Flyer Flown

Today was an interesting day. Angela and I signed up for the Owasco Flyer about a week ago or so. It's a 36 mile bike race with a few big hills... or at least that is what I was told...

I was pretty nervous about being in a bike race again after the Tour de Loop last year just because I feel like everyone who races is legit and serious bikers, unlike say, us. Don't get me wrong, we ride a lot and occasionally push ourselves outside of our comfort zone but bike races are insane. The people who won today beat us by about 50 minutes. That's a significant difference. There were only 24 women who rode, 199 riders all together. Props to the woman who won overall female, I bow down to her athleticism 1:35:29! Our time by the way was 2:18:14 which I was guessing earned us a big old DFL but turns out we beat a handful of people. 2 Girls in my age group and 2 in Angela's, so at least we beat someone. I've been patting myself on the back for even riding in the race since it was by far the hardest race I've ever been in, not to mention all the women who didn't even attempt it, I mean we get points for that right?

Anyways in typical fashion we started way the eff in the back. Once we lost sight of the pack we went it alone for awhile until I latched on like a leech to a nice gentleman who was just slightly faster than what I would consider a comfortable pace. Once we were drafting with a few people it became significantly easier to ride a respectable pace. After the first big hill that seemed to go on forever I felt alright, besides a few tight muscles. The down hills were really nice but the uphills started very quickly after, when the second hill began to climb it literally never ended... luckily it levels out in places but I kept thinking the second hill, which was supposed to be the worst, was over and then around every corner there was another climb. Just to clarify by climb I mean sort of like the face of a cliff which I could have easily walked up faster. Granny gear all the way! So after the mountain they call a hill, there really wasn't much of a down hill, just a bunch of rollers and sort of big hills that I kept thinking must be the third big climb. I'm not entirely sure where that last one was, it just seemed like I had died and sinned heavily in a former life and was now paying for it in my own personal hell of never ending hills. My computer was happily reporting my mph but nothing else so when I turned to Angela and asked how much further like a kid on a car trip to California, we had 6 miles left. My response was let's get this effer over with and we had a very short lived burst of energy til we spotted hill after miserable hill and realised we had a ways to go. With one mile left I was picturing myself chucking my bike in Owasco lake. The last four hills forced me into granny gear and so close to my physical/mental breaking point I almost cried... and I am not exaggerating. I will say there were men in front of us walking their bikes up hill, granted faster than we were riding, but we did manage to remain on our bikes, we take our accomplishments wherever they come :)

The finish is at the top of a short but steep hill and as we rolled across the line I was at least happy we weren't any slower and that there were in fact people behind us.

Overall a good experience, it should make the Iron Girl seem like a cake walk. Hopefully someday soon we will learn how to ride our bikes faster and compete with fellow cyclists but until that day we will at least hold our heads up high for attempting a monster of a race and finishing it!

Listening to: Good ol' Fashion Nightmare/ Matt & Kim

Century: Check!

100 Miles... DONE!!!

And what a ride it was...

Kris took us and our bikes down to Oneida packing up Big Red to the brim. It has to be said that the less expensive bikes got to ride in the bed of the truck while the fancy Cervelo got to ride in the cabin with us... although I can't really say that I blame him with that decision : )

Anyways we made it up there, had great accommodations and a nice pre race dinner with friends (who also generously donated to each of us to ride, Thank you Gisella & Eric)! We woke up around 5:00 AM to a brisk overcast Sunday morning and sleepily managed to pull ourselves together. We checked the weather  while I chowed down my peanut butter and banana bagel and sipped my tea. A passing shower possible, around midday, other than that clear skies, it sounded pretty good to me... but more on that later. Upon arriving at Verona Beach we promptly picked up our numbers and then proceeded to loose track of time until about a minute before the start, rushed around to throw everything together last minute, and finally lined up just in time. I made the last minute decision to ditch my long sleeve shirt and just rock the short sleeve jerseys and bike shorts. To give you an idea of how poor this decision was, most of the other riders had both arm and leg warmers on, with rain jackets on top. I had goose bumps for a good 10 miles, until finally the adrenaline kicked in and warmed me up.

