What a ride!  I can’t believe I just rode my first Metric Century!  60 miles on a bike is a long, long way… but it sure was FUN!  AND I beat my goal time!

Our morning started really early. 

My alarm went off at 4:00 AM and the first thing I did was put the magical eye drops in my sore eye.  If you haven’t read it already, I actually got diagnosed with an cornea ulcer on Saturday morning.  Thank goodness the doctor prescribed me some miracle eye drops because I didn’t have to wear an eye patch on the bike!

 

Breakfast was super fueling:

It might look look a LOT of French Toast, but these are mini-toasts (50 calories each). Plus nectarine and maple syrup.  AND a big coffee!

 

We drove to Melbourne, which is on the East Coast of Florida and about 1 hour from my house. 

We immediately checked in and picked up our packets.

There was about 250 riders at the event.  The distance options were 30 miles, a Metric Century (60 miles), or a Century (100 miles).  The group was pretty evenly split!

 

I grabbed a 1/2 a bagel with cream cheese….

And then we headed back to the car to gear up!  I put on my sweet clip-on sunglasses over my regular glasses…. super lame, but it worked.

And Dad got out his tricycle.  :)  This thing is FAST!

Dad and I together, all ready to go:

I must admit that I was really, really nervous when we lined up at the starting line.  My stomach was in knots, and I felt lightheaded!  The furthest I’d ever biked was 40 miles and I’ve certainly never biked in a ‘group race’ before! 

 

The proverbial gun went off and for the first 30 miles, I made a total rookie mistake — I went too fast! I was just so excited to be on the road.  I got caught up in the ‘group ride’ aspect and totally pushed my leggies to the limit.  If it had been a short ride, I would’ve been fine, but I just didn’t think about the fact that I had 30 more miles to go!  🙂 I would say we were averaging about 17.0 mph (I was doing a LOT of drafting).  

 

Then, we arrived at the first aid station!  It was a very well-stocked station and the volunteers were so supportive!

I grabbed an oreo and a watermelon:

After 5.0 more miles, I took a goo packet.  I stashed my goo under my bike shorts so I could grab them while I was riding:

All in all, I think I took in about 700 calories during the ride.  I never felt under-fueled, which is good! I also took electrolyte tablets and never felt dehydrated.

 

I hit a wall around Mile 30.  My legs got so heavy, it was really hot out (91 degrees!), and the wind was blowing in my face.

Mile 30 – 45 was pretty slow and torturous.  I dropped down to about 12.0 mph and people kept passing me and my Dad.  I started to mentally psych myself out by thinking, "I still have 20 miles left! How am I going to make it?" 

 

I asked Dad to stop so I could stretch out and eat something.  I had a Kashi Roll bar and drank some water.  And I took another goo soon after — it definitely improved my mood!  So did the pretty scenery!

By Mile 45, we were back at the aid station.  Again, I grabbed an oreo and a watermelon.  Mmmm!

I totally got my second wind after Mile 45 — just knowing I was soooo close to the finish line and close to my goal time made me really push it. 

 

My dad and I got into a little "pack" with two other (male) riders and I began to draft them.  They were going about 17.0 mph and I stuck with them for the entire last hour of the ride.  I’m not going to lie — it was HARD, HARD, HARD!  Almost as hard as running a half-marathon!  My legs were SCREAMING, I was panting, it was hot….

 

My mantra became, "Lay the hammer down, lay the hammer down, lay the hammer down," which I heard a volunteer call out at the beginning of the race.  I repeated that mantra over and over again for at least an hour! 

 

When it got really bad, I thought to myself, "You’ve had worse runs then this bike ride!"  And then I tried to recall all the harder races I’d run before.  But you know what’s funny?  The only hard race I could remember was the Crooms 15.4 Mile Trail Race, which happens to be the last race I’d run.  Now, I KNOW I’ve had hard races — races when I totally wanted to die at the end, when I left it all out there on the road, when I puked at the finish line — but I couldn’t remember a SINGLE other bad moment!  It’s funny how the mind wipes away all the bad memories and only remembers the happy finishes — that realization made me go even FASTER!

 

I was SO relieved to see the finish line!  60 miles is a LONG, LONG WAY! 🙂

 

• Duration: 4 hours, 24 minutes
• Distance:  60 miles
• Calories Burned: 2,400 (WOWZA)

 

Hot sweaty messes! And sweet clip-on sunglasses!

My Dad and I drove immediately to Subway.  I ordered a 6-inch veggie sub with cheese.  Plus, Sun Chips!

I also bought some ice so I could ice down my knees on the long ride home.  My IT band was really acting up during the race, so I want to play it safe!

All in all, it was a fabulous ride!  It was a fun experience to have with my dad, and it was very cool to do something new and challenging.  I’m glad I discovered cycling — it’s almost as fun as running.  🙂

 

Have a wonderful afternoon!

 

Time to foam roll, eat, shower, and NAP!  🙂