So much to spill! Yesterday (May 4th) was the Tour de Cure Century
Ride for the America Diabetes Association. I signed up for it in December. I have
participated in this event before, the difference this time around is that my
friend, the ultimate planner, who planned our training and did all the research
when we did it before was not doing it this time around. She definitely did an
awesome job because I don’t remember feeling bad at all after the ride.
I was on my own for this ride. After “training” all winter,
I did my test rides, 50 miles - easy, 60 miles - no problem. I did not get to
do the 75 mile test. Fast forward.
I tend to stress myself out and back in 2010 I only got about
an hour of sleep before the event. My goal this time was to be all prepared in
advance and to have a nice relaxing day before the event so that I would sleep
well. I took Friday off from work to
sleep in (just in case I couldn’t fall asleep Friday night) and to make it a
relaxing day; I scheduled a pedicure, a manicure and a brow shaping. I had it planned; get all my stuff gathered
together before my 11:00 pedicure and then have lunch, lounge around or do some
chores, get my manicure and pick up my race packet, come home, have a nice
relaxing dinner with Mark, watch a movie... Great plan, unfortunately I have A.D.D.
when it comes to doing things. I guess I
should start making strict lists to follow.
I was getting stuff together and then did the dishes, started getting
stuff together and started doing something else. Soon it was time to go for my
pedicure. I tried a new shop and the gal was ok. I most likely won’t go back to her, but it
was relaxing (in between nervousness attacks, especially when one of the ladies
said there was thunderstorms and rain in the forecast for Saturday). I double checked the weather, no thunderstorms
in the forecast, clear and warm. I came
home, made my second attempt to get all my stuff together (really there’s not
that much stuff, I just kept getting side tracked) and got hungry, so I made
myself lunch which resulted in cleaning the kitchen again. In the blink of an eye it’s time for my
manicure. Ugh, the usual hustle bustle starts!
I head off to my manicure appointment.
I had decided to wear
my 2010 Tour de Cure jersey for the ride Saturday, the jersey is a bright
orange and yellow and I wanted to have my nails done to match. They had the perfect color and ironically it
is called “Are we there yet!” Really, what are the odds? My manicurist rushed a bit, but that was
fine, not the relaxing manicure I had hoped for, but it was nice. When I was done with my brows and manicure, I
headed to the store for a couple of last minute items. Then I remembered, I was going to pick up my
race packet at Folsom Bike after my manicure, but in true form I forgot to
print out my emergency contact form and bring the couple of checks that I
needed to turn in, so I had to go home and
get the forgotten items and head back out. Luckily it’s not too far.
My day consisted of calm, extreme nervousness, calm, extreme
nervousness. Mark made his dinner and pretty much my dinner and then there was
another batch of dishes to do. So now
it’s getting later and later and I ask Mark if he checked my tires for me, we
decided to switch the back tire for a newer tire. So again true to form, late in the evening I
got a tire changing lesson (all the while thinking we should have been doing
this yesterday), which was good, but since I was stressed, I wasn’t pleased
during the lesson, but very thankful after. I’m so glad he puts up with me!
I have pretty much everything lined up on a towel on the
dining room table: shoes, gloves, headband, arm covers, helmet, 2 water
bottles, sunscreen, lip balm, Kleenex, ID card, Credit and Debit Cards, Kaiser
Card, cash, bag of nuts, craisins, dates and peanut butter filled pretzels,
antibacterial gel, change of clothes for after the ride, deodorant, hat, brush,
and in the refrigerator I have an apple and orange cut up and 2 almond butter
sandwiches with banana, dates, honey and cinnamon, Motrin, electrolyte water
tablets, and an empty baggies to squirrel away a couple Oreos that are at the
rest stop that I want to enjoy after the ride (they usually have Red Vines and
Oreos along with fruit and PB&J sandwiches or bagels at the rest stops but
I never feel like eating the junk food during the ride and for some reason they
never have it at the finish, so this time I’m going to remember to bring a
baggie to take it with me!).
