I had planned on posting Saturday night when I got home from the Ann Weatherill Cycling Classic. I also planned to post yesterday. What happened? A century happened.
I can say definitively that I’m glad Katie and I chose the Cycling Classic instead of the Tour de Chelan and the Tour de Blast—but I’m not quite sure riding 100 miles was in my butt’s best interest.
I was so exhausted Saturday night that I fell asleep at about 10.45p (which is early for me). It also took me a couple hours to move properly yesterday. By last night my quads had really started to ache.
The drive to the ride was eventful. Katie and I saw what looked like a dead kitten in the middle of the highway and right before I drove over it, the kitten turned its head to look at us. Also, I freaked out a bit as we drove closer and closer to the wind farms near Walla Walla (and by freaked out, I mean that I almost drove off the road while doing deep breathing exercises to calm myself down. Those turbines are TERRIFYING.)
By the time we got to Lowden, registered, and were ready to ride, it was 8.15a. The first 25 miles were pretty nice: There were a couple small hills, which were helpful in distracting me as we pedaled closer to the wind turbines. At one point we even were averaging 22 mph.
The second 25 miles included the addition of another member to our “team”: Randy. We picked him up at the first rest stop and spent the better portion of this next leg chatting with him about rules of the road (he’s a new cyclist), how famous Katie is, and the 42Ride. Honestly, at about mile 40, I almost bonked. The terrain was getting hillier, and I just don’t think I had eaten enough that morning.
Ann Weatherill Cycling Classic elevation gain
The better part of the third 25 miles was a very long, slow, deceitful climb up to Kooskooskie (you read that right). The road looked flat, but at times I was going only 7 mph. I rode most of the 11 miles there way behind Katie and Randy. As you may recall from reading about my Bike & Build trip, I am not the best hill climber—and I’m OK with that. I know that it will take a long time for me to get to the top of a big hill. I just wish I hadn’t already talked about my cross-country adventures to Randy. I must’ve looked so ridiculous.
The last 25 miles was just tedious. My body was hurting everywhere: I had a pulled muscle in the center of my back, my neck and shoulders were sore, and my butt was absolutely aching. And yes, to make it hit home even more how not prepared we were for this ride, the three of us were the VERY LAST GROUP to ride in to the winery at the end (at 4.59p). We were welcomed graciously at the finish, but there wasn’t much food left.
But we finished, dammit.
But it was probably a pretty dumb move for me to attempt that many miles without building up to it.
Eat, Sleep, 42Ride 