It was amazing how fast we lost almost the entire pack of cyclists. I was certain we'd be dead last. We made a quick stop at the first aid station and then skipped the second trying to make up time. The peanut butter sandwiches, bananas and pretzels were a big help but upset my stomach a bit so by the next rest stop I decided to switch over to the orange slices and nutritional problem solved. Thank goodness for fig newtons as well, they proved to be a wise and handy choice for biking for the better part of a day. By mile 50 I was surprised at how well we were doing, everyone felt good and we were keeping up over a 16mph pace. Then came the wind, closely followed by the sprinkles, closely followed by the down pour. From mile 50 to 90 there was a steady rain, heavy around 65-90. Then there were rolling hills to deal with, Angela's knees were giving out, my pinkie and ring fingers were uselessly numb, everyone's shoes were soaked, our feet were numb, we were freezing every time we stopped and bike shorts in combination with rain, road grit and chamois cream is about the most uncomfortable mix you can imagine. So needless to say it wasn't a pretty finish. When we had about 10 miles left I flipped my computer over to mileage and then miserably watched as the miles slowly ticked up to 100. It was insanely hard to keep pedaling but when I finally saw the computer click to 100 miles I couldn't help but feel it was worth the pain.

Kris, Angela and I have this ability to rally when one or two of the others is fading and it actually works out that we maintain a respectable pace because we all try to stay together and strong for one another. I'm happy to say that it took us 6 hours and 15 minutes ride time, 7 hours total with stops. We maintained about 16 mph for 100 miles... not a bad day.

It was quite the accomplishment for all of us and since finishing we've been told that now we can consider ourselves "real cyclists."

I'll take that : )

Food Glorious Food

Currently there are bike shorts and jerseys strewn haphazardly throughout my room, slowly but surely drying in the markedly cooler breeze coming through my window. Tomorrow is game day. 100 miles riding, roughly 7-8 hours in the saddle, a good 6 hours of that likely to be pretty uncomfortable. To date my longest ride has been 45 miles. That day I maintained a 16.25 mph pace (relatively slow when you consider it was mostly flat, but I did keep it up for 2 hours and 45 minutes). At that rate 100 miles would take me 6 hours and 9 minutes if my math is correct. There is absolutely no way I can keep that pace up for 100 miles, and when you factor in stopping here and there I'm guessing we'll roll in around the 7.5 hour mark. 7AM to about 2:30-3ish.... a veryyy long day!

According to figures I've read online a person can burn anywhere from 5000 to 7500 calories (or more) biking one hundred miles. So that means we have to try to take in calories on the bike as we go. This will be more of a trial and error type deal for us since we've never had to continuously ride for any longer than 3 or 4 hours. My goal is to balance real food with the energy/ fuel products made for endurance athletes. I've been sampling products here and there and have decided on using Hammer's HEED for electrolytes, Perpetuem Solid tablets for later on in the ride, Clif Shot Bloks and PowerBar's Energy Blasts because I like them, Stinger Waffles for right before the ride and possibly to combat hunger at some point. I will also bring a few PowerBar Energy Gels. As for real food I think I'll make a peanut butter sandwich and bring some Fig Newtons. I'll either be well energized and never hungry or sick to my stomach. I'll report later...

We're all anxious to get started tomorrow and hoping the day finds us all energized and feeling our best with no rain in sight. 6 AM check in will come early, so for now I've got to go pack up my stuff, make some pasta salad for dinner and make sure my newly cleaned bike is in peak condition for tomorrow! Wish us luck and if you're anywhere near Verona Beach stop by to support a great cause!

Fit for a Queen

Well I may not be royalty but about two weeks ago I finally had my bike fitted. I always sort of felt that my Trek was a little too small, my legs constantly felt cramped, and I usually thought I was crowding my handle bars. My expert solution to this problem was to pull my seat back as far as it could go to extend my reach... problem solved right? Apparently not the greatest logic as I still felt like a giant on my bike. 

So despite my reservations about changing my position on the bike, I took it to a real professional. The changes he made seemed small enough; lower the handle bars, lengthen the stem, and finally raise the seat and bring it forward. The next day when I got to take it for a ride I was impressed with how much bigger the bike felt. It was  much easier to get into aero position, I felt like the strength in my legs was being utilized more efficiently and I didn't feel so scrunched up through my back. I wish I had gone for a fitting a long time ago.

The bike is taking some getting used to but I think once my muscles have adjusted to the correct riding position I'll be getting a lot more power out of my legs and hopefully avoid any problems with my knees this year. 

A big Thank You to Gene from

for fixing up the bikes for us!

Check him out if you ever need a fit!

http://www.fulltiltfitting.com/