Monday, October 5, 2009

Philly Livestrong Challenge ride report.

I set out on the 100 mile course around 8:30 in the morning and finished a little after 4pm. One of the things that I enjoyed the most, though, was getting to talk to all of the participants and learning their stories. So many of them had bibs on their jerseys that read “In Honor Of,” or “In Memory Of.” I wore 2 bibs on my Jersey, one that said "In Memory of Uncle Don" and the other said "I'm a survivor - 21 years".

Here is the ride report.
The morning of the ride I got up at 5am. The roads leading to the starting area are single lane so the traffic builds really fast. After a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts for some wake up juice we were on our way. Poor Lauren was tired but was a good sport about getting up so early. The ride was to start at 8am but was delayed to 8:30 do to the large number of participants. Finally I was off. Because of the late start I decided to skip rest stop #1 to make up a little time. I was feeling really good anyway so waiting for rest stop #2 was no big deal. Rest stop #2 was about 20 miles into the ride. Still feeling fresh I filled my water bottles, grabbed a power bar and was on my way. Next stop was rest stop #3 (32 miles). Knowing there were hard climbs coming after the 3rd stop I decided to take a 10 min break. I pigged out on all sorts of stuff. Nuts, raisins, gummy bears, peanut butter and jelly sandwich and power bar gels. Again filled the water bottles and was on my way. That would be the only stop I actually took a break at, the rest of the stops I grabbed food, filled my bottles and moved on. The climbs were killer and the hills never stopped coming. The first hard climb started at mile 35, it was 5 miles long but not too steep. The second hard climb came around mile 60, it was shorter at 2 miles but had spikes to 24% grade. Man those hills took a lot out of me.

There were several times throughout my ride where I looked to the sky and thought of my Uncle Don. It was in his name that I was dedicating my ride. I think I may have even asked him to put the wind at my back for a little help. I probably should have rested more during my ride but I didn’t want to miss the course cut off of 4pm. My legs started cramping around mile 65 and I had leg cramps up until the finish. Not too bad but still one more obstacle on an already hard day. At mile 73 the skies opened up with a heavy downpour. I didn’t mind the rain as it was a relief from the heat but it really slowed me down while traveling down hill. I didn’t want to crash and not finish so I took my time in the rain. Not long after the sun came out again and the humidity had to be at 100% with a temp in the mid 90’s.

20 miles to go. When I saw the 20 miles to go sign I started to feel good again. My body was drained but I kept thinking I do 20 mile rides all the time, no big deal. Even the smallest hill felt huge but I knew the end was near. I blew past the final rest stop with no water or food but knowing I only had 9 miles left. The last mile I decided to give it what little I had left. I went all out passing many others on their way to finish. During the last mile I again looked to the sky and told Uncle Don I did it for him. I rode across the finish line feeling good and with a big smile on my face. Total time on the bike was 7hrs and 4min, distance 100 miles.