 2.5 hours earlier! Yikes!!! But, there were serious headwinds, so riding in a peloton they would have had a big advantage over our rag-tag group, who never rode close enough to draft.

Then comes my moral dilemma. About 3 miles out from the 57 mile rest stop, he broke a derailleur cable. The rest stop was at a bike shop - mechanic on duty. He debated riding in his granny gear (where he was stuck), or go back and get it fixed. He decided to go back. Also, at that stop, he could have looped onto the 50 mile ride and get back to the start in 25 miles if he wanted. I debated going back with him (at this point, all of the other riders were way up head) but I decided to ride on by myself. I mean, the roads were so busy that we never really talked much, didn't bond, but were hanging together, swapping leads and stopping for breaks together. Was it wrong to let him go back alone? I feel a bit bad. His car was still at the parking lot, so I think he continued on the century route instead of taking the shorter 50 route home. (I feel GUILTY! HELP!!!) My organized 'group' ride ended up being me and some guy for 60 miles, and me, all by my lonesome for 44 miles.
Tour De Cure - tomorrow at 8am.... Report tomorrow night!

[CorsairMac]

I'da left him too. I'm guessing he planned on riding the route alone anyway, kinda like you did so the fact that the 2 of you had 57 shared miles was more than either of you planned. What if you hadn't been with him?.....it would've happened anyway and he would've made the same decision. Sounds like you had a nice ride tho, sorry about the route markings, my first organized ride was poorly marked also, but between living here and the route map we knew where we needed to turn ect.
Keeping you in my thoughts for tomorrow, have another great ride!! Pixs???


Cali:....make it back yet?

[Bike Goddess]

Two down, one to go! Not bad. Don't lose any sleep over the guy. As CM said he'd probably planned to do the century regardless of who else came along!

Am waiting for the final chapter!

[SadieKate]

Audio - I'm with everyone else on this. The guy wasn't stranded. He had an somewhat operational bike and a fully operational body with rest stop and help close at hand. He hadn't started the ride with an expectation of group support so there shouldn't have been any expectation of staying together. Good job for finishing. Riding in such a situation can be a mental challenge when you know you're out there by yourself.

Ride strong tomorrow!

Yellow is taking us up Slug Gulch tomorrow. Have to go pack my bungee cord.

[Pedal Wench]

Did it!!!

More stories!!! Woke up at 4:30 to horrific thunder and rain. Which never stopped. According to Weather Channel, it wouldn't stop until around noon (Atlanta, GA if you're here.) I know it was crazy to think about riding, but I was up... Loaded up my newly-designated rain bike in the car, after swapping saddle and pedals from my new CF baby. On the drive to the ride, it was raining so hard I could barely see on the freeway. My BF called, called me insane, told me to go home and back to bed. Well, I was on the way, bike was loaded, I was dressed, so I figured I would go, give them my donations, get my tee-shirt and go home. Pulled into the park, and there were HUNDREDS of bikers, all gearing up in their rain gear. Well, if THEY were gonna ride, how could I not ride too? So, suited up and went for it! Within a mile, I was soaked through - water sloshing in my shoes, drops dripping off my nose, soaked! It rained for two hours of the ride, but I did it! THis time, with LOTS of people to ride with. Good support, sag's checking all the route, police at intersections, rest stops every 7-10 miles - THIS is what an organized ride should be!!!

I hope everyone else had good rides!!! Mine was wet, but fun!

[skibum]

Wow Audio-A, you are much more dedicated than me! I was planning to do that ride too. Like you, woke up to thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. I checked the radar on weather.com and it looked like the line of storms would last for awhile. So, I went back to bed. I felt a little guilty since it was a charity ride but they'll still get the donations. I made up for it a little by doing 50 miles around town once the rain let up.

Congratulations on your back-to back rides. A great accomplishment, especially considering the challenges you faced!

[Pedal Wench]

Skibum, you were much smarter than me - it probably wasn't the smartest or safest idea to go out in a downpour.

I hope she sees this, but my biggest motivation was that one of our forum members, Melody, had sponsored me. I don't know her, she just saw a post where I said I was doing the ride. With a total stranger counting on me, I really felt the motivation to go. Much more than I felt from my family's sponsorship.

I also have never ridden in a rain like this. I'm heading for a weeklong ride in Colorado in June, and I'll have to ride then, rain or shine. I figured I should see what it's like, here, with my car, at most, 30 miles away, with SAG support and rest stops.

[Bike Goddess]

AA- Riding in the rain- I'm so IMPRESSED! IF you can do that, anything in Colorado should be a snap! (Did you hear that Snapdragon? ) I've ridden heavy rain, but never STARTED OUT in rain. Maybe the Tiara should be passed on.....