Monster Cookie Metric Century

April 30, 2006
Salem, OR
100k (62 miles)

First organized event of the season is always fun :) I had a delicious pre-birthday lunch with my best friend and spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying my rest day. Preston offered to drive me down to Salem which was awesome.

We left around 8am after I filled my bottles and got my sunscreen on. After torrential showers yesterday I was happy it had dried out and the skies were clear but it was pretty chilly so I opted for my long sleeved jersey. I kissed Preston goodbye and I was off. I have to admit I was definitely lonely because the first time I did this ride, I did it with Karie but with a new baby she's not quite back on the bike so I was off on my own.

The first 10 miles wind through the capital city of Salem and there were several pace lines that sped past while I dodged lots of mountain bikers and yahoos wearing headphones, weaving etc. I had to say "on your left" a lot and after a while I just stopped saying it cause people weren't paying attention anyway.

About 5 miles in an older guy on a mountain bike starts drafting off me and I'm like "uh hello dude, proceed at your own risk" because as anyone who's ridden with me knows, I'm a nervous rider when others are really close to me. So I dropped him and continued along until the first rest stop at mile 15. I hopped off my bike and quickly refilled my bottles, mixed some more GU20 and proceeded toward the turnaround.

The second 15 miles is where the majority of the hills are which I actually climbed faster than 3-6MPH (my usual hill speed) so that was good. Unfortunately because I wasn't riding alone I had to brake several times on the fast downhills because there were slower riders and it seemed dangerous to pass them at like 40 MPH in the aerobars. Did a few WOO HOOs for good measure as I went down the fastest descent. One thing I really tried to focus on was hydration and nutrition and I think I did pretty well. No stomach issues at all.

The turnaround was also the lunch stop but since there is no lunch stop during a 1/2 IM I figured that wouldn't really add to my experience. I did refill my bottles again, grabbed a cookie and stood in a really long line for the facilities before I was off again. At this point I had been riding for about an hour and 55 minutes and gone about 30 miles almost all of it into the wind. Fingers were crossed for a tailwind on the return trip.

The 3rd leg is always the hardest on the bike for me because you're not quite to the final leg and my body is usually starting to get sore and tired. This would be no exception as I started to have a lot of lower back soreness. I stretched, hydrated and happily picked up the speed as the wind had died down and I was easily spinning at about 18.5 MPH. Along the way I got lots of comments about what a nice bike I had and my aero set-up but most of the guys were flying along so it wasn't like a conversation starter. With about 10 miles to go I came upon a guy with a tri-bike who was also doing a lot of stretching. I asked him about his bike and we started chatting. Turned out we were about the same speed (I may have been able to go faster but it was nice to have company) so we paced each other, careful to ride parallel instead of drafting because we were both training for races where drafting isn't allowed.

The time passed quickly and we parted ways at the 3rd stop (mile 45) where I again hopped off my bike for a restroom break, bottle refill and another cookie. At this point I was keeping a good speed and I knew I had just 20 miles to the end plus it was starting to warm up so I picked up my cadence and focused on riding consistently. I checked my time at mile 56 (since this is where I'll be hopping off the bike during my 1/2 Ironman) and was pleased to see 3:19. Not bad considering the wind and hills.

Before I knew it I was back in town and looking for the car :) It was wonderful to have Preston there so he could grab my bike and take care of the drive home. We stopped at Red Robin for a garden burger and some steak fries, yum!

Total Ride: 64.66 miles
Total Time: 3:51.47
Top Speed: 37.8 MPH
Average Speed: 16.7 MPH