MS 200 ride

11/17/2010
This is the longest time it's taken me to write a Ride or Race Report - I usually write them right away... not sure why I'm putting this off so long, but here it goes...

Task: Raise money for MS & Ride 200 miles in 2 days...

While fund-raising, I said I was going to do a 200 mile ride in 2 days... I raised over $800 for the National MS Society and several friends and family donated, so I felt like I needed to do the ride as promised.

The Saturday before the ride, I met up with the BikingLasVegas Team to ride Valley of Fire to Overton. I had ridden some of the route when I was training with Team in Training for the Tahoe Ride... We had gone from the Casino to the Visitor Center and up the road from there, and didn't go to Overton. BUT, I had problems on the hills... we had a SAG vehicle and I ended up getting a SAG ride up the hill from the Visitor Center and again climbing out of Valley of Fire from the Toll Booth to the top of the hill... So, the Saturday before the ride, I was a bit nervous about this hill, but thought I could handle it as we were taking a different route... NOT - I ended up getting to the Toll Booth too tired to go on... and once again, with SAG available, I opted to take the SAG ride up the hill... twice failed... I was determined to ride ALL the way up the Hill for the MS Ride... Lynetta said I can do it... as well as others... I wouldn't consider the MS ride a success unless I made it up that hill, and it wasn't to come til 60 miles into the 2nd day of riding...

Thursday - Veterans Day - Went to McGhies and picked up new tires, tubes, full-finger gloves (I couldn't find my old ones anywhere), a patch kit... I changed both tires - used both tubes (OOPS)... Thursday Night, we had a BikingLasVegas Team meeting, and I found someone to share my room in Mesquite with - YAY

Friday - Day before the ride - During Lunch, Brett & I went to McGhies to pick up the ride packet... picked up new tubes - I'm ready to go! I saw Lisa there, and pointed out the bike that was up for raffle... pretty red Trek... I also saw Jim Matthews there and [jokingly] told him that I would need a ride up "the hill"... Paul Johnson was also there... all 3 southwesters at McGhies at the same time...

Friday Night - Checked weather report one last time - Temps in Las Vegas, Overton & Mesquite on Saturday & Sunday & hourly - ALL said 40*-60* 5mph winds... it's gonna be COLD... pack accordingly ;)

Saturday - Ride day!!! Since it was gonna be so cold, I decided to wear long sleeves, full finger gloves, BLV jersey, and my lavender windbreaker.... I got a bit concerned when I got to the speedway, and I wasn't cold... no time to change things now... At the speedway, they had a nice spread of donuts & muffins with coffee for the riders... the BLV team was called to the track to take a team picture - the team was so large this year, the picture was taken without our bikes... We lined up at the gate and waited a bit... I chatted with the guys behind me - they were from Maryland - came in to do this ride as their co-worker's 20 year old son has MS... how cool is that? The National Anthem was performed (live) while Miss Nevada Outstanding Teen held the American Flag... Some safety instructions were read, and we were off - or so I thought...

We then lined up at the START line of the Speedway Track where a GREAT start picture was taken - Then we got to ride around the track and off we went... It was cool to ride up high on the track and while down low to see the bikes up high... After we circled the track, we followed the red car out of the speedway and onto LV Blvd... and into the WIND...

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11/24/10
This is a good week later than I started writing this... I did a lot this past week - including finding a new place to live, so it's been hectic... I'll try to remember as much of the ride as I can...

The ride went North for a ways and I started falling more and more behind the main group... I grabbed a wheel when I could, but even the drafting didn't help much against the strong head winds... I got to the first rest stop and met up with the Biking Las Vegas group and rode with them for a while... we pace-lined up the hill on the 15 freeway... I worked HARD in the pace-line and literally said that would be the last time on that ride that I would work that hard... like long distance running, it's important to pace yourself on a long ride like this.

Soon we climbed our way into the beautiful Valley of Fire and were rewarded with a LONG STEEP down hill section... it was FUN... But, this was "the hill" that I would have to climb on the way home!

One of the most challenging hills (short but VERY steep) was just after the next rest stop... I gave a thumbs up to the photographer at the top of the hill... I looked at my Garmin, it said 50 miles - YAY halfway there :)

After some more climbing, I arrived in Overton ready to eat lunch - it was noonish and we were over halfway there... I arrive at the rest stop, and there's a BBQ truck next to the rest stop... I said, "Is that ours?" They said "no, lunch is at the NEXT stop" GRRRRR I was hungry! I was tired! I was hurting! I was NOT happy! I grabbed some food and took some advil, and rode out toward lunch... it seemed to take FOREVER, but soon, I got to Logandale and got to eat lunch... I sat with Ken Stein and complained that they put lunch at mile 70... Ken said, um, no, this is mile 63 - WHAT??? my GARMIN IS WRONG.... Apparently, I had the wheel size set wrong - I thought Garmins used the GPS to measure distance, but NOOOOOOOO, it used the wheel size... So, now I had almost 40 miles to go instead of 30 miles... I wasn't happy with that news LOL...

Rested and fed, I set out to the HUGE climbs out of Logandale and onto the I15 towards Mesquite... I was warned about these hills at lunch, so I was kinda prepared... I looked at my Garmin, and noticed that there was no power or cadence info... I guess I inadvertently turned them off while trying to fix the wheel size... so I took a much needed break, fixed the Garmin, took off my jacket, (I had already taken off my long sleeve shirt) and continued up the hill towards the freeway...

