October 20 Weekend Rides

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Did anyone ride the Hilly Hundred on the weekend? I did. It was awesome, gorgeous fall colors. Saturday I suffered a fair amount (it rained at points, it was in the 50s at most, with a little wind and very humid), yesterday was perfect. Today I am tired!

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I had a century planned for Sunday, but cold symptoms started to appear Thursday night. Bad timing, as it might be the last definite chance for a century length ride before El Tour de Tucson. Not good!! But I just did everything I could think of- drank fruit smoothies, water, orange juice and tea all day Friday and Saturday, and went to bed at 8 pm Friday and Saturday. My head was congested and I just felt yucky Saturday but Sunday I decided things had improved enough to go for it.

It wasn't my happiest ride ever- the first hour I wasn't sure if i was being stupid, and the middle part of the ride my digestive system just didn't feel normal. We had about 12 miles pushing into a stiff headwind as well. In spite of it all, I made it 92 miles (skipped a little bit that would have added 5-10 miles). It helped that the last 30 were ever so slightly downhill and we being carried along by a strong tailwind. Some of my new "team" were going fast and did the whole hundred at more than 17 mph. I had great companionship from another gal who was right with me the whole way, and we averaged 15.6 for the time we were actually riding (not counting SAG stops and those two times when I just felt like I had to stop and regroup).

Surprisingly- my legs hardly noticed the long ride today (Monday)- I think I just didn't push myself that hard because my body was not at 100% otherwise.