Delta Century - Training Ride 9

Distance - 96.16 miles > my computer measured differently than everyone elses! /=
Time Riding - 7.02.30
Total Time - 9.38.21
Avg Speed - 13.6 mph
Max Speed - 22.5mph

I needed a Century before ALC. I missed the registration for most of those I had heard about earlier in the year. Earlier in the year when I wasn't sure I would ever be able to complete a Century again in my life. So Friday night I did some searching at the various bicycle clubs around the area. The Stockton Bicycling Club was hosting their annual Delta Century. Flat. No climbing. What's that even mean?? I contacted them by email and found out there was still room. So that was the plan. I took Saturday off from cycling and hung out with Bozo in the morning then we went to "The Hunger Games" in the afternoon with LJ. The only reason this is significant to the ride is that for some reason I totally strayed from usual pre-ride routine. I ate more than my fair share of the large popcorn that we bought. WAY MORE! I drank more than my fair share of the Coke that Bozo and I "shared." Then after the movie we went across the street and shared Veggie Nachos (I ate more than my fair share there too!) and I had a Margarita. A margarita! What?? Then we went home, I got my stuff ready, and went to bed. I did drink a ton of water before I went to sleep. But still.

We woke up easily enough at 4:45am... well, as easily as I am capable of waking at that hour. That's why I get everything ready the night before. I am not "with it" in the morning. All of that went mostly as usual. But then I requested no tortillas for my pre-ride eggs. I generally like the tortilla but before a ride I feel like I'm gagging it down. No big deal except that this was yet another change to my routine and also gave me fewer carbs before the ride. Again, I drank a lot of water. But I was also drinking some Heed Perpetuem when I probably should have just been drinking more water. I'm just not sure where my mind was.

Jessie's Orchard Winery is where the ride started. Very cute! Roosters crowing while they hang out on the wine barrels in the old barn at sunrise. Idyllic! Bozo was dropping me off so we got prime parking. I was having trouble deciding what clothes to wear but knew it would get warm quickly so opted for shorts, short-sleeve jersey, and arm warmers. All set, Bozo took off and I headed to the outhouse. When I parked my bike I realized I had left my bottles in the car. Where is my mind?? Bozo came running over with them. Oh! That's where my mind is! lol Phew! After the bathroom I came out and Bozo was back. But this time it was because parking was really easy and she wanted to watch me ride out.

The exit took us through the vineyard! SO pretty! It was a bit like mountain biking with some gravel-filled  potholes. I liked that!

The rest of the ride is a blur. It was very windy and riding alone was pretty difficult. If you have read my blog in the past, you know that I have a love/hate relationship with the wind. But when I decided to do the Red Ribbon Ride in Minnesota, I knew that I needed to make peace with the wind. And I have. Not that I love it but it didn't mess with my mind nearly as much during this ride.

On another note, my legs felt like CRAP from the very beginning. At about mile 1, yes ONE, I was thinking I didn't know if I could complete this ride if my legs didn't get with the program. They were saying to me something like, "Popcorn? Nachos? Margarita??" and I realized that my will just had to be stronger than their valid argument. So I pedaled. And pedaled. Oh... and pedaled!

I saw beautiful vineyards. Who knew the Delta had vineyards? Honestly, I didn't even know there was a Delta! lol So everything was new to me. We rode along a Slough(?) on both sides, looked like a river to me. At one point the wind was so strong to my side that I was literally leaning to the left into the wind and holding my handlebars so tight my hands began to ache. The gusts would take the handlebar easily to the right if I didn't hang on. I also thought I might have missed a turn at one point. Each ride seems to have those long stretches where I don't see anyone else and I begin to question if I'm in the right place. As we got back on to the regular roads, I began seeing people again. Phew!

The rest stops were well-stocked with foods I tried to eat to make up for the night before. This is an AWFUL feeling! To hope that what I eat now will help me now and also make up for my stupidity the day before. I also tried to release the muscles in my left calf, which had been painful from the beginning. After each rest stop, the pain was just a little less and I began to think that my will was actually winning out! Before the last rest stop, we had to cross the Slough from the island we were on (I didn't know we were on an island!) on a Ferry. That was a relief. I wish it had been a little longer!

The last rest stop left about 20 miles in the ride. At this point I knew I would make it. It might take me forever but I wasn't going to get this far and then stop. After procrastinating, debating drinking a Coke (I didn't), and going to the bathroom twice, I finally got myself back on my bike and out on the road. I told a few people that I'd see them when they pass me and off I went. Sure enough, the same people who had been passing me all day came along. The leader of the 2nd group told me to jump on the train, to which I responded that I would if I could keep up. She said they would drag me! lol So I jumped on. And they did drag me. It was the fastest 20 miles I did all day and it felt great. The benefit of having a group of people to ride with... and a tailwind! I definitely miss having people to ride with in a group!

Back at the Vineyard... Bozo was waiting for me where she had dropped me off. Not that she'd been there all day! lol She took Blue home and hung out there before coming back to Lodi. But we missed the turn. I guess we were just going too darn fast! ha! So we came in from the main entrance and I snuck up on her a little.

A quick meal of pasta, salad, bread, and cookies before heading home. A well-run ride I have to say!

I'm glad to have gotten the Century done before AIDS/LifeCycle. It definitely affirmed that a flat century can be much more brutal than climbing. There are no breaks like those in the descents and it's monotonous. Riding alone, I had a lot of time in my own head... with the wind. But it was definitely an achievement and I'm glad to have done it.

Mulholland - My First Century

Distance = 102.45
Time = 8.38.53
(Actual time was just over 12 hours!)

