99.64 miles (!)
398.73 total miles
7:51:31 bicycling time
12.7 mph average speed
Watertown, WI
Today was a repeat of Tuesday--hilly and windy. Luckily, the hills weren't quite as bad. I was in low gears quite often, but that was mostly to be kind to my knees. Even the worst weren't nearly as bad as the earlier ones.
We (Sue and I) started about 7:15 today, thinking it wouldn't be a bad ride. And, mostly, it was really nice. We rode out of town, and there were people to cheer us, which was great. Long stops between pits today--the first was at 17.9 miles.
We noticed early on that there was a wind out of the south, which seemed likely to make our lives miserable. Sure enough, a good portion of the route was headed south. Those stretches were a lot of work.
One early highlight was riding by a field of buffalo. You can tell
the whole group is city people--we all saw this as a terrific photo op.
(At least it wasn't corn, which we've seen quite a bit of.) That
was a fun little break. The rest of the day is kind of blurring together--just
long stretches of riding and nasty winds. And lots of rolling hills
that seemed never to end. The dramatic hills are tough, but the constant
up and down can be just as wearing--especially when the wind prevents you
from taking full advantage of the downhills.At some point before lunch one of the teams had set up an unofficial pit stop and was handing out Popsicles. (Or Popcycles, as their sign said.) It was a great location--a spot where we really needed a break.
I rode along most of the day but ran into Janine (another TC member) at Pit 2 and lunch. No sign of Sue, and hardly any other TCers. It was very strange. Janine left lunch a little before me, and I caught up to her a few miles out. The wind had picked up while we were at lunch--they were predicting thunderstorms, if that gives you an idea of how much. Janine had just hit a long stretch going south straight into what was now a rather strong wind, and she was looking pretty tired. So I hung back and rode with her all the way to camp. It was good for both of us to have company. I was able to help Janine keep going--although, to her credit, she never once thought about quitting--and I went a little slower than usual, which was very, very nice.
This stretch into the wind lasted about 12 miles, we think, and contained a ton of hills. At one point I was going downhill and pedaling and going a whopping 9 mph. When I left lunch, I figured an average speed of 12 mph would get me in in plenty of time, but that was looking problematic. And we were afraid that camp would be straight south and the whole rest of the route would be more of the same. Then, to add insult to injury, it started raining right in our faces. This was really, really not fun.
Luckily, the route eventually turned east, and we had a bit of a reprieve before Pit 3. It was still hilly, but without the wind it was much, much more manageable. Between the last two pits it got fun again. Still some hills, but not too many, and the southern stretches were shorter. And the last bit into camp wasn't bad at all, except it was along a busy highway, and we were really ready for it to be over. It did, finally, end. Thank heavens.
That was Janine's first century--she sagged the last two days--and she was justifiably proud. I'm very glad we ran into each other and were able to finish together--it made an exhausting ride much more bearable.
We got in around 6:50, only 10 minutes before the route was supposed to close, and were the 555th and 556th riders to finish. They did keep it open for a while, but apparently a lot of people sagged. So I'm really glad to have toughed it out.
The downer was after we got back. At dinner someone announced that the crew had set up most people's tents for them. Not only did the tent fairy not visit us, but there was not tent in our space. I was exhausted, and that was such a disappointment. So I had to track down a tent and haul it, along with my enormous duffel bag, to our space from a truck that was much too far away. Luckily, by the time I got the tent up and started to unpack, I had cheered up a little. Then Sue turned up--I thought for sure she had sagged, since I hadn't seen her at all, but she was in one of the last groups to finish. Yay, Sue! I was so happy she'd done well, after a disappointing Wednesday.
So I got to shower at a decent time, and now I'm off to bed. It was a fairly grueling day, but still fun. Tomorrow is shorter--under 90 miles--which will be nice. I'm starting to think I might actually live through this.
On to Day Five
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