I finally got onto the freeway only to find another climb... while climbing, just when you feel like you can't go any more, there was a sign that read "MS takes away people's ability to MOVE"... that sign reminded me why I am riding... because I CAN, and I continued up the rest of the hill...

OK, now we have FLAT - finally! But... it was a WIND tunnel!! Can we get no breaks here? I grab whatever wheels I can grab, but again, it was futile against this wind... I stopped at the rest stops and kept going... at one point, there was a Man changing a tire, and he asked if I had a c02 cartridge, so I stopped and gave him one... I think that helped my Karma as I didn't get one flat on the whole ride!

FINALLY, it was time to exit the 15 freeway and the next Rest Stop was the BEST of all... Cheetah Girls were there giving Massages... My lower back was complaining at this point, so a Cheetah Man worked on my back while 2 Girls worked on my calfs... what a life!

I felt good for about another 3 miles, then the aches came back, I met up with Kevin and Ali and Raf, and rode with them for a while... Raf eventually went ahead of me, and I went ahead of Kevin & Ali... The last 10 miles of rollers were tough to get through... just as you would get to a peak, you would look up and another hill loomed ahead... I FINALLY made it to the finish at 4:34ish... my Garmin reading 107 miles (Everyone else had around 98 miles grrrrr)

Kevin arrived shortly after and was able to get Beer for everyone as he raised enough money to be a VIP... That beer tasted SO GOOD :) I grabbed my suitcase and a short car ride later, was at the Hotel.

My roommate for the night had already checked-in as she SAGGED from Lunch to the Hotel... so she had already showered. It was just about time for dinner, so with no rest, I showered and changed and went downstairs to the Banquet...

The banquet was nice - yummy food, good company, motivational speakers, and a raffle... I spent $20 for raffle tickets (it's yet another donation) I placed my 4 tickets as follows - 1 for a Haircut, 1 for Jersey Boys Tickets, and 2 for the Blue Man Group tickets... when all of those drawings were done (I didn't win any of those) they combined ALL the tickets for the 2 grand prizes... Did you figure this out yet? I WON THE BIKE!!! I triple checked the ticket number - and YEP, she pulled MY TICKET... I still can't believe I won another bike :)

I had brought my laptop with me so I could charge my Garmin with the USB connection... I left it plugged in over night. With so much excitement, it was hard to sleep, but I soon fell asleep and slept like a ROCK!!! For tomorrow, I get to do it all again...

Sunday Morning, woke up and for some reason - even though I didn't feel like it, I put on my riding clothes and Diana and I headed over to pick up our bikes... We rode to breakfast (about a mile)... We were close to the first ones at breakfast and the food wasn't ready yet... so I chatted with Steve, his wife who I found out has MS, and his daughter, Athena; I even explained my fear of "The Hill" and my determination to conquer it... took time to pump my tires, and then when the food was ready, I ate some pancakes and eggs and I headed out... I forgot to say Bye to Diana who got SAGGED to Mesquite...

Back through the rollers to the 15 freeway - somehow they didn't seem as bad this time lol... What a difference a day makes... the wind was now at our backs - how nice! I rode a little with Kevin, then he decided that he needed to go ahead - he sacrificed his ride yesterday for his daughter, but today, he wanted to see what he could do - I didn't blame him... GO KEVIN! Back along the 15 freeway, Back down the LONG Hill to Logandale, Back along the road [that takes forever] to Overton... Back up the hill to get out of Overton... Back up those HARD hills to get to the Valley of Fire... As I was going toward Valley of Fire, one of the guys I was riding with off and on had stopped at the side of the road... I stopped too - I needed a BREAK! About 5 SAG vehicles pulled up to lend a hand... we were FINE we told them, and eventually, we continued our quest to get up the hill... We worked hard getting to the 7 sisters and had a MUCH deserved lunch! Jim Matthews announced that he was leaving and would take anyone who wanted a ride... I jokingly said, "take me" - but I was determined to ride the full 200 miles as I promised the people who donated - so, I let Jim drive his car without me... I still had to climb "The Hill"... I had accomplished so much already, I knew I could do this!

I knew that once I passed the visitor center, it was up hill the rest of the way to the peak, and the visitor came sooner than I thought it would... ok... take it slow... Again, I stopped on the side of the road and that same gentleman stopped with me... again, SAG was AWESOME, and again, I turned them away... I made it to the toll booth, and stopped to use the facilities... I was getting on my bike and voiced out loud, "I can do this"... a lady was getting in her car and she affirmed to me "You CAN do this"... it was cool...

I got on my bike and headed up and up and up... I was getting to the hard part, and Athena and her Mom show up in the car, and Athena yells out the window "You can do this!" It was amazing how so many people believed in me, and gave me the strength to keep going! Then... OMG... the BAD WORDS came streaming out of my mouth LOUDLY... so sorry to everyone who was around to hear me YELLING... MY GARMIN died!!! Halfway up the HILL, and my GARMIN battery went DEAD!!! That made me SOOOO MAD...I'm riding up this hill, and I have NO PROOF... I used THAT energy... and I MADE IT UP THE HILL... At the top, some Volunteers were yelling encouraging words!!! it was AWESOME!!! I made it... for 2 days I was worried about this section and I did it! It felt like it would be ALL downhill from here...

