Bicycle races are coming your way, So forget all your duties oh yeah, Fat bottomed girls they'll be riding today, So look out for those beauties oh yeah, On your marks get set go, Bicycle race bicycle race bicycle race (Queen, "Bicycle Race")
I finally did my inaugural Little Red Riding Hood ride this year! I've been wanting to do this ride for a few years, but have never managed to remember to sign up before registration maxed out. It's just really hard for me to think about cycling at all during winter, let alone thinking “Oh, I should totally sign up for a ride in June!”at the beginning of February (registration started February 1 this year). Apparently I'm alone in this mentality, however, because by mid March, 3,000 other chicks had signed up and registration was full. (I'm hoping that adding Little Red Riding Hood to my “Likes” on Facebook will hopefully help me remember when registration comes around next year.)
Fortunately for me (and unfortunately for the incredibly nice woman who sold me her registration) one of the ladies in a group I knew who had signed up on time found out at the beginning of May that she would be unable to ride this year. This could not have been more perfect for me. Not only was she signed up to ride the Century (which is what I wanted to do—15, 35, 45, 62, 80 mile distance rides were also offered), but the t-shirt she ordered was a size medium, which is what I usually wear. Stellar!!! (Side note: It's odd to simultaneously feel really bad for someone else, while being really happy for yourself).
I found out exactly one month to the day prior to the ride that the spot was mine. I was determined to get some good training in during the time leading up to the ride in order to prevent a repeat of the ugliness that was the Vuelta Pacifica last year. Fret not--I failed. The weather in Utah was absolute hell during May (of the 24 days I was in Utah, 21 of them were below 70°F, 12 of which included either rain or snow). Meh. I did manage to get on the bike about eight times (if you include both my mountain bike ride, and my feeble attempt at a road ride while visiting Andy in Northern California). However, the longest of my “training” rides was a measly 30 miles. Which is what I should have done the first week. I really should have been up to a long ride of 75 or 80 miles so the week before the ride. But, no dice. Hooray for maintaining my track record of persistent and severe under training.
In spite of my preparedness deficiencies, on Friday night I got all my gear together and managed to get in bed by 12:30, and was up at 4:30 to eat breakfast, pack all my stuff into the car and head off to Cache County.
As one of the few bonuses of all the rain we've had this year, the two hour drive was beautiful. I got to Lewiston City Park, where I (and the other cars in line with me) was ushered in to a makeshift parking /camping area. It was crazy to see that many cars, and even more bikes on this little patch of park in the middle of nowhere. Soooo cool! I started unpacking my cycling gear to change into, sheepishly looking around upon realizing I was going to have to strip with all sorts of people around. It was comforting that I saw the girls in the cars on either side of me doing the exact same thing, so I just laughed to myself and changed as fast as I could.
I left my bike in the car, and went to the registration table, got my number and my awesome swag bag and got in line to pee. While waiting in line, there were four different women who asked me about my Five Fingers (I wasn't about to wear road shoes while wandering around). The dudes at Vibram really need to figure out how to crank out some more of those shoes.
Anyway. . .I went back to the car, put my front tire back on, inflated the tires, attached my rider number to my jacket and put on my helmet, gloves and shoes, then headed over toward the start line. There was some slight confusion about what was going on (since the majority of girls doing the event seemed to be signed up for the century, they had “waves” of starting groups between 7:30 and 8:30) but I ended up going with a group of about 100 girls at about 7:45. It was really cloudy, chilly and amazing to be riding with that many people. I was trying to take pictures while riding to show just how many girls there were, but my blasted camera was uncooperative—the batteries even fell out, inexplicably, at one point forcing me to stop and pick them up in the middle of the road. And within 30 seconds of stopping (waiting to find a spot to ride into), there was a SAG wagon along with a dozen girls asking if I needed help. So, sadly, I didn't really get any stellar photos of the massive peloton before it broke up but the whole thing was a surreal experience.
Aside from some confusion about the course route early on (which led to some of us tacking on an extra mile or so) the entire event was insanely well organized. There were rest stops every 15 miles with Porta-Potties, water, and snacks. The course was really well marked, with different colored arrows marked directly on the road (corresponding to the different colors assigned to the ride lengths) as well as signs indicating directions to go for each group of riders. There were also a number of SAG wagons around helping people with mechanicals (of which there seemed to be a ton) and making drivers aware that there were cyclists in the area (even though they had done a great job of putting most of the route on low traffic roads, it seemed). In spite of all the support and organization, there was still at least one accident with two or three girls and bikes askew in the middle of a road (at least one of them looked to be in injured enough to have her day end there. What a bummer.)
