Mark That Off the List!

“Well, I did it! I did it! I did it! Yes, I did it!”  The music from “My Fair Lady” is streaming through my head shortly after I finally managed the 100 miles on my bike on Saturday afternoon.  It was a long day on the bike but it wasn’t as long as it could have been.  The century bike ride took me 6 hours and 14 minutes riding time and the weather was just beautiful.  The sun was out there was barely any wind and the temps reached up to the upper 70’s.  I couldn’t have ordered better weather. 

Photo: A quick shot of first signage of Willard Bay.  Can't see the Bay yet but I was taking a quick break.

 But with all that being said the last 30 miles were pure struggle!  I had pushed it too hard for the first 50 miles and it came back to haunt me.  I was maintaining an average speed between 18-20 mph on the way out from Centerville, UT to Willard Bay.  That was quite a bit faster than I should have been going and when I got to the half way point and stopped for a bit I felt a bit of headache coming on.  I had planned on going about 16-18 mph but I ended up riding for awhile with a faster group and wanted to take advantage of the draft.

I found myself grabbing a quick bite and thinking that I’m going to need to take it easy on the way back.  Meanwhile I’m watching the breeze blow a flag showing wind from the south.  That was the direction I would need to go 80% of the way back.  Not a good sign!  One of the guys commented on how well I was doing and I said,” we’ll see!  Sometimes the last 20 miles can be a real bit*h!”

I started out with another group of riders back hoping that I could draft for a bit but I quickly lost them in the distance.  Before I know it my average speed I was able to maintain into the slight breeze was between 15-16 mph.  My headache was still intact but I was hoping that the half bottle of Coke would kick in to dissipate it. 

But about 30 miles to go and I find my dear friend Ron waiting for me.  He was in the middle of the group that left the lunch stop that had left me in the dust.  I guess they left him in the dust and he was waiting for me because he was already bonking.  So we were a team all the way back to our cars.  We took turns drafting, talking each other up, and complaining to each other.  “Are we there yet?”  “Well, we ARE getting closer, I hope.”  Those were the common phrases between us. 

We suffered through together and I gave him a Big Hug when we got back to the parking lot where are cars were.  Then, after I got everything in the car, I headed to a McDonald's and ordered a Big Mac, a Wild Berry Blend, and the largest Diet Coke they had.  (The only things that I'll eat at a McDonald's too.)  I was a terribly unsafe driver and eat the Big Mac while driving the 15 minutes south back to Salt Lake City.  I got home and felt wiped out the rest of the day.  But I did it! I did it!  Now it's on to other goals for the year!