I spent a lot of time training. A few mornings a week I would get up around 5:30 to get in a ride before Dan went to work. Every Saturday I took a few hours in the morning to get my long ride in. It felt very time-consuming but I also loved it. The longest ride I did before the race was 63 miles, so I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure how I was going to handle adding 40 miles to that!
We showed up to the Adobe Building in Lehi only a short time before the race started, but they ended up starting late and doing a staggered start so we were sitting around forever. It made me even more nervous to have all that time to think about it!
For most of the first 55 miles we had groups to ride with and we all took turns drafting. There were no major hills and we made pretty good time. We took short breaks at the rest stops to get snacks and refill water bottles (I'm always starving when I ride). At mile 55 there was a lunch stop. I knew my phone wasn't going to last the whole ride using MapMyRide but I had my bike computer so I wasn't worried. Anna ended up bringing a portable phone charger so I was happy I'd be able to map the ride after all. During lunch we tried to get our phones hooked up and the cable wasn't working so we were kind of bummed about that. But again, I wasn't too disappointed because my bike computer tracks all the data.
But it just so happened that right after lunch, somehow my computer got completely reset and erased the whole ride. It wouldn't even show me my speed or distance so I had to go the rest of the ride practically blind. It drove me crazy! I'm used to watching my MPH to help me keep a steady pace, and I never knew how many miles we had left.
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| This and the next picture were taken by the race photographer near the beginning. I never the photographer after the first 10 miles so this is it! |
I felt surprisingly good for the rest of the race. It started to get very hot on the west side of Utah Lake and we didn't have as many chances to draft since everyone had spread out so much. Anna wasn't feeling great so I had a few miles where I was riding completely solo.
I don't think I really felt how tired I was until the last 5 miles or so. It was SO hot and windy and it was a gradual uphill. The only thing that got me to the end was my adrenaline kick that I always get at the end of races. I just wanted to be DONE. Anna and I finished together: 104 miles in 6:35.
The whole day I was exhausted and happy and relieved. It had felt easier than I thought it would and I felt such a sense of accomplishment for doing something I've wanted to do for years!
The high did not last - I hardly rode my bike the rest of the summer because I was so burned out. Anna and I were planning on signing up for another century in September but both weren't thrilled with the thought of doing it again and decided not to. I think I'll wait for another year!
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