We did a 44 mile "north shore ramble" with friends. We started in Topsfield and then did a loop around Ipswich Neck, with beach views, harbor views, and some rolling hills. Then we doubled back to Ipswich center (which was very crowded with some sort of festival). Stopped to get more drinks and then went to a park for a picnic. It was a gorgeous day- 80-85, no humidity. But, the direct sun did get to me. I drank 3.5 20 oz. bottles, 1 Accelerade.. 2 with Powerade, and half a bottle of water with Nuun. The route we did is a popular route in many books and for club rides. There were tons of cyclists, but also a lot of traffic, which I just didn't care for. Ipswich center had a scary intersection, which my DH got out in the middle of and blocked so I could get across.
When we left lunch, we got onto some nice back roads until the one real hill appeared, with no shade and cars speeding by. I fell back from DH and my friend's DH as I really thought I might keel over here, so I went super slowly. I really was wishing I had eaten more for lunch, but it is hard for me to eat when I am riding hard. Thankfully, we turned right after the hill and got onto some wonderful, shady, neighborhood streets and country roads. We used GPS directions for the last 14 miles, instead of the cue sheet, which had some scary cautions about certain roads. This worked out well.
After getting back to the car, we headed to an ice cream stand and had chocolate covered yogurt... mmmmm.
I am exhausted, even though this was mostly a flat ride.