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This ride was definitely one of the most challenging rides I’ve ever done, but I am so happy that I made it and I can finally say that I’ve biked 100 miles!!! (well, it actually turned out to be 106)  It is an amazing and empowering feeling . . . and although I was a bit stiff the day after, I actually can’t wait to do it again crazy as it may sound 🙂  

Before we get to the details of the ride, Chris and I had to make the loooong 10 hour car ride to Napa.  Boy, we were sure packed to the brim with all our junk and bikes in the back.  I of course had to pack copious amounts of snacks 🙂  And I always seem to pack all the food first before I get to the clothes lol

Since we hit the road early at 5am, I also made us some meals the night before to take along to save time and moola.  I made muesli, turkey and cheese paninis with feta and spinach bread from GH, and chicken teriyaki for dinner 🙂  It worked out very well.

I like to have my carb load big dinner 2 nights before the event since it takes the body 24-48 hours to digest everything.  You don’t want to have a gigantic meal the night before because it can cause problems for some.  I made a big bowl of pasta with a side of garlic bread.

The long car ride actually wasn’t too bad and we made it in plenty of time to make it to packet pick up and get all our goodies.  Once we checked into our hotel I promptly got everything out and ready for the big day and we pretty much had all our crap everywhere in the room!

My number was 67, which was based on your fundraising efforts out of 1,000 riders.  Chris and I ended up raising $1,200 total, which is awesome and I’m so thankful for all our donators.

And our bikes were parked in the room as well 🙂

And sure enough the rain started to come down that night and I was freaking out because I don’t have any tread on my tires.  Chris and I walked to a few bike shops just to get out and loosen the legs, but they were all closed.  I looked at weather.com hour by hour and it looked like the weather would be clear by morning thank goodness.  I just prayed that it would be dry because those hills and turns would sure be interesting!

I wasn’t too nervous the whole day, but the moment I tried to hit the hay my nerves really started to get to me.  I was really anxious and excited, but tried to relax my mind as best I could by counting down from 100. . . 100, 99, 98, 97 . . . I managed to fall asleep somehow and woke up at about 3am, but I couldn’t quite fall back asleep completely.  Our alarm went off at about 5:30 and we were up and at ’em getting ready!

I decided on a whole cinnamon raisin bagel from TJ’s with pb and 1/2 a naner for breakfast.  I also had a handful of wheat thins and about 2 cups of gatorade.

Because our hotel was only about 3 miles from the start, we decided to ride down on our bikes.  Plus the course was only 98.6 miles total, so we had to fix that because a century = 100 right?! lol I’ve seen many century riders continue to ride around the streets after the course just to get in 100, crazy people I tell you 🙂

It was an honor to finally meet our team, and they had some bagels and Justin’s AB while everyone was getting ready to head to the starting line-up. I’d like to at least recognize Team Awesome! because they all did an awesome job (no pun intended) and I love meeting new people who also have a passion for cycling and being active (from left to right):  Sean, Jenna, HTP Dad,  Caitlin, Kelly, Me, Chris and Jill.

It was a great beginning to the ride with live music, positive energy and team announcements, which included Team Awesome!  woot!  I was so excited and just wanted to go already!

It was a chilly morning, but the wonderful sun was out!!  Chris convinced me to get rid of my leg warmers since it was going to get warmer later in the day.  I’m sure glad I listened to him because it’s better to be cold for an hour and comfortable for 7 rather than be comfortable for 1 and unbearably hot for 7 or have no place to store them.

This was towards the beginning of the ride.  I’m at the end of this line.

First Power Stop –> Mile 20

I was feeling really good so far.  Chris and I didn’t push it too hard because you of course don’t want to burn out when you have 75 miles left to go.  I was really impressed with all the stops.  They had a lot of great food/fuel options with happy people to cheer us on 🙂

The stops even had brie cheese!  I don’t think I’ll see that at another century again.  I didn’t have any though because it’s important for me and my tummy to stick to the basics and what I know works on race day.  Sure was kind of neat to see though!

I had 1 Luna Moon Packet + 2 cups H20 at this stop and Chris got some fuel.  In between stops I consistently fueled with my Infinit formula trying to get at least 18-20 oz of liquid per hour.

Since this was also the beginning of the timed section, Chris wanted to blast it and see how fast he could make it.  I on the other hand didn’t want to kill myself and waited for Kelly and Sean to finish refueling to start out with them.  See ya Chris!  I think the timed section was a good 40 miles or so with some incredible climbing, oh yes, more on that soon.

Somehow I pulled away from Kelly and Sean and rode most of the way by myself.  It was a really really nice ride, and most of the time with cycling in a big group like that you end up riding by yourself or hooking onto a group at times. One moment you’re riding with someone and bam they disappear.  It certainly makes it easier to ride with a group, but sometimes it’s hard to find one that doesn’t ride too fast to burn you out, but fast enough to keep your comfy pace.

Second Power Stop –> Mile 42.9

Once the timed section started there were some pretty good climbs before this power stop, and looking back now I think I might have pushed a bit too much because when I arrived at the stop I could tell my legs were a bit tired.  uh-oh, I thought, but hang in there and try not to think about it!  You can do it!

At this stop I mixed my first Infinit baggie that I brought with me.  I ended up making a slurry in a cup and mixing it with a spoon.  Then I added the slurry to the Speedfil and added more water to fill it up.  I also had another Luna Moon packet, 2 fig newtons, a good handful of goldfish crackers and about 2 cups of Gatorade.

After leaving the second power stop, the views were just spectacular throughout the entire ride!  It was such an amazing experience cycling through Napa and it was certainly hard not to just slow down and take a joy ride.  The pictures don’t do it justice.

And big thanks to Amanda for capturing these great shots!

Wildlife!

This next section was a kiiiiller . . . dun dun dun . . . and my legs were kind of toasted to be honest.  I must have sat too long at the last stop or something because they acted like they didn’t want to work again and I wondered how I was going to make it up that Ink Grade Hill with 6-18% grades!  eek!  Well, there were about 5 miles of epic climbing, I mean EPIC!  There is only that one word to describe it.  It was the looongest 5 miles of my life.

I really didn’t want to look down and see how slow I was going, but I was literally only going about 2.5 mph at some points!  ugh, I had to stop about 2 times, but I never clipped out or walked.  That was not going to happen.  I did see one gal get picked up by the sag vehicle, which kind of scared me, but I powered through and made it to the top!!!!  yessss!  Aerobically I felt awesome, but my muscles were lagging behind a bit.  I see more power training in my future 🙂

Third Power Stop –> Mile 59

At this point most of the killer climbing was done and I was feeling pretty darn good.  I mixed another Infinit baggie, had 1 fig newton and another packet of Luna Moons.  I really like this formula, and with about 330 mg of sodium per serving I didn’t have any cramping or electrolyte issues I heard some of the other cyclists having.  I also really think the little bit of protein added to the formula really helps with longer endurance rides, since up to 15% of protein can be used for energy.  Research on this is still limited though.

Chris and I hooked back up at this point since the timed section was over and we headed off hopeful and excited for some downhill time.  Well, there was a good amount of downhill, yes, buuuut the wind really started to pick up towards the end and it was a pretty brutal head wind.  But, man oh man some of those downhills were crazy fast!  I was riding my brakes most of the way, but guys were flying past with cars whizzing past too no less, eeek!  That kind of freaks me out, especially with wind.

And the winds continued to pick up to at least 17 mph, but we made it to the next power stop. . .

Fourth Power Stop –> Mile 71.8

At this point I was just wanting the winds to stop already!  I grabbed another fig newton + a cup of H2O and we headed out hopeful that it would be somewhat flat.  It was somewhat flat, but of course the winds did not stop and continued to pick up.  Chris and I battled the winds and we each traded off pulling out in front of the other which really helps in winds.  Go Go Go!

We did get a pretty nice shot together 🙂

There was one more stop before the end and we decided to pass through it, but ended stopping about 5 miles or so from the finish anyways to take a quick break and split a Luna Moon packet.  Chris was pretty burnt from trying to power through those epic climbs, so I pulled us through the winds to the end and we crossed the finish together!  It was awesome!!!!

It felt so great to realize that I just rode a century!!! Heck yes!

I’m pretty happy with my stats and rode what I was at least hoping for 🙂

• 103 miles!
• Time: 6:47 riding time (total it took about 8 hours with stops)
• Avg: 15.1 mph