103.43 miles
188.94 total miles
8:00:52 bicycling time
12.9 mph average speed
Black River Falls, WI
We started out with a nice 26 miles on a trail by a river. It was beautiful, the weather was cool, and there were no hills. Very pretty area.
After that, though . . . yikes. Right after Pit 2 there was a massive hill that came as a complete surprise--turn a corner and, boom, hill. Lots of riders were struggling. When I got to the top, I got off my bike to take a drink, and I ended up staying for 30 minutes to cheer people on. There were a few other Team Canticle riders, and two of them rode down the hill a few times to help other riders up. I'm not that nuts. It was lots of fun, and I was actually happier seeing other people get to the top than getting there myself.
By then it was about 10:30, which was fine. Unfortunately, this
stretch had tons of hills, and it was mostly into the wind. Really,
really exhausting. And, to top it off, it was supposed to be 17 miles
to the next pit stop, but we had a six-mile detour because of construction.
So it was 23 miles, which is just too much. By the time I got
to Pit 3 I was out of water and hungry. Neither of these is good.
Then, Pit 3 didn't have much in the way of food, so I pretty
much had to go the 13 miles to lunch, which involved more wind and hills.
This stretch did me in.After lunch I perked up a little, but my legs never got back to full strength.
(It's now Wednesday a.m. I stopped and went to sleep.)
After lunch we had about 46 miles left. I started OK but got slower and slower through the afternoon. We had two pit stops close together, then a 15-mile ride to a grab-and-go. [Ed: A grab-and-go is a stop that just has drinks and porta-potties, and sometimes some minor food.] Luckily, I met someone named Heather on the way to the g-n-g--we talked and kind of kept each other going. And I decided to sag at the g-n-g--there was a monster hill right before camp, and I was worried that if I did the last 5.5 miles my legs wouldn't recover before the next day. I'm not sure how they'll do--they're still sore. It's going to be another rough day.
So I'm disappointed that I didn't finish, but, thanks to the detour, I rode more than the originally scheduled 102 miles anyway. That was my first century--yay me. :-) I just hope today isn't as bad--I was so miserable and unhappy yesterday afternoon.
I heard last night that 1/3 of the riders were swept at lunch or before because they were going so slowly, and a lot of people sagged later. So at least I made it most of the way. Sue finished, even though she was behind me--she was in the very last group they let go through. I'm totally impressed. And she had had a flat in the morning, so she did great.
Made for a rough night, though. It was 10:30 by the time we'd
both eaten, showered and got ready for bed--and we weren't wasting time.
At 9:00 there was still a huge line for the showers. So when
alarm clocks started going off at 4:00, it seemed very, very early.Well, I'm hoping Tuesday was the worst of the ride, but you never know. 108 miles today--at least, that's what they're saying. I'm just hoping to find some strength in my legs to get through it. And no headwind. Please. That was a killer.
On to Day Three
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