Sunday Hun(dred)day

First I want to thank each of the SIX people that accompanied me on this ride. I know each of them really likes riding their bikes, but in a way they are doing it for me. I'm the one that decided I needed to put in a 100 miler every month, and I am just dragging them down to my level. One hundred miles in snow and cold and mud is daunting enough with company, solo is really really difficult. So I want to thank Doc, Robin, Kyle, Kevin, Nick, and Steve for enduring on this ride with me. The ride left at ten in the morning and headed northeast. The roads were wet and squishy for sure, but luckily there were usually lines of snow/ice to ride. The preferred line was actually the sketchiest... all ice and snow. The mud road was just so soft it was like riding in sand and increased effort exponentially. Riding was going well, missed a turn here and there as per usual. I have noticed something that Shockey has talked about before: due to the training I have been doing it takes me around an hour to really start feeling good on the bike. At about 30 miles in Doc, Robin, and Kyle had to split due to time constraints, and then there was four. We grabbed some food at Jersey's pub in Cedar Rapids at 36 miles. Then the four of us headed out. We rode from Jersey's and didn't stop until mile 73 in West Branch. From there we headed back home on Lower West Branch Road. Realizing earlier that we were going to come up short on our quest for 100 I had to make a decision. So at mile 77 I took off from the group and ended up riding the last 1:42 by myself. It was brutal to go from having such a good group of support to being by myself, especially as the wind and snow picked up. I was happy at how good I felt for the entire ride, specifically being able to accelerate and then continue to hold a good pace even after 70+ miles of riding. Ride Stats: 100.26 miles, 9 hours and change on the bike, 2800 feet of climbing, 8950 calories burned, 7 people...4 people...1 person, 4 pop tarts, 1 bag of beef jerky, 30 ish oz of Mtn Dew, 80 oz of water, 1 roast beef sandwich, 1 12oz red bull, and 6 hand warmers. Post ride included: 1 24 oz Mtn Dew, 1 32 oz Lemon Lime Gatorade, 1 entire medium sausage pizza from Casey's, and 4 Advil.

This week will be trainer riding and maybe some racquetball, trying to get a little intensity built up preparing for CIRREM. If the roads are like today it will be a survival race. Gotta build up that intensity so that if I do any of the spring classic races I won't just start feeling good at mile 20 and finish at mile 30.