Happy 4th of July!!!

I went out with the guys from my Tuesday night group for an 80 mile torture fest in the 93 degree heat this morning. What an incredible ride, and with my ride out to the meeting place and back home, that’s 90 miles of absolute awesome and the longest I’ve ridden by just short of 27 miles.

Also, I finished in better shape (and faster!) on this ride than my 100k. I did everything right in preparation for and during the ride. I picked up 3 bags of Jelly Belly energy beans (with caffeine) and four non-chocolate Cliff Bars on the way home yesterday to carry on the ride. For dinner last night I ate two slices shy of a large pizza and drank a large Gatorade and a bunch of water (carb loading may not work, but I wanted to go to bed full). For breakfast this morning I drank my normal two cups of coffee and ate a big bowl of cereal and a banana. I was full when I left, but not stuffed. Just before walking out the door I downed a Gatorade Prime (that’s some good stuff, I absolutely love it).

I started out for the bike shop, a five mile ride, at 7:15 this morning. The plan was for a very slow warmup – 5 miles and some change at 16.1 mph – perfect, I pulled in and wasn’t even breathing heavy.

After everyone showed, we headed out at 8:04. The first mile was slow, waiting for stragglers to catch up – at least 30 of us, and then it was on. We stuck to a pretty easy pace at first but that cranked up before long. Unlike the Tuesday night rides, this one was a perfect pace for me.

Over the next 30 or so miles I took my fair share of pulls, downed a bag of beans and one of the Cliff bars. We stopped 42 miles in to top off our bottles – I filled one with water and one with Gatorade, drank the leftover and dumped some cold water down my back. It was already over 90 and that dousing really brought me back. Half of the group decided to cut the trip short, to a 100k. The rest of us pressed on… Then something that surprised me happened, I got what could be called a second wind but it wasn’t – I never felt bad or drained, but I did feel even better. Some of the guys were starting to fatigue so I started taking longer pulls at the front. We stayed within my comfort level and I actually had to slow a few times to pick up a rider or two after they fell off the back, there were about six single riders left and a tandem.

We stopped again at 60 miles so I bought one of those new mini-Cokes and a lemon flavored water. That very well could have been the best Coke I ever drank. I downed another bag of beans, topped off my water bottle and we were on our way. I pulled, with one other guy in a double pace line for the next seventeen miles before I finally started to tire out. Two of the other riders had fallen off the back so I tucked in behind the tandem for the last couple of miles.

With 3/4’s of a mile left, cool down was announced so I shut down Endomondo and cruised back knowing I was ready for the Assenmacher 100 in August.

79.13 miles in 4:09:30 – just over 19 mph average. 4,246 calories down the drain. We waited in the shade for the last two guys to show up, then I went into the shop and topped off my water bottles, texted my wife and headed home – into the wind. One of the guys offered to give me a ride home, but I wasn’t having any of that. The last five went by at 17.6 mph… As I came down the home stretch, I could see my wife and daughters cheering at the end of the driveway. I raised my arm in triumph. What a way to finish a ride – it doesn’t get any better.

Now it’s nap time.

P.S. With Endomondo on, and my phone in stand-by mode, I only ate up 50% of my iPhone battery life over the whole day.