Really the only things I need to take are: 2 water bottles,
electrolyte tablets (and really not even those as the rest stops have
Gatorade), my shoes, my helmet, my headband, my gloves, my ID, Kaiser Card,
Money and a credit card, sunscreen and lip balm. I like to take my own snacks, so I prepped an
apple, an orange, 2 almond butter-banana-honey-cinnamon-date sandwiches, a bag
of peanut butter filled pretzels mixed in with almonds, cashews, craisins and
dates and a granola bar. When I picked
up my ride packet they gave me 2 “Gu” packets and 4 mini Luna Bars, so when I
got home I nixed the granola bar and added the 2 Gu packets, knowing I wouldn’t
eat them since I had no idea what they would do to my stomach (a 100 mile ride
is not the place to test new food) and 2 Luna Bars. The funny thing about all this food is there
are rest stops about every 25 miles with food. The Tour de Cure usually has
awesome food at the rest stops: PB&J, oranges, bananas and then licorice
and sometime trail mix or protein/energy bars, so technically, I didn’t need to
pack all this stuff, but I wasn’t taking any chances!
Finally, my food prepped, clothes laid out, ID and money
ready, sunscreen, etc, tire changed. Now
it’s time for a shower. It’s only 9:45, so not too late. Shower, watch a little
TV and can’t sleep. Not going to get upset about it. Dear Lord, please let me
fall asleep… Dear Lord, I am not going to get upset because you know what is
right for me, if I don’t need the sleep, I don’t…. Dear Lord, I hand you all my
worries, stress and fear for tomorrow. Your will shall be done and I leave it
in your hands. Please Lord; let me get some sleep…. I think I dosed off and on until about 1:00
am, then I got up and took a little sip of Nyquil. I must have fallen asleep
somewhere between 1:30 and 2:00; the alarm went off at 4:30.
I turn the alarm off and get up and into the shower. No time
for A.D.D. this morning (ha!), I want to leave between 5:15 and 5:20. After I got out of the shower, I put the
chamois cream on my shorts and got dressed. Not hungry, but per all the “books”
I should eat something so I made some oatmeal, it is 5:10, of course I’m
running late! My mom and Mark are dropping me off and so my Mom arrives about
5:30, Mark loads my stuff. I brush my teeth; it’s almost 5:40! I don’t know how I loose so much time. I get
in the Tahoe; I forgot the sunscreen, I run back into the house, back to the
truck and we’re off.
I have a prime parking spot because I have awesome friends,
family and neighbors and with their help I raised over $1,000! We don’t have to
trek to the registration area, it’s right nearby, because, I’m a “Champion” due
to the funds raised ($1590 total!!). We
park and my nerves kick into high gear and I need to visit the porta-potty, and
luckily they are right by our parking spot!
I go pick up a copy of the route sheet, even though I have it on my
Garmin and I already made a print out of it, but it doesn’t have the rest
stops. The volunteers are getting breakfast ready for folks, they have KIND nut
bars out on the table, I grab 2 and stick them in my back jersey pocket
(because I don’t have enough food squirreled away already!) Ok, now I put on my
sunscreen, headband, helmet, shoes, put the food and water bottles on the bike
and I guess that’s it. Wait, Mom wants to take some pictures. She takes a
picture of me and I look totally nervous in it when I look back at it, but it is
such an accurate shot. She then took a picture of Mark and me and then he took
one of me with her. Ok, now it’s time to
get to the start line.
The announcer is making the announcements and my mom is
asking Mark what the red light means on our camera as it’s not taking photos,
he doesn’t know. She tries to ask me, I don’t know. I tell her, “Mom, I don’t
know, I’m trying to listen to the instructions.” I’m so rude and such a brat,
but that happens when I’m nervous and especially when I’m about to ride off on
a 100 mile trek all by my lonesome (but really that’ no excuse; again so lucky
to have my hubby and mom who put up with me!).
At the start line I roll in behind the crowd of folks (who
appear to be all men) who are there for the official 6:30 start time for the
Century ride. The Metric Century (62
miles) starts at 7:30, the 31 mile ride starts at 9:30 and the 10 miler starts
at 10:30. I overheard on the route that some
folks started at 6:00, probably what I should have done.
