What should have been a 70 mile ride to into a 85 mile epic and ended with me on the verge of bonking. I missed a important turn for the road that would take me over the mountain and back to the valley I live in. Only after riding for three miles further did a realize that I passed it. I made the decision to continue down to the next road (hoping it would be shorter to that road) that would take me over the mountain. Bad idea. It turned out to be another 5 miles down the road. Once I got to the intersection I was already at 70 miles and still had to climb the mountain.
The worst part was that I had enough food for a 70 mile journey, and to be safe I tucked a $5 bill into my jersey pocket - however, somewhere along the way when pulling out one of my powerbars it must have slipped out. So now I am stranded with 3/4 of a bottle of Clifshot and nothing else and one mountain left to climb and 15 more miles to go.
The ride over the mountain was one of my slowest. I had to talk myself through the whole thing, telling myself to not go into the red. It's amazing how the body can react and push through something like that. I cleared the top knowing it was only another 12 miles home on a mostly down hill stretch of road. By the time I got home I had been on the bike 5 hours and 85 miles. It was a great loop and I can't wait to do it again, this time with the right amount of food and my rescue money tucked into my saddle bag. Click here for the map of the loop I did.
I have one more high intensity ride planned for tomorrow (Thursday) over Clove Valley Rd. to get ready for Sunday's TT and on Saturday I will be heading out for some easy miles with Jim to keep the legs loose and ready to race.
A full race report will follow Sunday...
Keep the rubber side down
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