I'm glad that I did this ride again. I needed a positive outcome for my cycling. I was wishy-washy about doing the ride, especially the 108 mile version. But, I decided I needed the challenge. I was hoping I would not get sick, as I did last year.
I started out in the front end of the pack on the four-lane, tucking out of the wind as much as possible. There was another girl up there from Simple Green, Alicia. She spent more time in the wind. I figured she was strong enough, but I knew I needed to conserve. I stayed with the front pack all the way to the base of the Blue Ridge Parkway climb. I decided that I needed to go my own pace so that I wouldn't blow up too early. I had my Motor Tabs this year and had great confidence that this would keep me from being nauseated at the top. It worked out well since I never did get nauseated! Yea, Motor Tabs! I stopped as needed at Soco for a refill of water and a Powerbar. I also ate some Clif blocks... sucking on them as I climbed. I don't know how some of these guys go without stopping. I definitely was glad to fill up regularly. I let Alicia go somewhere on the Parkway. Last year, I had tried to stay with some other fast girls (BMW-Bianchi girls!) and I blew up at the top. It was hard to let her go, but I reminded myself that it was not a race and my goal was to stay well and finish strong.
It was a long climb up to Richland Balsam and I felt it wear on me at the top. It wasn't as cold as I was expecting. My armwarmers and DeFeet undershirt with jersey sufficed. I was pretty much alone at the top and at the beginning of Charley's Creek. On the climb up Charley's Creek, I came up on a couple of guys. We rode together a bit. Then we picked up Alicia again. These hills on Charley's Creek were starting to really hurt and my neck was in complete spasm (ouch). But the end was in sight and I knew that when we reached Hwy 107 that it would be fairly flat and fast. We got in a nice 10 or so person paceline and sped on in. It was a nice way to finish. I posted a time of under 7 hours and was happy about that.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment