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It seems like all I’ve been posting lately is bike ride this and bike ride that doesn’t it?!  Sorry about that, but alas I have another cycling event post!  At this point last year when Chris was getting ready for Viva 2009, it was about 4 months after we had both started cycling and I had thought to myself, I don’t know if I could ever do a century! It’s funny to look back and realize that was going through my mind at that point in time.  I was so happy for Chris, but I was still pretty new to this whole cycling thing and my foot was just barely touching the water.  Flash forward to now and I’ve just about jumped right in!!!  So far with this century under my belt now, I’ve finished 2 centuries, one of which was the Napa Century, and am going to be on a cycling team!  A lot can happen over the course of a year . . .  

Since the ride started at 6:30am, and Chris and I always manage to be late, we decided to save the extra driving time and got a reasonable room at the Golden Nugget hotel.  My mom and I drove down Friday afternoon with all the junk in the trunk, while Chris was at work.  We weren’t but 10 miles from the hotel when I remembered I forgot my bike bottle! grrrr so I had to drive back home and back to the hotel before we finally met up, settled in, and headed to dinner at the buffet with another fellow cycling friend.

Because we had to leave our stuff in the car after checking out of the hotel in the am before the ride, I didn’t want to bring my camera and risk anything, so I don’t have the best pictures.  You’ll have to envision the food with my vivid and captivating descriptions, ha 🙂

Dinner at the buffet was actually pretty good.  I don’t like those carb-load stuff yourself silly the night before dinners because they only make you feel worse in the am, not ready for riding!  I like to slightly increase my carbs/kcals about 3 days before a big ride and then that way it evens itself out and isn’t so drastic.  I had a salad mix, small slice of cheese pizza, big scoop of fried rice, slice of roast turkey and a small piece of bread pudding our friend said we had to try.  I was full but not overly stuffed.

That night we got all our stuff out and ready so we’d be ready to go quickly in the am.

Jamie parked safely and comfortably in the hotel.  It sure is interesting the looks people give you when your rolling your bike into the hotel!

After having a quick pb and date topped bagel, we rode from the hotel which added another 3.2 miles total to the route.  Because I had to make an emergency bathroom stop before we left the hotel, we made it fairly close to the start and it was pretty chaotic!  There were soooo many century riders compared to last year and I don’t think they prepared quite as well as they could have for it.  I believe there were at least 1,500 riders this year.  Pretty crazy but exciting!

First Pit Stop — Mile 18

This stop was pretty crowded and too small to accommodate all the riders, so Chris and I decided to pass this one after a very quick stop.

I had my Speedfil full of slightly diluted Gatorade + extra lytes from the start and I also munched on 3 Luna Moons.

Second Pit Stop — Mile 36

This stop was also pretty packed but larger and it was the stop before we all got to go over the new Hoover Dam Bridge for the first time!  No other cars have been on this bridge to date, so that was really neat.  The view wasn’t really too spectacular because the concrete barriers were blocking most of the view, but looking over from way up there was awesome!!!

That is the Hoover Dam waaaay down there!

Here’s a picture of the new bridge when they were working on it a little while ago.

Who would have thought I would be riding my bike over that?!

Wow!!!

By this point I had refilled my bottle with their HEED mix and munched on a PowerBar.

The biggest sports nutrition no-no is to never try anything new on race day.  I majorly failed on this one.  It’s really hard when ride organizers don’t send out any information about their aide stations or what kind of sports nutrition products they will have.  Maybe it’s just me and the dietitian talking, but I need to know specifics and numbers people!!!  I knew that I had never tried HEED before, but I didn’t think it would have tasted as bad as it did.  Everyone’s stomach and palate is different, especially on race day.

Let me tell you that HEED is THE worst tasting sports drink I have EVER had.  I don’t know if it wasn’t mixed right or it was too diluted, but it did not taste good and did not sit well with my taste buds and tummy =/  Unless I had my own personal support crew, there is no way I could have carried enough of my own mix to last me the whole day though.  It also contains xylitol, which is a sugar alcohol.  My stomach usually doesn’t agree with those sugar substitutes either.  You win some, you lose some, but I know I will never be using HEED again, bleck!

I tried to take my mind off the awful taste and not worry 🙂

HEED is also not a substantial fuel for longer endurance rides either, so thank goodness I brought some of these PowerBars along.  I love these and the healthy harvest varieties.  They sit so well on my stomach during activity, not like a rock like ClifBars usually do.

Sorry I’m on this rant, but if you’re not convinced that I didn’t like HEED up until now, let me tell you another reason:  It only has 40mg of sodium per serving!!!  That is not cool in my books, especially when it’s hot outside and you’re sweating like a faucet which is composed of primarily sodium!

I brought these Gatorlytes and added 1/2 a packet to each fill of my Speedfil bottle (~40 oz).  Be careful with these though because they have 780 mg of sodium per packet + other lytes and are meant for those heavy, salty sweaters with bad cramping issues and can throw the osmolality of a drink pretty high.

Third Pit Stop – Lunch Mile 57

I didn’t want to wait too long on this stop, but while Chris grabbed a wrap from Jason’s deli, I refilled my Speedfill with HEED, added lytes, and munched on the rest of my Luna Moons and PowerBar.  It was neat they had lunch for all of us!

This stop was also jammed and we had to wait in line again for refuel which took a considerable amount of time.  All I was thinking most of the time was we have to get back so we don’t miss the food!  Many times the century riders miss out on the food at the end like my last century lol

By far the best stocked tent was JT’s Bicycle, our fav shop!!

Fourth Pit Stop — Mile 69

This stop was pretty quick and I grabbed some more water, HEED, 1/2 naner and 2 Sandies cookies since they were out of shot bloks. My stomach usually isn’t good with the goos and gels.

I’m not sure what happened because at this point I was feeling really good, but by mile 85 with the heat and the awful taste of the HEED my stomach turned and instantly my performance dropped.  I was forced to go slow or else I was sure I was going to have to stop and hurl on the side of the road.  ack, not good, but I powered through and I was frickin’ thankful when I finally arrived at the next aid station.  Hallelujah!!

Fifth Pit Stop — Mile 90

I threw out what I had in my bottle and added some new HEED (thought of it just makes me want to cringe) + lots of ice and grabbed a PowerBar, more ice water, and some pretzels to try and settle my stomach.  I new that it would be a few more rolling hills and then it would be downhill from there. Positive thoughts!!!

Boy those last 20 miles or so just draaaaag on and all you want to do is finish!!!  ugh, and the heat and nasty drink wasn’t helping.

There was one last stop at mile 103, but Chris and I decided to pass through since it would be downhill for the next 15 miles pretty much.  We did stop at one point and shared a PowerBar and just tried to make it through all the dang red lights down Alta.  I think there were 15 lights we had to go through and maybe just maybe made it through 2 of them without hitting a red.  You’d think they would synchronize the lights!!!

But we finally made it and crossed the finish line at about 3:55 pm!!!!  Wooooo!  and we made it back for FOOD! Yay!  It is such an empowering feeling crossing that dang finish line no matter how slow or fast you are.  It’s invigorating, emotional, tiring, exciting, joyous, and a big fat relief!  I’m glad that Chris decided to stick with me throughout most of the ride.  Even though he could have blasted through it, he met back up with me at the stops, and only a few times gave me a hard time 😉

I’m also so glad that my mom was able to come to the finish and she brought us recovery smoothies I had made the day before. Thanks Mom!!!  Those really hit the spot.

I put in milk, chocolate almond milk, cocoa, Nesquik, whey, and frozen cherries.  Yum!

Outback also sponsored lunner and there was plenty left when we made it back!  Mark this in the books people, an actual century with food left in the end for all the normal finishers 🙂  I couldn’t really stomach the beef or chicken and solid food, but the rice and salad were pretty darn good.  I went back for a second round of rice.

Nutrition Totals

I calculated out my estimated expended calories with elevation –> 4,796

Min-Max kcals I needed averaging 15.6 mph –> 197 – 328 kcals/hour

After adding up my totals for the ride I got in 225 kcals, 46g CHO, 302mg Na per hour for a total of 1,650 kcals during the ride. A little low, but not too bad considering my stomach towards the end.

Overall I didn’t do too bad on time, although I wanted to do better.  I could have gotten in way more training too.  With all the extra waiting at the stops, helping a fellow cyclist change a flat, stopping for lunch, my stomach problems, it took a dang long time to finish, but my riding time wasn’t too bad!  This isn’t the time for a pity party, I finished right?!

• Riding Time:  7:20:31
• Average:  15.6 mph
• Miles:  115!!! (+3.2 from the hotel & back but I didn’t count those)

I wanted a 16 mph average, but there is always another century!  I’m going to blame it on all the times my Garmin started when I was just rolling my bike around at 1 mph 😉

The fastest rider finished in 5:27:02, dang!  How do people do that?

We made it!

My guy!

and my mom!  I’m going to be so sad when she has to leave next week 🙁

After I got home I had a glass of OJ, some dates and egg whites, and then we went to In-N-Out!!!!  Oh my gosh, I haven’t been there in so long and it tasted sooooo good.  I got a 2×1 + fries and shared a chocolate shake with Chris.  Boy that sure hit the spot.

Total kcals for the day –> 4,600!

Overall it was a great ride and RTC sure knows how to put on a cycling event!  All their volunteers and staff have the best energy which really helps.  There were even people on the side of the road cheering us on at some points!  There were a few things that could have been better, but I loved it!!!  It’s neat to catch up with friends and meet new ones along the way.  I don’t know what it is, but there is something about the energy with these events that I love, as well as the sheer empowerment you feel when crossing the finish line. It’s addicting!

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Today I am a bit stiff and tired, but overall not too bad and my muscles don’t feel fatigued.  Chris needs to give me a massage though 🙂 I really think having my Infinit mix with a little protein, BCAAs, and adequate kcals in the bottle made a huge difference in my performance in the Napa Century in May.  Lesson Learned.  Say no to HEED for longer rides.

Thank you sir may I have another??? I don’t really have too long of a ‘recovery’ period in training since the race season for cycling is ending but soon approaching again in the next few months.  Hopefully I’ll be able to hold on and power through!  Dance team to cycling team, who woulda thunk?  I’m really going to have to work on my anaerobic power.

Thanks for reading this long and never ending post and many many many thanks for all your support.  It means the world 🙂