Just before the I15 freeway, there was a rest stop... as I was stopped there, Lynetta & Lisa rode up... I thanked Lynetta for all of her encouragement and I told her that I did the hill... Hugs all around, and I was on my way again...

It always seems like the last 20 miles of a Century are the LONGEST... they are for me anyway... I just want to get there - the hills seem steeper and longer, I found myself struggling... but, I had been riding with this man off and on all day, and we finally found out each others names... So, I rode a while with Mark, then we met up with Andy, and the 3 of us pace-lined for a while... up the last significant hill, Andy and I were riding together - he started to go ahead, and I told him I needed him to get up this darn hill... he stayed back with me and we made it up that hill together! Thanks Andy!

As we turned onto LV Blvd, Jorge joined up with Andy and I, and the 3 of us turned into the Speedway together... 200 miles DONE... I think I finished a little after 3:30... almost a FULL hour less than Saturday's Windy Ride...

I racked my bike and sat and ate with friends and Lisa, Lynetta, and group pulled in about 5 minutes after I did...

Rumor has it that only 13-15 people finished the FULL 200 mile ride without any SAG... I'm thinking that number is low, but it doesn't matter - I'm one of however many that rode ALL 200 miles... I stopped at every rest stop, and even made my own rest stops when necessary - but I didn't walk my bike and I didn't take a car ride... I rode slow, took the time I needed, and I did it!

I'm at work today, and since we had yesterday off, hardly anyone is here - made for a GREAT parking spot... I haven't ridden my bike all week... but, tomorrow and Sunday I'll be riding 200 miles... still makes for a HUGE week for me. After work, I have to go pick up my packet at McGhies, and get new tubes... I changed my tires on my bike last night, and got a pinch flat in one tube, and the other tube I left in my old tire... so I want to get at least 4 new tubes... I was told that this ride is brutal on tires...

I'm reading the conversation on the Penguins thread about people going stir-crazy when they can't run... I'm still a couch potato at heart, because I don't get that reaction... will that ever change for me? I mean, I sat on the couch all week, and I'm not going stir-crazy...

As I'm looking at the HUGE hills I'm attempting to climb in the next 2 days, I'm reminded that I CAN ride my bike, when I think about the people who sit in wheelchairs because they have MS, suddenly the hills don't seem too High... I'm fortunate not to have MS or any other crippling disease... OK, I lied... that one hill freaks me out... I will consider this ride a success if I can make it up THAT hill!!!

Lost Cell - Again?

Had a pretty good weekend, rode 62ish miles on HARD terrain on Saturday, took it easy on Sunday with a nice FLAT 25 miles... but, I overate on Sunday, so any weight that I had lost during the week came right back on... will I ever learn?

So, yesterday morning, I woke up and got ready to go to my ride... left for the ride without my Garmin oh well... used mapmyride and figured out mileage... but I didn't have that handy autopause to figure out my riding time... so, I get back to my car, and I took my cell phone & nuun out of my pocket - I was thinking of putting it on my car, but I also wanted to put the top down, so I put it on my bike rack... then I put the top down, put my bike on the rack, took off shoes, helmet, etc... put them in the trunk, and drove off... my cell phone is GONE I have insurance on it.. but still.... I swear I'm having an Alzheimer's week... this is the 2nd time in a week I lost my cell phone - the first time they found it at the POST OFFICE - HUH??? If this forgetfulness continues into January, I'll go to the Doc and get evaluated, I'm serious... it's scary!! But, My Mom is on Medication, and she's doing amazing... so there's hope for me yet... I wish my Dad was taking that medication - his Memory is worse than hers, and she's the one with the diagnosis.

busy, busy, busy here this morning sheesh!!!

yesterday, I woke up feeling lousy, it was FREEZING in my house as my Heating is broken, and my allergies decided to act up... so I took the day off of work, and ended up just curled up on the sofa all day with my book... My eyes didn't like reading so much, but I finished the book anyway... didn't do my Drainer work-out last night either... did NOTHING but sit around, read, eat So, this morning, I come into work, and find out that there was a problem with some software yesterday - of course! When I'm here, I don't have issues - but if I'm gone, the S hits the F...

Tonight, I have a Service Awards dinner to go to for work - they have these every year, and each employee gets invited every 5 years... this is my first one - can you tell I'm sooooo excited about this

Tomorrow morning, I'll go out on a 40 mile Costume Ride as a Bumble Bee... I'll take pictures...

Have a good Friday! it's NEVADA DAY... The actual Nevada Day is Oct 31... but we (in our infinite wisdom) have voted to celebrate it on the last Friday of October...

Last night, I did 1:09 on the Drainer while watching Grey's Anatomy... today is a SRD as tomorrow I have 50-60 mile ride planned... Subaru is sponsoring the ride, so they are providing Bagels & stuff after the ride...

After my reunion yesterday with Alison, Jocelyn & Valerie, I woke up this morning being ok with my weight and where I am in life... my daily affirmation: eat healthy today

45 minutes on the Drainer last night... (the Drainer is related to the Dreadmill) it was the first work-out of a 16 week plan that a coach on BT is giving us for free... the first work-out was HARD, and it just keeps getting HARDER from here on in... I ended up soaked with sweat with a puddle on the floor... next time I'll put a towel under the bike...

I used my Garmin so I can measure my watts/time... but for some reason it messed up on my speed/distance... it showed 33+ miles in 45 minutes - that's 45mph average I'm wicked fast!!! I either have to figure out how to fix it, or I'll just guestimate my mileage...

