43+60= Distance Record

Yesterday, I set a new personal distance record. When the day was done, I rode my bike for 103 miles. That's around 20 miles more than my previous longest distance.

Instead of seeking out the mountains like in previous rides, it was all about the distance this time and the route can be considered pretty flat.

Since my training buddy for Mitchell didn't have time on Saturday, I was left to do the ride on my own. But fortunately, the Malone Coaching athlete family is quite big and after facebooking and a couple of calls and text messages, I had two ride partners for some of my ride... Sweet.

The first 43 miles, I was on my own. I got an early 8am start and the temps were still low and the sky looked dreary.

The roads were still wet, but otherwise the conditions were good. I cruised along at a comfortable pace, knowing that I will have a long day ahead of me. It also helped mentally, that I saw the 100 miles as two completely separate rides. Also, I rode along a couple of new and very pretty roads and just enjoyed being out there. In my previous rides this week, my neck was bothering me early on, but the chiropractor adjustment and the hydromassage really seemed to have helped. I also tried to make a conscious effort of stretching out my neck every couple of miles.

I was back at the Spinners parking lot at around 11am and it had warmed up some, so I was ready to shed some layers and refill my water bottles.

Around 11.30am we headed out again for our 60 miles together. I picked the route from bikely.com without ever trying it and I was also the navigator of the group, because the course wasn't marked and I was the only having it loaded on the Garmin. No pressure! ;-) The first 10 miles or so, the route went along a couple of busy roads and I thought I picked a lemon, but later on, we rode a couple of very pretty roads.

I had one scary moment, when my bottle cages (butt rockets) fell on my back tire when I rode down a hill onto a bridge with a big lip. I thought I blew a tire until I saw the double bottle cage stuck unto the top of the tire. Luckily, my tire was still fine and the bottles didn't fly off either. We even found the screw and were able to reattach the bottle cages.

Around mile 20 of the second ride (my mile 60), my neck really started bothering me again.... Also my feet started barking again. But overall, I felt still strong when everything was said and done.... Good ride with great company that certainly kept my spirits high and watched out for me... Thanks, girls!!!

And here is my "I just rode 100 miles on my bike!" victory picture! Wahooooo! ;-)