The Detailed Ride Summary...
Last year in December, after a lot of consideration, I decided to complete the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes. I partially decided to do it for my wife, Jesse. I want to be as healthy as I can, and she appreciates what that means. I also decided to do it to get in shape. Finally, I really wanted to support diabetes research. So, at the beginning of January I bought a racing bike, and January 10th I began training.
At first it was pretty easy going. That first week, I rode about 5 miles Tuesday, 5 miles on Thursday, and 19 on Saturday. During the last week of April, I rode 20 miles Tuesday, 41 on Thursday, and 65 on Saturday. The rides were becoming long and tedious. Every once in a while Jesse would come out on part of a ride with me, but in general I went solo. I did discover some beautiful scenery on my rides. There are amazing canyons in the foothills between Redwood City and Stevens Creek Resevoir that are a lot of fun to come flying down. Unfortunately, my knees started hurting during long rides, so I had to back off of the big hills. It was nice that I was able to relax a little bit at the beginning of May to rest up for the big ride.
On May 13th Jesse and I left for Monterey. I admit that I was nervous. Before I started my training, my longest bike ride was probably 19 miles, after training it was 65. Could I really do 100? I also worried about my knees holding out for that long. We arrived in Monterey and met a few people that night at an opening social. The next day I did a short training ride through Monterey that let me see what a beautiful ride I'd be going on. There is an amazing bike trail that goes through the city of Monterey and right along the beach by the bay. I highly recommend visiting. That afternoon we visited Carmel and Point Lobos. Point Lobos is another gorgeous place that everyone should visit if possible!
Saturday morning I got up at 5:45. We got ready, ate breakfast, and reported to the starting line. There we took a few pictures, went over a couple final details, and started out in waves of about 30 riders. I began around 6:45. I ended up pairing up with Stacy, another rider with diabetes, who also kept up a good and steady pace. I loved biking through the city and out to Asilomar as the day began. Jesse and I would like to go back. After the loop through Monterey, we started northward up the coast. After 21 miles we turned inland towards Fort Ord and Salinas. One mile later we came to our first stop, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches became my staple food.
We rolled down to the valley floor through generic housing and California hills. I felt good, still cruising along at a comfortable pace and not really pushing myself. We began to glide through farms, lots of lettuce and broccoli all over. I was grateful to be able to draft behind a tandem team, Gonzo and Fozzy, for a while. The next stop came at the edge of some farm fields at mile 41. At that point I still felt fine. I couldn't believe that I'd done 41 miles; it definitely didn't feel like it. I refilled my drink bottles again, and had more pb&j.
I'm trying to remember any stand-out details from the next 17 miles. I saw more farms, of course, encompassing me with hills rolling upwards to my right, as we went generally southeast of Salinas and paralled Highway 101. I began to catch some serious speed (about 35 mph) on the occasional hill and left my group behind. I let myself fly for a while cruising between 20 and 25 mph. I began to realize that between the hills I descended and the wind and my back, I was going to be in trouble when I turned around.
Lunch came at Mission Soledad, the 58 mile point at about 10:30am. I felt better than I ever had after that much distance. It was nice to see Jesse, who was there volunteering, handing out energy drinks. I had her put some Hammer Gel concentrate in my water. I really regretted that later; it tasted terrible. I had a nice break and started back with a guy named Matt Peterson, who also happened to be from Utah. He helped a ton with drafting and making the time go by more quickly.
Immediately after starting the reture trek, I realized that the warnings about wind didn't do justice to what I was experiencing. By lunch, my knees had started to hurt a little, but as soon as I hit that first big hill going back against a 30 mph headwind, they were throbbing. Thinking about 42 more miles in those conditions worried me a little. I think that we averaged about 8 miles an hour until the next rest stop. The scenery no longer intrigued me as much.
That following stop felt wonderful. It seemed like it would never arrive. I had gone 75 miles. I had more pb&j. I felt like I could make it to the end, but I wasn't sure how fast I'd be able to continue going. At that stop I grouped up with a few more guys in order to get some better drafting. That and fewer hills helped a great deal for the next few miles. I definitely did not want to think a whole lot anymore, so I just stayed focused on the rider in front of me. Our group of four ended up combining with another group of five, which helped even more with those aerodynamics.
At about mile 89 I could feel my blood sugar dropping considerably, so I had to stop and eat a couple packets of energy gel. I rested for a few minutes on the side of that busy road with cars cruising by at 55 miles an hour. I hoped that I wouldn't pass out. I knew that the next rest stop was only 4 miles away, so I eventually hopped back on and started going again. I struggled. Being alone made the ride more challenging. Knees aching and head a little foggy, I made it without any major incidents.
I rested at that station for a while longer than usual. I also ate quite a bit, which might not have been the best idea, but I don't think it had any real negative effect. I enjoyed the realization that the final 9 miles wouldn't be into a direct headwind. I didn't know how well my knees were going to hold up though. I worried that I wouldn't have the strength to clip out of my pedals at the end, that I'd just plop over on my side.
Like I felt confident that I would, I did make it. 102 miles in a little under 9 hours. I really couldn't think straight enough right away to realize what I had done. Jesse greeted me there, and I immediately asked her to start feeding me and getting me drinks--pb&j and CapriSun being the key things that sounded good. Few food items appealed to me, and I considered that I got a hint of what a small part of pregnancy might be like. I really appreciated having Jesse there. She called my family to let them know I made it, but I didn't feel like talking to anybody.
That night I had to hobble around due to aching knees, but at least I could still walk. We enjoyed a nice dinner and some final conversations with some other riders. I enjoyed meeting so many caring, generous and devoted people. I would really like to do another ride, but I don't think my knees could take the full 100 miles again. Maybe I'll just do 50 or 60. Who knows what the future holds?
Thanks everybody!!!