Pinky was driving me nuts again last night...it was raining with thunder, she gets so nervous... she ended up going in the closet - what a mess!

This morning I didn't go swim... with no swim races coming up, I'm cutting myself some slack...I'll probably do the Drainer again tonight... it was hard, but kinda fun!

Today I have a "coffee" date with friends from HS whom I haven't seen in YEARS... oops, erase that... I have a Dr appt this afternoon I've never been so excited about a Dr appt

This day will go SLOW til then...

I said I would write here daily, and then yesterday I already messed it up lol... well, here's my Monday posts:

Monday Morning:
Did an hour long swim lesson this morning... we did Sprints - didn't do anything for my endurance confidence... I have until tomorrow to sign up for the AquaBike on November 7... it's a 2000 meter Open Water swim... And the bike is 56 HARD miles... decisions, decisions...

Monday Afternoon:
I have officially decided to NOT do Silverman AquaBike... it was a tough decision, but I just don't feel like I'm ready to race it - sure I can go for the finish, but that's just not good enough for me... if I was fully prepared to race, and came in last place then so be it... but I don't want to even take 1st place when I'm not bringing enough training to the race... so, I'll save my $$$ and prepare better for next time...

I'm working with a swim coach (I paid for 5 lessons, so I have 3 left) I'm not liking what she's teaching, but I'll finish this out with her, then I'm hoping to join a Masters Swim class...

Now my dilemma - I want to do Jorge's winter cycling plan which starts this week, however, I have the MS 200 bike ride on November 13 & 14... should I go ahead and start the plan and do my long rides on the weekends, or should I wait until after the long ride and be a month behind everyone?

I'll start running again after the MS ride... I figure my cycling time & energy will be cut WAY shorter after the ride...

Today:
It's raining, it's pouring... the old man is snoring... and Pinky is FREAKING... I skipped my normal Wednesday morning ride due to rain...

1st place in Dragon Boat Races - oh yeah

I hardly ever write in my Blog unless it's about a race or something... but as I was writing in the Penguins Thread this morning, I decided to copy it to here... I think I'll do that daily :)

Saturday afternoon, My company participated in Dragon Boat Races to raise money & awareness for Breast Cancer... we had 2 teams this year... The format of the race was that everyone got to race twice and the 6 teams with the best times would race-off at the end... We went into the finals with the 2 best times of the day! So, our two teams raced each other in the finals, and our boat won... we took 1st place! our other boat didn't do so well and took 6th place overall... still, I got to add another medal to my collection - it's getting rather large.

Sunday, our local biking club had an anniversary ride and all of the proceeds went to the MS society. We had a choice of 20 or 40 mile rides - I chose the 40 miler (of course) I did pretty good considering the challenging hills... after the ride, they provided a yummy lunch with cake and sodas and of course good friends... then they raffled off many, many prizes - each participant got 3 raffle tickets with the chance to purchase more - I bought an extra 12 tickets for $10... I won twice! I got a $15 gift certificate for a RoadID (about time I got one - you think?) and I won a $200 bike light that I'll sell because I already have a light that I like... all in all a good day!

Last Night, we had thunder & lightening & rain, my dog FREAKED out and kept me up half the night...

Viva Bike Vegas

I signed up for this ride when they announced the Century Ride will go over the Hoover Dam bypass road BEFORE they opened the road to regular traffic... I thought "How cool is that?" and I had a feeling that the ride would sell out... and indeed it did - not as soon as I thought it would, but they capped the ride at 1500 riders, and with VERY little notice, they closed the registration, and some of my friends did not register in time :(

I didn't put together a rigid training plan for this ride. Since I did the Tahoe ride, I had confidence that I would be able to finish this one - although this was an extra 15 miles! I just tried to keep my mileage between 125 and 150 miles per week... I thought that would do it.... Looking back, I think I was better prepared for the Tahoe ride...Although, my average Power for this ride was WAY higher than my average for Tahoe... hmmmm maybe I improved afterall?

Night before the ride, I went to McGhies for last minute items - got a bigger Bento Box and got some new cleats as my old cleats were pretty old, and I was having trouble clipping in & out with them... then I went to a 7-11 to get bandaids as I got a paper-cut opening the mail... I threw $10 into a machine and got a Royal Flush!!! Put me in a GREAT mood for the ride :)

I decided to wear my BLV Jersey so I could wear the RTC jersey on Sunday's ride... it was fun to see so many BLV members out there... we had a plan to meet by the front before we lined up... I took a couple of pictures, not sure if there was a big group shot at that point, but in my nervousness, I went and lined up by myself - and I bumped into some TnT Friends... so I rode out with them for the first part.

The starting shoot was LONG, and they had the music playing "Viva Las Vegas" with Elvis and show girls - only thing missing was Oscar... a brief count down, the horn, and we were off

I took this picture at the end of the ride... but this is the starting shoot:



Down the streets of Vegas we went - with Police Escort so we didn't have to stop at any traffic signals - how cool is that? soon enough, we were at the first big hill (of many) My strategy was just to put it in an easy gear and spin... success... made it up to the top and was rewarded with about 6-8 miles down hill...