I look at my mom who is taking pictures and I ask if she sees
any gals in the crowd, she said maybe one. I see some longer hair with curls,
but it’s a fella. Off we go! I’m the last in the group but I’m with the
group. We head out HP’s driveway and
make a right onto Foothills Blvd. We
ride down a ways and then hog the lanes as we all merge across to get in the
left turn lane to turn left onto Pleasant Grove. I hear a car, it’s Mark and Mom, I’m cutting
them off! I let the cyclists around me
know it’s my husband and mom, so we’re good to go. They get behind us in the
turn lane. I turn around a couple of times
to wave. The light turns green and we’re off and Mark and Mom drive on by, I
wave good-bye, it’s just me now. I’m riding behind a younger guy; well,
probably younger than me, at least. I
ask him how long he thinks this will take him, he’s not sure, he’s never done a
Century before, and soon he zooms off toward the front of the pack.
We weave through a neighborhood and end up behind the
Fountains in Roseville on Reserve Drive and then onto Berry Street, where we
cross over Galleria/Harding Blvd onto the Humbug bike trail, I’m excited
because I recently learned about this trail and have been taking it to work, so
I’m familiar with it. You have to be careful though because there are yellow 3’
tall poles in the center entering and exiting the bike path, so if you’re not
paying attention, it won’t be good. I overheard at a later rest stop that
someone crashed into a pole and caused a chain reaction. Not sure how bad
though and it could just be urban legend.
We ride along the bike paths and out into the neighborhoods
of Rocklin and weave our way to Midas Ave, then Pacific Street and the back
roads until we turn onto English Colony off of Swetzer Rd. Just before this I catch up to a gentleman
who introduces himself as Lauren. He asks if I am riding with anyone and I tell
him no, I couldn’t get any of my girlfriends to agree to do it. I ask about him, he’s with some of the other
guys but he is doing the Metric Century as he went out on the course during the
planning stages and decided he hadn’t trained well enough for the hills for 100
miles. We chatted a while and then we
separated a little on the English Colony rolling hills. By this time the guys
who stopped in the beginning at the first rest stop are already passing us up
again. Guys are so dang strong and fast!
Our first main rest stop is at mile 16 at Trailhead Coffee
Shop. I use the potty, fill up my water bottle, notice another gal is here, I
smile at her and say hello. Lauren sees
me and tells me I’m stronger than him on the hills, so he won’t be seeing me
much. I laugh and say we’ll see and I
leave the rest stop.
I am riding up Taylor Road and a group of cyclists in Team
in Training jerseys pass me by, a couple of them ask if I’m the number 2
fundraiser, as my bib number is 2. I tell them, no, just apparently the second
person to pick up my bib. Well, as they zoomed past me I couldn’t say, number 2
only because there were 3 different bibs, the regular white bib, the red bib
for those riding with diabetes and the yellow/gold bib which means Champion Fundraiser
($1,000+ in donations received). Then
the gal from the rest stop passes me up. I’m not sure if she’s with the Tour de
Cure or the Team in Training group or riding by herself. We ride up Taylor Road and there is
construction going on just past the left turn for Lozanos Rd. The route sheet
says left on Ophir, I’ve seen Ophir several times, but get thrown off by the
construction and miss the Red and Green arrows pointing to go straight ahead
and I turn left on Lozanos. I have the route programed in my GPS and shortly
after I turn it starts beeping at me and flashing “off course.” Then I see a
few guys with bibs coming back towards Taylor Road. I ask if it’s the wrong way
and the say yes, so we go back to Taylor Rd and meet up with about 5 others in
the group and the gal. Everyone is questioning if going through the
construction is correct, and the gal said she saw the arrows that show go
straight and I told them my Garmin told me I was off course when I went left,
so we all wait and wait for the flag man to turn the stop sign around and let
us pass through.
We pass through the construction mess and continue on. Our first major hurdle is Baxter Grade around
mile 25. I have heard of this hill for a
few years now and only rode it for the first time about two months ago. I am now riding with Maria, the gal from the
rest stop; she is doing the Tour de Cure and so we ride along together. She is from Davis and not used to the
Newcastle area. I warn her Baxter Grade
is a challenging hill, but only 1.3 miles.
As we are ascending the hill, a volunteer is waiting at a bend asking if
we want to participate in the time trial to the top, there are prizes. I think he’s insane. I jest, unless there is a prize for the
slowest… He says they are doing different prizes, I said thanks but no
thanks. Getting to the top is prize
enough for me. Another gal caught up to
us on Baxter and she decided to stop and sing up for it (I’m sorry but I refuse
to stop on the hill, unless it’s an emergency!)
