108 is Great! A Journey to Horsetooth and Beyond

I'm not sure why I was dreading this long ride. Two weeks ago wasn't much shorter but the temperatures were way hotter, so this should have been a breeze. But I've just been so tired lately and the thought of spending all day on my bike was, well, making me more tired. The last few weeks have been intense - approaching 18 hours a week of training. So I guess it's not surprising that I've been struggling to get out of bed in the morning. I had already kind of ruined my long run of the week because I couldn't get up early, so my 16 miles became two runs of 8 each, separated by a few hours. It still mostly counts, right?

Anyhow, no excuses for the long ride. It was the weekend after all. I mapped out a route on Friday afternoon that was roughly 112 miles and the plan was to get started by 7:30. I felt like I owed myself a little bit of sleeping in time. And I had a horrible nights sleep, though I'm not sure why. I woke before the alarm and wasn't exactly feeling awake. But that's nothing new. I took the dogs for a quick walk and tried to force down some food while I waited for Adam to show up. He agreed to do part of it with me.

We were off by about 7:45 and I was immediately sweating. Does anyone else's sunscreen cause them to start sweating profusely as soon as they get out in the sun. I was dripping and it was barely 70 degrees. This was going to be a long, gross day.

We headed north to Carter via the mandatory Wisconsin rollers. Adam turned around at Carter and I was on my own for the rest. I headed up and around Carter and north towards Horsetooth, past the uncharted lands of two weeks ago. I had to stop and consult my map several times as the last thing I wanted to do was get lost in god knows where amidst the thunderstorms that were predicted for the afternoon (and the clouds were starting to look promising). I eventually made it to the L2L bike course, which made me feel better for having a vague idea of where I was. But it was the section of the course that starts the climbing. Fortunately the wind decided to pick up at this time as well. So the long, slow climb was even longer and slower. I've decided that I'm more like Contador and am probably better suited for the steeper climbs rather than the long gradual slogs. At least that's what I told myself. I made it up and around Horsetooth and began the descent into town. The descent is slightly more frightening when it's not race day. There were a lot more cars and I wasn't all that willing to veer too far out of the bike lane.

I made it to some big gas station right before the turn onto Taft and decided to refill and take a quick break. After mixing some more drinks and treating myself to a chocolate gel (yum!), I was ready to start the ride back to my country (it's a little scary up north). I turned onto Taft and was immediately greeted by an extremely pleasant headwind. Of course I did. The winds always turn with me. When I left Adam, he had a tailwind and I was looking forward to that helping me back into Boulder. No such luck. And the clouds were starting to worry me, though it didn't look quite as bad to the south. If I could ride fast enough...

During my two times racing L2L, I remember the stretch on Taft with fond memories. It was here that I was able to finally pass people for good on the rollers. Maybe it was because I was the only one on the road, but more likely because of the wind, but there went the fond memories. It sucked. One hill after the next - they never end. And it's so exposed. There's nothing to block the wind. Did I mention it sucked?

I made it through town and thought I missed my turn. I turned off on a side street to consult my directions, which I no longer trusted. Google maps to the rescue. What on earth did we do before GPS phones? Seriously. Turns out that I hadn't reached my turn yet. I guess it was just wishful thinking to get out of the wind. But nope, the wind wasn't ready to leave me yet and unfortunately I didn't have many options since I had to go south.

It was exhausting. All I could think about was getting to Hygiene. It never sounded cleaner. And still the wind kept coming. I got to that sharp turn onto 75th (north of Hwy 66) where it starts to go downhill and you can usually fly on in from here, and started to feel relief. There was still wind, but I knew it was slightly downhill and I was a mere minutes away from Hygiene, new love of my life. Some guy passed me on the curve (I had passed him shortly before on the slight uphill and I guess he thought it was payback time). But he just wasn't going fast enough and that just wouldn't do. So I flew past him and could tell he was trying to hang on to my wheel. I'd been riding for over 80 miles at this point and I was NOT about to give someone a free ride and so I pushed harder. He finally got up to me at the light and was totally out of breath. But he managed to huff out "You're really strong".

WOW! That's a first! Of course, he was a slightly overweight middle-aged man. So I just told him that it was the lure of Hygiene.

I finally made it and was so ready for a break. It had taken me almost 2 hours to go 27 miles! I felt a break was much deserved after battling the wind for that long. Naturally there was no wind in Hygiene making me think I had made it up. I double checked the weather for verification. 10-15mph winds. I didn't make it up. I hung out in the shade for a bit trying to motivate for the last 20 miles.

The last 20 miles were tough. Not nearly as bad as the 27 in the wind, but by this point my legs were just tired. I was hot and sticky and covered in bugs. And for some unexplained reason my knees were covered in dirt. Maybe the wind was blowing dirt at me? My one break of the day came during the last 3 miles where I have to ride up Baseline. I finally had a tailwind! And I made it over the railroad tracks without losing any water bottles.

I finished at 108.1. A little over 6.5 hours. 2400 feet of climbing and at least 2 hours into the wind. And being exhausted from training. Not too bad all things considering. I was supposed to run 5 miles afterwards and decided to shoot for 3. After about a 20 minute transition, I was out the door. The first mile really didn't feel so bad, but at this point it was close to 95 degrees and the heat was starting to get to me. In the end, I made it 2.1 miles and decided to call it a day. I am definitely feeling better about Sept. 12. For a while I just didn't think I was getting enough distance. The last few weeks have been intense, but I've gotten through them and each week feeling more confident in my training. Which is a good thing because there are only a few weeks left...