We came to the first Aid Station and it was a mess! Bikes all over the place, lines about 20 deep for the port-a-pots...I had to go, but I could wait... so I navigated around the crowd and rode on... up the road a ways, there was a turn-out and a car was stopped with a man setting up some equipment (looked like a tri-pod) I stopped there to eat my first PB&J sandwhich (Nutrition plan was to stop & eat half a sandwich every 20 miles and to munch on pretzels & sports beans in between, plus NUUN tablets in my water bottles)... turns out it was the Bike Mechanic from REI - he took a look at my brakes for me (they had been making noise) and gave me a cold bottled water - PERFECT! After about a 5 minute break, I rode on... my TnT friends were long gone by then... What goes down must go back up, and the climbing started again... I stopped and took a picture of Lake Las Vegas - it was a beautiful view on a beautiful day...and I hardly ever have my camera while riding out there...

I climbed up out of Northshore Drive and onto LakeShore drive... got up the "hill from hell" and I knew there was a restroom soon, but when I passed, there was a line - Boulder Beach it was - whether there was a line or not... At Boulder Beach, I stopped at the restroom - nobody else was there - at first I thought maybe the door was locked, but nope, I got to go with NO WAITING - SCORE!!!

I got back on the road, and started the steep climb up past the visitor center to the main road, turned left and headed to the Dam... There was another Aid Station there, and I quickly filled my bottle with water, then continued - past the check-point and onto the Brand New Road... it was smooth and since it wasn't open to cars, we had the whole road to ourselves! Soon, I was on the Bridge - the only way to tell was that the Volunteers were there with Cow Bells and cheering us on... You really couldn't see anything because the walls were too high... but they had a Camera Set-up to take your picture with the Dam behind you... as I rode up, the whole BLV group had just taken their group shot - I was told I was about 2-3 minutes late for that... but the Volunteers let me cut in line for an individual picture so I could be with my group... I had my picture taken, and the group rode off... I stayed there for a bit... I looked over the wall at the Dam, but because I'm so short, it was hard to see anything... I don't know if we rode into Arizona, but when I was coming off the Bridge, there was a "Welcome to Nevada" sign, so I stopped to take a picture of that too...

Now that the exciting part of the ride was over, it was hard to get motivated for the next 75 miles - especially as now the hard climb to Boulder City was about to start. Since that was an out-and-back section, I got to see that there were TONS of people ahead of me, but that there were also a lot of people behind me... I stopped half-way up the hill to Boulder City to eat my 2nd PB&J sandwhich... a little late at around 45 miles... it's all good...



finished my climb and got on the River Mountain Trail - the volunteers were AWESOME again, making sure we went the right way and warning us of the hazards. I've gotta say that this course was VERY well marked, I never questioned which way to go, never had to take out my map! The RMT was a fun part of the ride - mostly down-hill but a few short steep uphill parts... We turned off the RMT onto this street where I had never been before - I'm thinking it's where the Silverman Route goes that I missed with Jen when I rode with her last week....

It seemed to take forever, but at around mile 60 was the turn-off for lunch... I debated going down the hill to the park, but I needed more water, and I could use the break... when I got there, there was a LONG line for food/water.... but I waited in line, refilled both of my bottles, and ate the turkey wrap and a pickle... then got back on the road... when I tasted the water, it tasted HORRIBLE... the first place I could, I stopped and bought some bottled water and continued my ride.. I'm thinking I would have been better off eating my PB&J and getting water at the store - which I did anyway... I think I could have cut off about half an hour to 45 minutes off my time... about 5 more miles, there was another aid station, but I didn't need to stop...

The roads were GREAT going through Henderson & Southern Highlands, and I hated that we went up Jones to get to Blue Diamond Highway - I had driven down it once looking for a bike route and decided it wasn't good - no shoulder, no bike lanes, and heavy traffic... But it was the course, so I went up that street... my left foot was REALLY hurting - not sure why... But I unclipped it so I could move it around hoping that would help the pain... as I was trying to clip back in, I looked down to the left, and I swerved to the right and went off the road - there was about a 4" dip from the road into the dirt, and I fell road side... I was VERY lucky that the car that was behind me stopped before I got run-over (that's always been my biggest fear)... she got out of her car to check on me... nice lady! There were also some other cyclists that stopped to assist... I lost about half of my Sports Beans & pretzels in the fall.... and when the cyclist turned my bike over to put the chain back on, I lost the rest of my afternoon snacks... oh well... so, now my hip and back were hurting, my adrenalin was high, and my pride hurt, but I didn't feel the pain in my left foot any more... and after about a 5 minute break, I rode on...

The Road on Blue Diamond Highway was LONG & HOT and all uphill (of course) and I was hurting... and I ran out of water!! It was along this stretch that I took out my "Dory" chant - "Just keep pedaling, Just keep pedaling" I didn't even care if anyone else heard me... I think I was delirious at that point lol - I figured I'd stop at the Gas Station at the 159/160 intersection... about half mile before there, I had to stop and rest for about a minute... but I made it to the Gas Station and bought some more bottled water - ate another PB&J sandwich... I saw my friends Kurt & Donna there. They were on their Tandem bike... They told me that they each won 8 gold medals in the Senior Olympics Bike Races last week - CONGRATS!!! I told them about my crash... then I rode out... I didn't need to stop at Blue Diamond as I had just refilled....

As I was going up the HARD hill before the overlook, my left foot was hurting again grrrr... there was a man stopped at the side of the road resting... so I stopped next to him and gave him some encouragement... then another rider came up and stopped to rest, so I told him what I had just told the other gentleman... I said, "see that there, it's the top of the hill... then there's one more hill to climb to the overlook - it looks worse than it is, then it's down hill from there except for 3 itty bitty climbs - we can do this!" I don't know if I was talking to them or to myself, but after my speech, I rode on... btw, while I was stopped, Kurt & Donna rode past me, as I expected them to pass me at any time...

