Road Cycling - My ride!

Months of training, sweat, tears, and a little blood led me to my first century ride. The Hotter N Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls, TX. Despite it's name and reputation, the ride was the coolest possibily in the history of the event. Great news for me! The early morning storm made the roads slick, but held the heat at bay. Towards the end of the afternoon it did heat up, and coupled with the humidity made for a steamy end of the ride. The news you've all been waiting for...I FINISHED!!!! Ok, I am now officially the coolest person I know! 106 miles in just over 8 hours. It was an awesome experience. The last 15 miles was pure euphoria! I forgot how much pain I was in and sheer determination took over. As I approached the finish line, I began to tear up. My friend was waiting for me at the finish line and when I got off the bike, I couldn't hold it in and I burst into tears. It is by far the single greatest physical accomplishment of my life. Thanks you guys and gals for all your words of encouragment and advise leading up to this event. It indeed made a difference. On to the next cycling adventure!!!

:Dutstanding

beautiful! congrats!

G'day,

hey Princess....you rock!....are you sitting on an inflatable pillow today?

cheers,

Hitchy

G'day,

hey Princess....you rock!....are you sitting on an inflatable pillow today?

cheers,

Hitchy

What a brilliant idea!! You know what though, my knees hurt the worst. Not a muscle in my body aches, but my knee joints are killing me. Not so bad now but this morning I could hardly sit because of them. But yes, my behind is sore beyond belief. My husband noticed "sans shorts" that my rear is actually bruised. I thought I had good cycling shorts!! But I bruise easily. Once again...GO ME!!

What a brilliant idea!! You know what though, my knees hurt the worst. Not a muscle in my body aches, but my knee joints are killing me. Not so bad now but this morning I could hardly sit because of them. But yes, my behind is sore beyond belief. My husband noticed "sans shorts" that my rear is actually bruised. I thought I had good cycling shorts!! But I bruise easily. Once again...GO ME!!


g'day,

don't forget a short recovery ride today. This will help all the sore muscles (except the butt!). keep it easy & spin....you'll thank yourself later!....once again, well done!...so what's next?

cheers,

hitchy

Hmmmm...my friends and I are going to start training for a triathlon. I am a strong swimmer and a cyclist, but I can't run to save my life. I run when chased mostly. So that will be a hurdle. I think we are going to start with a 1/2 triathlon which is only a 5 k run...and I can cry through 3 plus miles if I have to. The swim is only 300 meters which I could do in my sleep, and it's in a pool no less. No worries there. The cycle part is 26 miles...again...very dooable. Any tips for running? I'll keep ya'll posted!

I can't run to save my life. I run when chased mostly.
[...]
Any tips for running?

Have your friends chase you while riding a bike. :D Just make sure your friends don't try to run you over. ;)

At least you got me beat. I suck at swimming too. BTW, congrats on your century!

for the soreness in the knees, try a little supplement call glucosume. it comes in a little pill that is sold over the counter at supermakets and price club. when I run, my joints hurt to the point that I have slight limp. but this pill has been great. it's sold under many brand names, like: "flex-all".

cheers.

Congratulations! I know how you feel. I have done quite a few metric centuries and even a few rides that were 80 miles but this past weekend I participated in the HOT 100 here in Middle Tennessee put on by the Murfreesboro Bicycle Club and I completed my first full century (actually 109 miles) on Saturday. Woohoo!

Now I just have to condition myself for the River Gorge Mountain Challenge race in Chattanooga on September 11th. It ends with a huge 3.5 mile climb to the finish. Ouch!

Congrats and well done. Can you tell us more about the experience along the way with the group and such?

