ShoreFire Century

On Saturday I rode in the ShoreFire Century.  I'm still trying to figure out what to call this.  It's not a race...there are no timing chips and there is not a mass start.  So I guess I call it an "event".  It certainly turned out to be an event for me!

There were 3 distance options...35, 65 and 100.  I was planning to do the 65 miles, although I had been toying with the idea of doing the full century.  Conditions couldn't have been better for late August...when I arrived at the high school where the "event" was starting, it was actually chilly with very little wind.  The course was flat which I thought would be really good training for my flat half Ironman.

I met up with Daryl who has ridden a lot of centuries.  I knew that he really wanted to ride the 100 miles so that was also weighing on my mind.  He said that he was willing to hang with me no matter what distance I chose, but I wasn't sure he would be happy with the 65 miles.

We started out and I felt great.  I don't have much to say about the first segment of the ride.  It was shaded, flat and had decent road conditions.  At mile 38 we hit a rest stop and had to make a decision about what distance we were going.  The 65 mile ride went to the right and the 100 mile went to the left.

My longest ride prior to this was 45 miles.  At the decision point, I'm 7 miles shy of that mark.  I feel good, we are going fast and the conditions are great.  So I say "let's do it!" and off to the left we go.  GULP.

Once we got into the range of 40-50 miles, we were hit with a very strong headwind.  Our overall pace slowed.  Daryl was great about trying to jump in front of me and take the brunt of the wind.  Unfortunately he was having mechanical problems and was not able to shift into the small ring.  He is a small ring rider so not having that as an option was really problematic for him.  It caused him to start cramping which, in addition to the headwind, was a big problem at this stage of the game.  Had we encountered that wind prior to the decision point, I would not have made the same choice.

I was focused on small goals at this point.  Every 10 miles I allowed myself to do an internal cheer.  I also cheered at 65 when I would have otherwise been done.  I still felt physically good at 65 miles, so I felt like I had made a good choice, even though I had no idea what was in store for me.

Somewhere along the way, Daryl and I passed a woman who was riding alone.  Daryl gave her his typical chipper greeting and told her to come with us.  She did.  Apparently we had come along at the perfect time.  She said that she was about to cry and considering quitting.  It's hard to ride that far alone.  So when we came along, she jumped on the chance to ride with us.  She fell in behind me and matched our pace perfectly.  She was riding a tri-bike and we talked a lot about that.  She does 3 triathlons a year...a sprint, a half and a full Ironman.  So we chatted about tris and it helped me keep my mind off of things.  I wish I had gotten her name...she was so nice.

I can't remember the exact mileage points, but I know that somewhere around 70 I really started to feel the physical effects.  My back was getting super tight and my legs were getting tired.  Riding on a flat course sounds like it's easier than a hillier course, however in some ways, hills are easier.  The problem with a flat course is that you use the exact same muscles the entire way.  At least with hills, you use different muscle groups and get some recovery with the downhills.  Flat is hard.

The last rest stop was at 86 miles.  I was watching my computer tick away the miles.  It seemed like it took forever to get from 75 to 86.  I was in what I would call pain at this point.  My back was in bad shape.  I tried to keep changing my position to change the stress points on my back but nothing seemed to help for long.  At the rest stop, I couldn't stand straight up right away when I got off my bike. I was walking hunched over for a bit before my back relaxed enough for me to stand straight.  I stretched, ate, drank, stretched, drank some more, and stretched some more.  I kept repeating in my head "only 14 miles, only 14 miles". 

So we got to the 90 mile mark.  I was hoping that this would be the motivation that I needed to kick it in gear and finish this thing.  Unfortunately my body was feeling too awful for any mile marker motivation.  My legs were moving and pushing the pedals but I literally couldn't move them any faster...and we were going pretty slow at this point.  The nice lady who rode with us decided to keep on going at her pace.  She wished me well and off she rode.  I was happy for her that she could finish strong.

My back hurt so badly that every bump in the road was painful.  I wasn't sure if I could finish.  I kept trying to do my internal cheering...but nothing was working.  At mile 97, everything came crashing down.  I pulled over to the side of the road and cried.  Now I wasn't sure that I was going to admit the crying on my blog, but there you have it folks...I cried.  It was a brief emotional burst.  The physical demands of riding a bike 100 miles had overtaken me and I wasn't sure I was strong enough to finish.  I let myself have that breakdown.  Daryl was kind enough to just stay quiet while I broke down.  After my tears subsided, I looked at Daryl and said "let's go". 

We started off again and I was riding faster.  My back still hurt but my determination was stronger than ever.  I will conquer this.  At mile 100, I smiled...although I still had over a mile to go because the "event" started calculating the distance at the intersection with the road and I started calculating the distance at the other side of the high school where my car was parked!  So I actually rode 101.22 miles according to my bike's computer. 

So a few take-aways from this event:
-I still don't know what to call it since it's not a race, but it was quite an event.
-I probably should have stuck with the 65 miles since I was not properly prepared for the 100...although I'm still glad that I chose 100.  I would have finished 65 miles, feeling physically good, but mentally disappointed that I didn't shoot for the higher distance.
-I've heard marathoners talk about how you have to "respect the distance".  This falls in that category.  I have a TON of respect for the distance.
-Sometimes a good cry makes everything better.
-And yes, I'll probably do another Century ride...and probably soon.  :)