So as I was writing about the triathlon, I realized I never told you the story of the 100 mile bike ride last week.
I was going to go by myself, but jack decided to come up with me, so we left the kids home under the supervision of our neighbor. We drove up together and he dropped me off in Salisbury and then he kept going on up to Ed's house where he was going to spend some time while I did my thing. I had gotten a hotel for 2 nights and was prepared to stay by myself, but I managed to get a friend and her friend to sign up with me. But at the last minute, the friend cancelled because she could not get back from Hawaii in time and at a reasonable cost. So it was me and the lady I never met. Her name is Jamie and she's a Navy nurse and it turns out we got along great! The longest ride she had ever done as 34 miles and she was planning on doing 100. On a new bike she had ridden once.. It was a hybrid, not even a road bike built for distance.
We went to the expo Friday night and I bought some bike stuff- some I needed and some I didn't! Of course. Jamie did the same thing.
Then the morning of the race came. We were up bright and early and ate a nice big breakfast. Then we were off. We started at a bout 0745. She is a slower rider and I tried to stay with her, but she told me repeatedly to go on if I needed to. Well, eventually I needed to because my butt was killing me! Turns out, that when you ride too slow, the feet don't put enough pressure on the peddles and the butt and arms take all the force. I had to go and when I did, I felt much better. There were rest stops about every 20-25 miles and I waited for her at the first one. She got in about 25 minutes after I did. After that, we agreed to just ride separate. Good thing, too! The half way point was Assateague Island and that's where she decided she was done. It was actually about 66 miles and she took the sag wagon (sometimes known as the loser cruiser!) back to the campus. Oh yeah- the race started from and was hosted by Salisbury University- my alma mater. I have not been back since I graduated in 1990- wow, it has changed! More buildings and dorms. Amazing. Anyway, she had given me the truck key, assuming I would finish before her, so she had to wait for me to get there. The good new is that I was way ahead of her and it only took me an hour to get back after she arrived.
The ride was absolutely beautiful- we traveled on these back roads through small towns, woods, and fields. Just gorgeous scenery. I started to get a bit tired at about mile 70, but the good news is that I didn't feel any worse at mile 100 than I did at mile 70. And I wasn't sore at all. Even the next day! This was my first century ride and it was great. I'm looking forward to doing another one. Next year, I want to do the RAGBRAI- it's about 450 miles across Iowa and you do it in one week. the Air Force has a team every year of over 100 people and I can get permissive TDY to do it (instead of taking leave, they let me go, but on my own dime.) We get an Air Force cycling uniform and it's a recruiting mission-we talk to people and hand out stuff. That would be a blast! To ride a bike for a week and talk about the Air Force- who could have a better job?!?!?!?
I met several people on the Salisbury ride. It was a great atmosphere. We'd ride and talk and whatnot. At Assateague, we saw some wild ponies- 2 adults and a baby. I got pics. We stopped for about 30 minutes there and I walked around in the ocean, sat on the sand, ate some food, and then we took off again. The next pit stop had pie and ice cream for snacks- yum! I burned about 5000 calories that day, so I was not concerned with what I ate!
We came home and went out for crabs- YUM! I ate about 14 or so and drank a few beers, then crashed in bed. Got up the next day and Jack picked me up and we headed off to Rachel's house. Stayed with her on Sunday and then headed home Monday morning. It was a wonderful weekend.
So far since I got back, I have been busy every weekend and all week. Mom is coming next week and we may go to the fair, but other than that, we are staying home!
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