It was a sight to behold. Cyclists as far as you could see in front of you and in back of you. My friends and I missed the starting cannon because we had to go back to the hotel room and get our numbers, not one of us remembered. We heard the cannon, but we weren't to the line yet. The street was curb to curb cyclists, a sea of brightly colored helmets. We had over 8,000 participants this year. It was so exciting to see this many people. Very cool to know that you have a common goal with 8,000 other people. The start was very slow, and in fact we ended up walking our bikes about a quarter mile or more because you can't keep balance going that slow. Besides which you don't dare clip in too early. It killed my average mph, but no biggie. I was just there to finish. The dynamics of riding with a massive group are so much different from riding in a club setting or solo. I saw several pacelines whiz by and I tried to hook on to the end of a couple of them but I couldn't keep up the pace. I did however draft from a tandem rider but I don't think they were going fast enough to make much of a difference. Not that I could tell anyway. So I just did my own thing. It was my initial goal not to stop for the first 40 miles, but that soon fell. Twenty miles into the ride I had to...well nature called. I was in line for 20 minutes! But I ate my first snack in line and got back on the bike right away. I chatted with some people here and there, but I am a bit of a lone wolf when it comes to riding. I get in my zone and tune a lot of things out. I actually didn't even start to get sore or feel like I really didn't want to be on the bike anymore until 45 or so miles. I stopped at this rest stop and at that point I pretty much was bummed because I was certain I would not make Hell's Gate (which closed at 12:30) it was just a little after noon at that time. I was talking to one of the workers about how torked I was that I trained all year long and now I was not going to be able to do the whole thing because of closing the gate etc. Then she said, oh honey, they are keeping it open until 1:00 today. I said thanks!! And jumped on my bike and pushed like crazy to make the 15 or so miles in just under an hour. Then at that point I was just looking for Hell's Gate. I knew it was at about 60 miles so after my computer was reading 72 miles I was begning to worry. Finally another rest stop and I asked where the heck it was! They said, it's just the turn you make under the overpass, it was about 15 miles back. I was expecting a big hoopla but nothing. Which was good in a way because I was already 75 miles in and I knew with only 25 miles left to go...not finishing was not an option. It was never an option. By this time the overcast skies had opened up and given way to the sun...and all her glory! It was hot. I ditched my camelback at the last rest stop because my back was killing me. One of the medics said he'd take it to the finish line for me. I had one water bottle and I figured I'd stop at each stop, which were closer together now and fill it up. That worked fine, and it got the weight off my back and cooled my back off too! You know the rest of the story...I have to say, I sure stressed out a lot before this ride. So much so in fact that I developed a boil (who knew they were stress related) on the inside of my thigh, right at the crease of my leg. I woke up with it Saturday morning. I felt it every other pedal stroke for the entire 106 miles. I asked a doctor at one of the medic tents if it would cause permanant damage to continue riding in this condition. He said no, but you are in for one painful ride. Pain I can handle. Quitting I cannot.

Way to go!
Joe

Congrats

Amazing story!!!! Thank you for sharing! By doing so, you've inspired me to find a century in the next few months! You did it!!!

Sounds much better then the 108 miles I did that day in the ~50 degree rain on the Wisconsin IronMan loop west of Madison. Hills, Rain, Cold. Bike got bath the next day.
To run better MMM..... start slow the body takes more of a pounding, just make sure you have good shoes (they are like the chain on your bike replace regularly for the best performance)

I run when chased mostly.

AMEN Sister!!! We have a lot in common. I tried running with my husband and concluded that black eyes weren't becoming. I haven't found a sports/jog bra that will hold them in. :eek:

Congratulations on your awesome accomplishment. :beer:

Awsome job! We all knew you could do it! :D

Thanks alot! That sounds like an awesome ride. So what is the next goal?

I have a few more organized rides on the horizon, I'd like to do at least one a month. But my next big thing is training for a triathlon. In September my friends and I are riding our bikes down to Eagle Mt Lake to one of our friends boat house. Then run around the property and swim accross the lake. The lake is pretty scummy, so I'm not looking forward to that, but I get pretty scummy on the bike anyway!! And as I have said in the past...I am SO not a runner. So any tips would be appreciated!!

Great Job cycleprincess :)
Keep up the good work, keep us posted on your victories and now its time to start training for the double century :D
Now that the first one is in the books I am sure you will be more at ease on your next century, the goal there is to beat your time from your first..
again congrats and keep it up :)

Rock on, cycleprincess! All those miles make you feel alive, do they not? Well done :)

congratulations! and yes.. go you!

i'm at 6 weeks to go and counting for my 1st century.. woohoo!!