The longest ride I’ve done prior to this event was 45 miles, which was pretty tough. I have no idea how other riders were able to do the 100-mile option for this ride! It definitely wasn’t a world record, but I completed the course! Results: distance: 66.72 miles, 4:40:56, avg speed: 14.2 mph, max speed: 31.5 mph, calories: 3,223, total ascent/descent: 3,957 ft. I talked to another participant and she said she was over it after 40-miles, it was such a long course! The good thing about this event was that there were 4 aid stops, which allowed us to break up the rides into shorter rides with breaks in between. There were a few climbs (2 major ones), but none that were too difficult, I suppose the ones closer to the end of the ride were harder but that was more because I was running out of energy. Since this wasn’t an actual race, I wasn’t really pedaling too hard and cruising for a good amount. The other issues I did run into was the sun (starting at 6am helped, but I was out for almost 5 hours!), slight discomfort sitting on the bike, one of my toecaps broke near the end of the ride, and I just started getting bored from the ride (I had listened to 3 different podcasts).
The only reason I did this ride was because the person who actually registered for this race was not able to participate and he didn’t want to waste the entry fee that was already paid. I was already registered for the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon the day after and that was a race I wanted to do well in. But since I already said I would do the ride, I needed to train for this (a little). So about 2 months before the event, I started biking long and longer distances (20, 30, 40, 50 miles). Those last few weeks were tough, I really didn’t know how I was going to do 67 miles! I remember being at mile ~55 and thinking ‘wow, I still have a half marathon distance left!’ Definitely not the mindset to have at that time.. But I was able to get through it and complete the ride. Will I ever do it again? Not any time soon. I’m hoping to get some clipless pedals in the near future to make the rides a little bit easier.