I made it up to the overlook and stopped to use the restroom for only the 2nd time during the ride... this time, I had to wait about 30 seconds - not bad... then it was all down hill except for the 3 itty bitty climbs - When I got to Alta, there was another Aid Station, but I rode right on by that one too... I saw Eric there and gave him a shout out... it was 3:30 - I had about 12 miles to go - all down hill... It was advertised that they were serving food til 4pm... Me and the group I was with started chasing the clock to arrive before they stopped serving... it was the best part of the ride... unfortunately, we hit almost all of the traffic signals on Alta - some of them LONG, and I arrived at the finish at 4:08pm... turned in my chip and got my medal and headed over to get food - they were still serving :) had yummy chicken, salad and rice by Outback... I went over and sat by Ken who was volunteering... he went and got me a cold water - what a guy!

After I ate, I saw Deanna (CyborgQueen) who was there volunteering - we chatted a bit, and I said, I wanted to talk with a lady that I had ridden with... as I was making my way over there, I noticed the massage tent - so I got a MUCH NEEDED massage! never did chat with that lady :(

After my massage, as I was walking out, a man came up and gave me a HUGE hug - I didn't know who he was at first... he said, He wouldn't have made it to the finish if it weren't for me... then I realized, he was the one who came up when I was stopped and I gave the speech to... we took our picture together - he thanked me... it felt good :)

I went over to the finish shoot and cheered some people in... and then got back on my bike and rode to my car... When I got home, I was already late for the BLV get-together at Islands, so I quickly showered and got dressed and went out again...

Today is 10/10/10, and I got up and got back on my bike - I'm more hurting from the fall than I am sore from the ride... but I wanted to do 10/10/10 right... so, I rode with the group, ended up at 26.1 miles, I sat and had a bagel and juice, then got back on my bike for another 3.9 miles, so I ended up with 30 miles for the day... I think I'm done riding for a while - well, at least til Wednesday

Garmin Give Away? Think I can win more stuff?

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/08/garmin-forerunner-310xt-giveaway.html

Running Again?

I decided, after much deliberation, that I would try one more time to run... so, I looked up the c25k program and decided to follow that... so I set out on my first walk/run (wog) on Monday and didn't remember what I was supposed to do... so I did 90 sec walk/30 sec run... turns out I was supposed to do a 60 sec run... oh well... so, I'll call it week 0... did all 3 days of week 0 (Mon,Wed,Fri) week 1 starts Monday!

My shins feel a bit tight - but no pain so far... I'm going to Doctor Evil next week - he'll keep my shins good :)

My first Century Ride (I can't believe no disasters)

I know this is long, but a century IS long...

Training:
For the last 6-7 weeks, I increased my cycling mileage up to between 100 - 170 miles per week... I was riding 25 fast miles on Tuesday, 15 miles of HILLS on Thursday, Long Ride with HILLS on Saturday, and a nice 40 mile recovery ride on Sunday. Also, if I found something not working for me, I got it fixed...

I got a compact crank & new cassette to help with climbing. I also started taking Optygen HP, yes I think this REALLY helped me!

Pre-Ride:
This ride was a Charity Ride to raise money for Leukemia/Lymphoma Society and I did it with Team in Training... so, before we left for Lake Tahoe, I changed out my handlebar tape to green & purple (TnT colors) it was a constant reminder of why I'm riding. On Tuesday before we left for Lake Tahoe, we dropped our bikes off to be Trucked up to the Lake... it was hard to let Hoke out of my sight, but I trusted TnT to take care of him!

On Wednesday night, I took my other bike out for a ride as I just needed 1 more ride that week - to fulfill my 4 rides per week goal... I knew it wouldn't make or break the BIG ride ;) Friday came all too soon, and I awoke VERY early to catch an early flight to Reno... I had been warned that I couldn't pack C02 cartridges in my check-in luggage, and I couldn't carry them on either - so I went through my saddle bag and removed the 2 cartridges that I keep in there... well, guess what? I guess I carry 3 of them, because the security scan found one... I was embarrassed, but I explained that I was a cyclist to the security guards... told them where to find the cartridge, and they took it out of the bag for me, holding it between 2 fingertips as if it were a bomb... re-scanned my bag, checked my ID & wrote it up... and let me go...



We arrived in Lake Tahoe, checked in to the Hotel and picked up our bikes from the truck... I immediately took my bike to the mechanic as I was having trouble in a couple of gears - he explained to me how to avoid the rubbing by moving the derailleur without changing rings... but, he also cleaned & oiled the chain for me :) A little while later, our team decided to go out for a short ride... my bike was working GREAT for our 13 mile ride around South Lake Tahoe...I ended up going to dinner with new friends I met at Happy Hour - we had Sushi Dinner - Yummy!

My team decided they wanted to ride Saturday, but I never rode the day before a long ride, so I opted out of that ride... (Smart!) looks like I missed out on a great ride... still the best decision for me!



Saturday afternoon, I had a bit of time between planned events, and decided to fill up my water bottles and do a little prep for the next day's ride... for some unknown reason (I NEVER do this!) I took the pre-filled water bottles and placed them in my bottle cages on my bike... one of the bottle cages came loose - I looked around, and I couldn't find the screw - soooo... back to the bike mechanic I went... he had a screw and fixed the cage for me no problem - whew! Disaster averted! How did the cage come loose between yesterday's ride and today???

