century ride: a one hundred mile bike ride.
a century ride is a pretty big deal amongst cyclists...and so, as our final training ride, on sunday, we did a century ride. actually by the time we rolled back into our backyard, we had logged 101 miles.
it was a good experience all in all. we carried all of our gear, just like we will be carrying next week. it was a little more weight than we had been training with, and we did notice a difference. we are really starting to understand why people say that getting rid of any weight you possibly can is a big deal. as a result, we are planning on dropping down from two sleeping bags, to a sheet and a sleeping bag (we will put the sheet underneath us, and open the sleeping bag up on top of us).
cailyn did absolutely great. the morning was pretty windy and she was seeming a little bit demoralized (and i was a little worried about that), but by about midday, the wind died a little and she gained a lot of confidence as we started moving faster. we rode the second 40 miles much faster than the first 40 miles, and cailyn was still going strong. and as a matter of fact, i think that at 101 miles she could have kept going.
i on the other hand could not. with about 10 miles to go the heat (85 degrees) and sun really started to get to me and i started to get dehydrated. i had plenty of water but not nearly enough electrolytes. with about 3-4 miles to go, my legs started to cramp and i had a killer headache. so, cailyn led the way home, and i literally limped home. only peddling when i absolutely needed to. it was not a great ending, but at the same time, it was a good learning experience. i now know what some of that feels like, and i think i know what i need to do in order to avoid some of that stuff.
all in all, it was a good final training ride, and left us feeling fairly confident. and the legs haven't felt too bad the last two days.
the bikes are in at the bike shop getting tuned up. it is crazy to think that the next time that we get on the bikes that we will be in virginia. crazy to think about.
over the next couple of days i will continue to post about some of the emotions leading up to the trip, why we are wanting to do this trip and what we are hoping to get out of it, as well as a list of exactly what we are taking.
the countdown is definitely on. 4 days till we start heading east.
2 comments:
Congrats on the century! Looking forward to watching your progress!
Matt in IN
So excited for you and Cailyn! I plan to follow your journey since first finding out about it last week when Cailyn stopped by. We've seen you out during some of your training rides and it wasn't until last week when Cailyn was in my office that we put it all together. I'm taking good notes as I'd LOVE to do this with my husband in a few years. Ride on! God Bless you both!!
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