Record Ride, Complete With Road Rash

I woke up this morning and groaned. I ache from head to toe, side to side, and almost every place in between. But through all that pain there is a silver lining. I just completed my longest bike ride to date: 69.66 miles. Close enough to call it 70 miles. I couldn't have done it without the help of my good friend Traci W. but it didn't come without some unwanted excitement.

A week ago I struggled through a 60 mile ride and was plagued with self doubt. My arms and shoulders were cramping, I was dizzy, and the last 10 miles were agony. The goal is a 100 mile ride in just a few weeks and I was upping my mileage every week. But after that ride I just couldn't imagine finishing that challenge.

Traci W. to the rescue! She called me up and offered to come and ride with me this week and help me with my nutrition and pacing so I could finish with a positive outlook. What a wonderful friend! When doing big miles it's hard to find someone to share those miles because, face it, most others aren't looking for that distance or have the time to spend an entire day on the road.

I played with the route and checked the forecast and planned the best 70 miles route I could. Wouldn't you know it, the county put gravel on the shoulders the day before the ride so that messed up the route a little. Then the weather changed and we were blessed with some much needed rain. I've never really ridden in rain so this was going to be interesting.

Traci told me to slow down and ease up on my pace so we took out slow and steady and made good progress through the first 20 miles. I was feeling pretty good, especially when the rain stopped. The weather was cool but not cold and the traffic was light on the back roads through the country side. That's when disaster struck.

I was reaching for my water bottle and my wheel drifted. I could see it coming but couldn't do anything about it as my front wheel clipped Traci's back wheel and down I went. I hit the pavement pretty hard and it rang my bell for a little bit. When I finally was able to sit up and take stock it wasn't as bad as it could have been. My helmet was cracked, my glasses bent, my hip knee and hand took the brunt of the fall. The shifter on my handle bars was cocked a little and the chain was off. Everything was survivable except my derailer, which was stuck on the small ring and wouldn't let me shift up. At lest it wasn't the other way around.

A few miles down the road we took a lunch break and I had time to gather my thoughts. I was OK, just really embarrassed at my stupid mistake. We were soon back on the road and I was feeling pretty good, all things considered.

We made a few more quick stops and even met my Hubby for a few minutes as we made our way back to town on the highway. The wind was starting to pick up so we took the most direct route back to town to ride in a more protected area. That meant we needed to put in a few extra miles in town so we started riding the city streets.

I'm not an urban rider. Busy streets make me nervous. But what happened next was just dumb luck. We were on a fairly busy street and I wanted to head to a better less traveled street. As we were riding Traci saw an opportunity to turn a block early and took it. I was just a little ahead and by the time I realize she was turning I was past the intersection. I tried to make the turn and almost made it but was leaning the wrong way and clipped the curb. You guessed it, down I want again, landing on the opposite side as I had landed in the morning.

Talk about feeling stupid. Two falls for two stupid reasons. This time my lower leg was banged up and my should took a pretty good hit too. We had about 13 miles to go and I was a mess. Riding wise I felt pretty good. It was everything else that hurt.

We made it to the zoo and did laps around that area to round out the miles. I wasn't totally exhausted but I was ready to stop. 70 miles was in the book and I was upright and smiling.

I knew I would be sore in the morning but, holy cow! I expected all the bumps and bruises to hurt, but was surprised how much my shoulders and arms ached.  As of right now I am not thinking of riding the 100 miles next week but most likely will call it a day at the 67 mile marker. It's not what I was working toward by I don't think I'm going to be able to handle a longer ride.

Traci was a good sport about picking me up when I was on the ground, and for driving over and spending the day with me out on the road. I did learn a few lessons along the way such as: leave lots of room between riders when you take a drink. Plan your turns ahead of time. Most of life's bumps and bruises will heal. But the most important thing I learned is that the miles are much easier with friends along for the ride. Next week is the Pedal the Plains ride and I will enjoy the adventure. Just not as many miles of it as I had planned.