Saturday Night, after our Pasta Loading Dinner Party, our team spent time together to decorate our Helmets (each chapter in TnT decorates for their location - we did Royal Flushes & fuzzy dice - everyone knew we were from Vegas!) and prepared our ribbons that we pinned on our backs that had the names of our people that we would be riding for... I rode for Michael Aurich who died of Brain Cancer at the age of 9; His brother Ben Aurich whom after a two year battle with mental illness and 6 failed suicide attempts, took his own life at the age of 16 just this past February. My Aunt Marilyn who suffered with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma for over 20 years before she succumbed to the disease. Jenny & Paulette from the RunnersWorld Forum. They are the REAL Heroes...

After I got back to my room, I did something else that I NEVER do... I started up my Garmin so I could delete old rides off of it - making sure I'd have enough storage for this ride... it gave a message of "low battery"... unreal... I had to bring it to Stacy's room to charge it over night as her DBF had the only laptop in the group... another disaster averted! Went back to my room and tried to get some sleep...

The Ride - Sunday, June 6, 2010 - The day is finally here :
Woke up extra early, and went to breakfast... ate oatmeal and had a cup of OJ & some Hot Tea... Shane pumped my tires... I remember that I had to run to my room to get my jacket (that I didn't think I would need) and something else - I don't remember what... turns out, I handed off my jacket [to SAG] before the ride as it was pretty warm already...

This is us outside of our Hotel in California before riding to the Start Line in Nevada

We decided to ride to the Start Line (some people left right from the Hotel) but I didn't start my Garmin til the Start even though I knew the ride wasn't a full 100 miles... We got to the Start line, and somehow while trying to get in a good start-up gear, I dropped my chain... I acted like a girl [hey it worked!], and Shane put it back on for me - thanks Shane! Shortly thereafter, we were off!





6 of us rode together and stayed in a group for the first 20ish miles... then Emerald Bay... This is one of those climbs that you do, you think... wow, that was hard, and then you look up, and realize you just started the climb! I was determined to keep riding and not stop - which I did! I also passed many people on the way up the hill (I love my new cassette!!) And... I was passed my many others, but I made it to the top [Thanks to the training I did at the Red Rock Loop] and was rewarded with a FAST & FUN downhill... Pretty scary as the roads were very uneven and had a lot of pot holes and trenches.

I made it to the first Support Stop - found Blake and told him I needed to use the port-a-potty... I couldn't find a place to set my bike, so I laid it on the ground...as I came out, I saw Shane, then I picked up my bike and my chain dropped off - again - luckily, with a couple of pedal strokes, it found its way back on - I didn't have to get my hands dirty or be rescued - but someone else needed rescuing... I look up, and a woman came tumbling down the hill still clipped into her bike...I called for Shane, and he went running over to help her... she had dropped her chain going up the hill and couldn't clip out in time and fell... she was laughing when she was helped up, so all was okay!

Shane & I found Kim & Todd... I lost Blake, and never saw Stacy... I waited while Kim, Todd and Shane did the stuff they needed to do, we took some pictures, and off we all went... not sure how, but I got separated from the group again - probably another uphill part (I'm not as strong on the hills as I'd like to be) I remember the roads being real torn-up, and lots of ruts and dangerous sections... It was relatively flat & fast around here, and I found a pace-line to join in on... I stayed with them for a few miles and then one of their teammates got a flat or fell or something so they stopped and I went on alone thanking them for the great tow.

I met up with my team at the next Support Stop - filled my water, used the port-a-potty again, and we all went out together again :)

Soon, we got to the Truckee turn-off and our whole team is still together - we decided to go up the bike trail that follows the river - beautiful trail by the way... but it's a teeny trail, and we had a pace line going, and we're passing many people on the left... If anyone was coming towards us, it could have been bad... we got out of the trail and back onto the street, and our pace-line continued... in fact, I believe we joined in on another pace-line... I did my best to keep up, but I was working hard to stay on the back. Then we came to a traffic signal, and my start-up just isn't fast enough, and I fell behind. This man rode up to me and said he didn't feel right in joining in on the pace-line - I said "I let it go, I can't keep up" He said "I'll get you there, are you ready to sprint?" I said "Let's GO"... he got me there! It was AWESOME!! Then he gave a wave and fell behind... wow I don't know who he was, but a big THANK YOU!!

Todd & I fell behind at the final traffic signal before the support stop, we turned into the parking lot and couldn't find the team... when we finally found them, I just kept saying how unnecessary that pace-line was... I felt it wasted sooooo much energy and we still had over 50 miles to go and Spooner Summit was still a scary thought to me. My team still insists that it was FUN to push it, and pass lots and lots of people...

We were finally ready to get on the road, and Kim finally got a hold of her parents (our SAG team) so, we took another 10 - 15 minutes with them, and more pictures, etc...


then we were off... we stopped at the Olympic Rings (halfway back to the lake) to take pictures... when we finally got back to the lake, it wasn't long til our lunch stop - I was STARVING by then ;)

I ate a turkey sandwich, baked lays and a brownie provided by Subway - yummy...Todd had some Advil, and I decided that I would take 2 since my back was hurting - probably because of that Truckee ordeal - I'm glad I did, because I had no more pain the rest of the ride! We had a nice rest and then Kim said she was having trouble breathing, so someone went and got her breathing machine and we waited for her to get her breathing treatment - well worth the wait! I don't know how she rides so well with the breathing issues she has... she's AMAZING! Then we walked to the pier and took some awesome team pictures, and we were off again... I was worried about getting back on the bike after such a long break, but I had no problems.

