I made it! 54 miles…

This past saturday I got my butt in the car with all my gear in tow with every intention of riding from the bike store when I picked up my bike. I got my bike and headed out to the car and started dressing myself in my winter gear.

One of the riders came out and said “hey, you want to come on our group ride?”
Me…”how far you going?” knowing in my mind that it’s been a while since my last long ride (like 3 months).
He replied, “54 miles…” noticing my concern he added “…but it’s mostly flat with about 750 feet of climbing.”
Relief and as fast as my brain cells could decide I blurted out “yeah, I think I will come.”

So I followed him to the local sizzler where we met up with four other riders. Immediately intimidated but not an ounce of “back down” in me I geared up and made introductions. Also noted that there were no other girls other than the one I know we were picking up en route about 5 miles away.

When we were all ready we headed out. Luckily they were all staying at the “slow” speed of 20 mph. Remember that it’s been a few months since I rode seriously. So 2o mph is pushing me a bit. But we got to the pick up point for the other girl and then we were off.

This is my first group ride…ever. So drafting and all that stuff was foreign to me. But I got clued in real fast. I got a chance to ride side by side with all the riders and get to know them. At one point we spotted a lone rider up ahead so it was decided that we needed to race ahead and catch him. I couldn’t keep the pace up. I mean once they made the decision to do it it was like they hit the accelerator on the motorcycle. Just amazing how they could accelerate like that. The other girl, and I got left behind. I was more in the middle, but she was lagging badly. A couple of the other riders slowed down to make sure she was ok. We stopped at the stop sign and waited for everyone to regroup. She was about to turn back thinking that she was going to hold the group up, but this goes to show you how awesome these riders were, they said no and so we were off once more. We were about 15 miles out already.

Up ahead was West mountain. Not much of a mountain, but some climbing was definitely up ahead. The first part wasn’t too bad. We separated out a little. I was determined to catch up to the first three riders. Once I caught up we decided to stop to wait for the others. Apparently one got a flat. At this point we were about 20 miles into it. The landscape was beautiful. The lake was partially frozen with snow drifts all around. In hindsight I should’ve broken out my lone granola bar, but I just didn’t think of it. Also I took a few pictures, but again next time I’m going to take video with my phone.

So once we all regrouped we were off yet again. We had some more serious climbing ahead. I lagged behind this time. On the straight away one of the bikers hung back with me to make sure I was alright and all my brain was computing was “Chuck-a-rama”. I told him that my body was shutting down. (this is around mile 35ish) So he asked if I had eaten anything and if I had food with me. So I said that I was ill-prepared but I did have a granola bar. So three of them stopped with me as I scarfed down a granola bar.

I was informed that the steepest hill was ahead. That really didn’t do my heart any good. Once we got there I just about hopped off my bike, but my inner self said that I would rather die than get off that bike. I kept telling myself that I was almost to the top just a few more cranks out and we’d be at the top. Such tremendous focus for me. But once I was over that it was minor hills and then flat. The food was starting to hit my blood stream and I was starting to feel much better and able to crank out some better speeds.

By this time of day the wind had picked up in front of us. Drafting became very important. I couldn’t believe the difference. I got a gust with my open jacket and I sailed back about 40 yards from the last biker. This was disheartening. Finally one the riders came back for me and let me draft off them. We stopped at park for a bathroom break, but the bathrooms were locked. We were at mile 45ish at this point. I took a gel pack from one of the riders. (it was the chocolate gu and this was soooooo good).

We decided to get our bathroom break at the parents of the leader’s house. It was a great relief. We were off yet again battling the wind from the front and then to the side. We stayed mostly in two groups drafting each other. By this time most of us were dead legged and numb butts and with the wind our speed was around 15-17 mph sometimes slower.

We got to the drop off point for the girl then continued on our way just a few miles out to our end point. The first three bikers had a spur of energy and decided to do race speed til the end. Me and one other were left to tough it out to the end. We did fine, but it had been a while since either of us made a long trek.

I just remember the feeling of making such an accomplishment. There were points there in the middle where I was seriously wondering if I was going to make it another mile. I was so amazed at how they looked out for all of us. The comradery they had. Most came prepared some did not. Everybody shared what they had. I definitely have my list of things I want to invest in for my next 54 miles.

The other things I noticed is that no matter how tired I was my legs were pumping til the end and I was able to keep going. I was very impressed with my body’s stamina. Not in particular my body, but just the make-up of the body in general. I wonder how far I could’ve gone before I would’ve broken down for good.

I did hit the chuck-a-rama afterwards. I actaully only ate one plate and then a little dessert. I went home to think that I would just hit the hay and be so sore the next day and be in pain for a while. But to my surprise I felt like a million bucks the next day. I felt like I could pump out another 54. Well my crotch may not heh heh heh… I figure that in a couple of days when that area heals a little better I will crank it out to work and school and back. Which is no easy fete in itself considering that I will be cranking out the last 4 miles uphill.

I’m just so pumped up that I made it! So I’m going to sign up for my first century, Ulcer, in August.

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