My first official ride

We did the Collier Lilly Ride4Life this Saturday!I was getting a bit nervous about this ride for some reason. My mother started out a bit incredulous when I told her our plans for the weekend. “Have you ridden that far before?” and “Are you sure you can to that?” came out before she caught herself and then launched into the supportive “I know you can do this.” and “That sounds great.”

I totally understood. I have been fluctuating between the two for the past 2 weeks.

But off we went. After not wanting to be in the middle of a group of people, we ended up near the front in a group of people. Then most of them passed us within the first few miles. About 2 miles into it, we hit the first hill and it was a doozie. I seriously wondered what I was doing. I also vowed that if we move, we’re moving somewhere very flat.

We got behind a guy a tad bit slower than I wanted to go (amazing, I know) so at a downhill I told dh to make a move and around we went. That was the only person we passed, although I got passed many times, even on up hill climbs.

For every up hill climb there was a downhill descent, but that wasn’t much better. At 25 mph I would start putting on the brakes. The computer says my max was 33.2. I suspect this was the hill that the truck followed me down because the blind turn meant he couldn’t pass me.

There were some struggles. At mile 8 I had to stop at a stop sign. When I started back up my left leg cramped up. I ended up stopping and stretching it for a minute. I finally got back on and around the next curve was the first rest stop I pulled in to find dh waiting for me.

That gave me a nice refreshing boost because I left with new wind in my sails. Some hills I would climb just fine (although slowly) and some would just kill me. At the second rest stop we hooked up with a trio (husband, wife, son-in-law) keeping a nice pace so I stuck behind them. Of course, right after we left that rest stop both feet started cramping. If I could eat my energy bar or drink from my energy bottle while riding I might skip the rest stops. Right now, though, using that right hand to sip from the CamelBack is all I can manage.

One last hill almost got me, but since it was 5 of us together I felt some pressure to just keep pedaling one foot after another and somehow I made it, going 5 or 6 mph.

I learned a lot – my balance is a bit better just being on the bike for 33 miles in a row. I can lift my right hand off to point at debris or a turn. I just can’t take a hand off the handlebars and pedal at the same time

To finish it up, I fell on my left side just before we turned into the finish line. Then fell on my right side just as we stopped. But I’m a professional now. I just laughed at how tired I was, jumped back up, and then walked (no hobbling for me) over to the ambulance for a couple of bandages. I may just bandage both knees before the ride next time. Seems more efficient.

I don’t think I’m ready to ride 30 miles at a time very often, but I’m happy with my performance today and looking forward to getting out again!

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