There was a short climb out from the lunch stop, and of course, uphill means I fall behind... then we got to Incline Village - one of my favorite spots on the ride - the Homes were beautiful and the Streets were shaded with trees... only thing, is that we had to stop with one foot down at each stop sign... I would just get to the stop sign as my team was just pulling out.. I saw them, but couldn't catch them... finally, just out of the Village; I caught up and rode with them til Spooner... I've gotta say that the roads in Nevada were MUCH smoother than the roads in California, and I was happy to be back in my home state :)

Spooner was another animal... tough tough climb, and it was HOT by then, and there were no trees or shade at all... I started the climb thinking I'm not gonna stop, I'm not gonna stop, then I see the water stop and passed the entrance to it, but then I saw the port-a-potties and I decided to stop - so I went in the exit... After using the facilities, I walked over to the water and had them pour some over my head and down my back - ahhhhhh that felt so good!

Then I was on my way again... shortly after that, I saw Kim who was taking a break, so I passed her... then I saw Shane who stopped to take pictures of us coming up the hill (he did that on all of our training rides) I told him Kim wasn't far behind... then I saw Shane's family, and stopped and gave them all high fives and thanked them for their support, Then I saw Todd who was riding slow to give Kim a chance to catch up with him… then I climbed the rest of the mountain... when I got to the top, there was a Support Stop, and I tried to stop - I always unclip my right foot first, and my right foot wouldn't unclip... I tried and tried... I finally tried my left foot, and it unclipped, and I managed to lean the right way (to the left) and came to a stop without falling – amazing! Someone had to pry my right foot out of my pedal for me... then I found the rest of my team and I started breathing badly.. I felt myself hyperventilating - I felt like a black-out coming on - finally Todd told me to breath into cupped hands - that did the trick, and my breathing became better... Hard part done... I'm gonna make it to the finish!




So, I climbed Spooner and expected my reward of going downhill FAST... but there was a head wind WTF?? The tunnel was like a wind tunnel...



It was still a fun beautiful ride down - the lake looked pretty inviting at that point... We had 4 short hills to climb, they didn't feel short... But soon, the finish was in sight...


What was cool is that as we got closer to the finish, our team came together and we decided to cross the finish line together... I don't know how we did it, but we climbed that last driveway all together, and all 6 bike wheels crossed the finish line at the exact same time... how cool is that?

I stopped my Garmin - it was only 98+ miles - riding time 6:26 - ave speed 15.0 mph (not bad!) - just shy of 9 hours total time... oh crap! Not a full Century!?!



I got my bag from our SAG, took off my helmet, changed shoes, and walked over and got my medal and ate some cookies...bought my picture that was taken at the top of Emerald Bay - then we had to take our bikes across the street to the truck... so, I put my shoes & helmet back on, and re-started my Garmin... when we got to the truck, my Garmin read 99.6, so I rode around the parking lot for another .4 miles and stopped on mile 100.0 exactly! Century DONE!




FINAL NUMBERS:
Time: 06:41:26
Distance: 100.01 mi
Elevation Gain: 4,159 ft
Calories: 6,203 C

Moving Time: 06:35:19
Elapsed Time: 09:15:33
Avg Speed: 14.9 mph
Avg Moving Speed: 15.2 mph
Max Speed: 40.3 mph

Why is my Time different than Moving Time???

Post Ride:
I went back to the Hotel, showered and went immediately to the Post-Ride party as I wanted to eat some protein ASAP… I had a couple of pieces of BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, a roll – yummy! I had a chair massage… ahhhh felt good! The rest of my team finally got to the party and I sat with them as they ate… then we went back to the Hotel for Happy Hour drinks… lots of drinks ;) (In fact I don't even remember putting on a mask???)



The amazing part of this experience is how good I felt at the end… I remember after our 77 mile ride, I wouldn’t have gotten back on the bike if you paid me, and after 98 miles, I wasn’t done – I got back on til it said 100, and I could have ridden more… was it the Advil I took at lunch? Whatever it was, I was happy that I finished my first Century, and finished it STRONG! I also want to say that even though I always fell behind my team on the climbs, I passed many, many other people... "on your left" was the words I spoke most often during the day... I am MUCH stronger than I thought I was :) Thanks to Coach Shane!!




I appreciate all of the support I got during my training & fund raising … it was a GREAT experience and I will do it again… I already have 2 more Century Rides and the MS 150 on my schedule this year

For the full album, please visit Shane's Album here: http://s905.photobucket.com/albums/ac255/hikeparia/Tahoe%202010/ or for the pictures I pulled out of his album, you can see them on my FB page here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/album.php?aid=8025714&id=1206118161&ref=pb

Thanks for reading, I know this was LONG, but I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

long time no see

Guess it's been a while... lots & lots going on in my life... can't fill it all in here, so I'll make it brief...

1. running - pretty much stopped running all together - got bad shin splints - again - while training for the LV Half Marathon

2. Triathlons - did 3 triathlons - all of them with shin splints - but figured out that I love cycling

3. cycling - LOVE IT!

4. relationship - I broke up with Jerry... I miss him!