Shiner

Wow, what a ride!! 97.07 miles from Austin to Shiner and I finished with a HUGE smile on my face.

The morning started off early. Trainer was up and making coffee before I could even think about getting up, so he brought me breakfast in bed. (I know...lucky I am!!) He also pumped up my tires and got my water bottles ready. I looked through my cycling clothes and realized that I would have to wear tri-shorts instead of cycling short (the difference is in the padding) because both pairs of cycling shorts had holes in the thigh. My bike bag (a little bag attached to the stem of the seat that sits underneath the seat that holds important things like extra tubes, air, tools etc) has a piece of Velcro that was catching my shorts in the same spot over and over again on my 50-60 mile rides...resulting in a small hole....that turned into a bigger hole....that I was not going to risk wearing on a 97 mile ride and have it rip. (Because you know, that is something that would happen to me.)

We loaded everything into the truck and headed for the start. There were 2,000 riders and the first couple of miles were dealing with the crowd. After that it thinned out and it was great. The wind was blowing 10-20mph ENE, meaning that when we were going East we got a TAIL wind! Yehoo!!

The ride itself was very well organized, lots of rest/water/food stops and great support along the way. I saw so many T3ers along the way, and when they passed me they all said, 'Hey!' even if they didn't know me...that was cool. I let Trainer ride ahead of me without a guilt trip, so it was nice not to feel alone on the ride. It was rollers the whole way, up then down, nothing too steep either way (I was secretly hoping for an awesome decent...but not to be.) The scenery was just gorgeous. Since it's been so wet lately the fields were green and lush, it was overcast that morning and it created a mist over the fields. So pretty. The 50 mile mark came up and I was feeling GREAT! I was drinking my nutrition (something I've been struggling with) and at that stop I was able to eat a PB 1/2 sandwich and a 1/2 of a banana. Back on the bike and off we go!

In my head I was saying, "as soon as I pass 60 I'm on new ground" and then "70 miles, still feeling great!" and then "80 miles, the farthest I've ever ridden in one day in my lifetime, check!" and then "holy Shi*t! 90 miles! 90 miles!! less than 1/2 hour to ride!" and then "Oh, there's the camera...SMILE...and I'm DONE!" I did it!! And I finished with a smile on my face. It was a great day, a good ride and a confidence boost for sure. I rode 97 miles in 5hrs and 30 min. Yippe-ki-ay-mother trucker!

After the ride I ate a brat, drank some beer along with recovery drink (note to self: bad combo), and then we showered up and waited for the bus. Sunday I made up for Saturday and made Trainer pancakes and served them in bed. It was a super fabulous lazy day.

I'm in week 11 of the 12 week tri program for Skees Greets, race is on May 16th. However I'm already in week 3 of my next 12 week program for Couples. Yikes. I guess it's 'ON, like Donkey Kong!' Here's to a good week!