I was really surprised and super stoked on how many bigger girls were out on the long rides. So bad ass and inspiring to see them out! I was also (kind of) surprised by the speed of most of the girls. During the first 50 miles (which were totally flat) I didn't drop below 17 mph, and was mostly riding at 20 mph, which I was pretty stoked about. But girls were absolutely flying by me, which was both impressive and disheartening. I got over it mostly, though, since everyone but me (and a very few others) were riding in groups (a lot of which were clad in club kits) and could take turns pulling. (Side note: I didn't know that Skullcandy sponsored a cycling team. Their girls' jerseys are so effing killer—even if they are pink. Makes me like Skullcandy even more! )
The ride was stunning. A beautiful, cloudy, vibrantly green landscape everywhere we rode. There was very little traffic, and what traffic there was largely had people yelling or hanging out of windows cheering us on. There were also a number of young girls and/or families outside their homes watching us ride (as if it was a stage race) waving and cheering at us. It was a pretty cool, novel experience.
At mile 50 lunch was served at a park that seemed overwhelmed by the sheer number of bikes, alone. Adding on the riders and family who had come to meet up with their mom's and sister's for congratulations and encouragement, the scene was complete chaos. And pretty effing cool to see. I thought it was especially impressive that the volunteer staff seemed to manage it as well as they did, since all of the women from the 100, 80 and 57 mile rides were arriving simultaneously (which made for some really long, but surprisingly fast-moving lines). There was an absurd volume and variety of food: subway sandwiches with either some kind of meat and cheese, or just cheese (as a veggie—it was SO amazing to have been accommodated for) along with a few toppings to put on top of it, delicious fruit, chips, cookies, trailmix, granola bars, and a lot more stuff I didn't even look at, along with a well-stocked water station that even included tubs of GU Electrolyte Brew to use.
At the beginning of the ride, we were asked us not to use iPods etc to ensure the safety of all, so under duress (thanks to the presence of a number of police escorts) I decided to not listen to mine. At lunch, I decided that I could care less if I got in trouble, or got a ticket or whatever. The headphones were going on. Riding by oneself for that long is a fairly grueling mental effort, and I knew that with the flat part of the ride over, I wouldn't survive with my sanity if I was without both company and music. So the earphones went on. And proceeded to treat me to every mellow song I had on my iTouch. . . . If there's anything worse than being full, and struggling being alone knowing there are 2,999 other people somewhere nearby, but being unable to see or talk to any of them, it's listening to music that says “Time for a nap.” Not so effective for climbing hills (even if they are mini inclines). Not only was my iPod trying to put me to sleep, but I'd forgotten my sunglasses to keep out the bugs and kept repeatedly getting bugs in my eyes, and I'd also forgotten to apply my trusty DZ Nuts chamois cream and being in the saddle was becoming slightly excruciating, and my back was screaming at me louder than if it was my nephew and 99 of his clones all screaming simultaneously. So miles 50 through 75 were borderline torture for me.
Just when I thought I was going to lose it, and was considering risking not being able to pedal another stroke to get off my bike and manually switch my iTouch to something to help my fracturing mental state, I was greeted by a rest stop. I got off my bike, laid on the grass to quiet my back and chat with my mom for a bit until the pain in my back had completely subsided. When I got up I felt infinitely better, and, on top of that my iTouch decided to wake up and shuffled into a series of songs I could ride to. I was once again enjoying the scenery, and thinking about how much I love riding my bike.
And then came a very steep downhill section. Which can only mean one thing. . . .So I looked ahead, and noticed that there was a large climb coming up. Unfortunately, there was a large flat stretch between the downhill and uphill, so there would be no momentum to help. It was mile 83, and it was crushing. I was in my smallest gear before I was ¼ of the way through the climb. I just kept repeating to myself “Fuck this hill. It will not beat me” over and over. And it didn't. But holy hell that climb was so much harder for me than it should have been.
Coming over the climb onto the flat, I could see that there was another rest stop. Thank you jeebus! I stopped to refill my water bottles, which were both depleted by the last climb. While refilling my water bottles, I noticed that the table without the water had supplies. . .vitamin I (which I should have taken a buttload of, but didn't for reasons that still remain a mystery to me), tampons, snacks, and, then . . . the clouds parted, revealing a beautiful ray of light shining on a tube of DZ Nuts Bliss chamois cream, and I'm quite certain I heard the sound of angelic choirs as this happened. And I shed a single tear as I asked “Can I borrow some of this?!?” When I was told that I could, I squeezed some onto a paper towel, and rushed to the Porta-Potty to apply it. Dave Zabriskie doesn't know it, but he saved my life Saturday. In spite of my back still screaming in pain, the last 12 miles was, well, bliss. I felt strong again, was riding at a decent pace and felt great. I was going to make it. With nowhere near enough training, no sleep, and a terrible track record of eating for the week leading up to the ride. I'm fucking proud of myself, even if it was a weak showing. I finished.
101.07 miles
6 hours 43 minutes 37 seconds (on the bike)
15.00 mph average speed
1912 feet of elevation gain
Miss Super Red
This ride rocks. I'll be doing it every year I can from now on; only, I'll be dragging anyone and everyone I know with me. I also want to do the Goldilocks and maybe even the Cinderella Classic rides next year.
Now to start training for my half marathon. . . .
1 comments:
Well done, babe!
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