Got up bright and early and made my way over to Calabasas, CA, which is pretty close to where Robin, my supervisor, lives. I definitely thought about just going to her house and hanging out (sleeping!) instead. But I had committed to doing a century. And I wanted to do it before the AIDS Ride. It was more of a psychological thing. Although the physical part was huge too! I just wanted to know that I could ride more than was required on most days of the AIDS Ride. Many people weren't doing this particular century because it is so close to the AIDS Ride. But I still have over a week to recover. So I'm not sure what the big deal is. Maybe I'll find out! Anyway, I got to the park with plenty of time. I was meeting Elaine... sortof. She wasn't going to do the ride because of what other people had said about doing it so close to the actual ride. Then she found out I was doing it so I guess she decided she could give it a try. Before a ride starts, especially one that's longer than I've done before, I get a little anal. I want everything to be perfect. Well, of course it can't be. But I have my system down now so I basically had all I needed. The other cool thing about this ride is that it looped around back to the park after about 20 miles or so. So I had another opportunity to get what I needed, change clothes, etc. I didn't need to change anything. But it made me feeling better! lol I was also pretty nervous. I felt like I was competing. Though I wasn't. Maybe with myself. Regardless, I felt tight and a little nauseous! lol Once we got started, all seemed okay. Although I had trouble regulating my temperature. That seems pretty common in the first 20 miles though. Especially being in California where the terrain changes so drastically. A cool thing about this ride is the themed rest stops. They seemed to get more and more interesting as time went by. The first part of the ride was pretty uneventful. Your regular ups and downs. At some point, near the halfway mark, the road got pretty flat and it was really windy. We were out near what looked like horse ranches etc. Then we were around what I thought looked like cabbage fields. I don't know if that's possible! lol But that's what I saw. Elaine was pretty good on this part of the ride as she knows that I'm not a big fan of wind. So she stayed in front a lot more of the time than she had been or usually would. As we were riding along, I realized that I live near an ocean and lots of fields. There will be wind. Always! So it was here that I decided to embrace it. Well, not embrace it so much as stop bitching about it. (= So I just put my head down and went. The halfway point was a nice park where they had a LOT of food. It was great! We stayed there for quite awhile. Elaine's tire was out in the sun and popped randomly. So we had a whole drama around getting that fixed. I saw with Suzann and Kar while they were there. I wish I could have taken off with them. But I knew the right thing was to stay with Elaine. I've made sure she knows that during the AIDS Ride, we won't necessarily be riding together. She may be faster one day, I may be faster. My goal is not to finish this thing as a team. But for this ride, I felt like we should stick together. The second half of the ride was awesome. It was the most difficult thing I've done in my life. But it was incredible. It was afternoon so it got very hot. Maybe near 100 degrees. I'm not sure. Lots of ups and downs. And I just keep telling myself to peddle. Lots of thinking time. That's a great and horrible thing about cycling. The amount of time I have to think about my life! Yikes! We did more fields and such in the wind. Not great but not horrible. Then we get to Hwy 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, and we ride down that for about 10 miles. Easy right? Ha! A side wind kept blowing us around. And traffic is very much in your face... or ass, I guess. Not much room for error. The ocean looked beautiful. I just looked that direction most of the time and the road just passed under me. I did stop at one point to rest my ass. Just needed to shake some blood around! heheh We got to the next rest stop, which I thought was one of the best. It was a Hawaiian theme. They had the skirts, leis, pineapple, all of it! We stayed there for a little while taking photos and getting our circulation back. I heard someone mention the upcoming climb. And I thought I heard 13 miles. Nah, couldn't be. Off we went with our water and food replenished. And up we went. And up and up and up! For, yep, 13 miles. I cannot possible describe how it feels after 80 miles of riding to ride such an angle for another 13. I just can't. It was so hot, I was actually dripping sweat. Dripping! They had a couple of people in trucks driving up and down to make sure people weren't dying. Seriously. They had water and such just in case. I hailed one for some water at one point. As she leaves, she says, "You're halfway! Good job!" I about vomited. But we did what we do. Get on the bike and peddle. That road also seems to be a popular one for motorcycles, especially crotch rockets. Apparently Elaine saw one skid out from under his owner and slide into a ditch. Lucky he wasn't turning the other way, it would have been a MUCH steeper and longer drop. Crazy people! Ha! *I'm* calling *them* crazy at this point. Funny! Another mini rest-stop and he says we're near the top. Maybe 2 miles then it's rolling. That means more hills, just not consistent climbing like this one has been. As we were heading downward in an awesome downhill, I decided to stop at a Biker Bar to use the restroom. Lots of leather and sweat going on there! My cyclist garb definitely stuck out! lol It was actually a pretty cool looking place. But we had to get back on the road. The guy was right about the rolling hills. It had become a single focus point where we just wanted to be finished. We caught up to a woman we had seen wayyyy at the beginning. She seemed to be struggling a little so she jumped on our wheels. Elaine also began to struggle. I turned around a couple times to get her back on my wheel so she could finish. We went along that way for a few miles. And then I could smell the finish. She knows I'm an end kicker. So off I went. Elaine sped up a little but doesn't quite have the kick I do so it took her slightly longer. The other woman came in just a little after us. Turns out the three of us were last in! But we finished! I completed my first century. Amazing! I sat down on the ground and ate a ton of licorice whips! lol No sugar while I'm riding. Makes me feel sick. So I got my sugar after! (= What an incredible feeling. Sortof like the 13-mile climb, I can't quite explain what it felt like. What I can describe is my desire to be home, bathed and in bed! I did the home and bathing part. But I also went out afterwards. Weird! Gotta love that LA social scene. We'll see if I can recover in time for the big day!