She eventually passes us, huffing and puffing. We are only at mile 25, no way am I burning
all my energy now!
Shortly after Baxter Grade, we come to the next rest
stop. They are having a BBQ, and they
have fruit and peanut butter sandwiches, Red Vines and now, a week later, I
can’t remember if there were Oreos! We
use the restroom and grab a couple pieces of fruit, refill the water bottles
and head back out. We are around mile
30. Lauren is at the rest stop, he is
ready to turn around to finish the Metric Century, he says good-bye and we all head
out on our courses.
We head out toward Camp Far West. Maria isn’t eating too much, which amazes
me. I need to fuel up and I’m afraid to
get dehydrated because the last time I did the Century in 2010, I got really
bad toe cramps and my feet felt like they were on fire. It could have been partially due to
dehydration, so not this time! I was
drinking about one twenty-four ounce bottle of water and one twenty-four ounce
bottle of water with a Nuun electrolyte tablet dissolved in it about every 20
miles or so.
The country side is beautiful. It’s amazing the homes that are out in the
“middle of nowhere.” It makes you
wonder, what do these people do for a living and what made them decide to build
their homes out here. We ride past the
lake at Camp Far West heading back toward Lincoln. A lady cyclist passes by on the other side of
the street. We say hello and then a few
minutes later she joins us. She asked if
we were on a group ride as she saw some other cyclists pass by earlier. We told her we are doing the Diabetes ride. She asks if she can ride with us a while as
she lives out there and is on her regular 20 mile loop and would love the
company. We discover she is in her early
50’s, her husband passed away a few years ago, she paddles and cycles and is
debating moving back to Folsom or Fair Oaks to be closer to activities, but
that it’s a really tough decision for her as it’s so beautiful where she lives.
As we’re riding we come across a mini rest stop, at first we
pass it and then turn around. The rest
stop we just came from was 20 miles from here and that’s the next stop. We go back and they apologize that they have
not been brought water. I’m thinking oh
no! The stop is in the parking lot of a
little convenience store, so I go in and buy four big bottles of water. Maria gave me some money to use as well. We fill up our bottles and leave the remaining
water for the next couple of folks who may stop. Just then the SAG support truck pulls up with
a case of water. There was a
miscommunication; the itinerary shows this to be an unmanned stop. With our water bottles topped off, we head
out again.
The next rest stop is at about mile 70; it’s getting pretty
warm out. We would have been ok if we
didn’t stop at the mini rest stop as it wasn’t 20 miles to the next stop. We arrive at the rest stop pretty quickly
after the mini stop. We pop-in to top
off our waters. I give Maria my GU
packets as she still isn’t eating much and we have Ridge Road, a major hill
climb coming up in 8 miles. A few of us
are talking about the remainder of the ride, one of the guy’s in the group, say’s
“Ridge Road? That’s not a hill.” I ask him if he thought Baxter Grade was a
hill and he laughed. I guess humor makes
the mountain seem flatter? I don’t know!
Maria tells me it’s ok if I break away as she knows it’s easier to keep
your own pace, especially on this distance of a ride. I hate to lose the company, but she’s right
and I want to try and get back by 2:30.
I notice my stomach is beginning to feel a little out of sorts. I’ve eaten some fruit, some of my mixed nuts
and pretzel mix and some of my sandwiches, I’m not used to the electrolyte
tablets, I’m not sure what’s causing the nausea in my tummy and I am also
annoyed that my toes keep cramping up.
We head out, I am again riding solo. I come to the turn for Ridge Road. I am not looking forward to this, but I
remind myself that after this climb, it’s pretty much all downhill. I can do it.
It’s getting hotter. I start my
accent. I see a cyclist pulled of the
side of the road cooling off, I keep pedaling.
I look up and coming down the road is Mark and Mom. I wave and they turn around and end up behind
me. At first I am quite annoyed that they
are driving behind me. But then I am
glad to semi have the company and the fact that they are behind me makes me
keep my speed up higher than it would have been had they not been there. After the climb, I cruise down to Taylor Road
and make a right and head back toward Trailhead Coffee. Mark and Mom pass me by.
I was going to skip the Trailhead rest stop, but I see Mark
and Mom are waiting there, so I pull in.
It was probably a good idea to stop as I wasn’t feeling well and I was
getting hot. I unloaded some of my
excess gear with them and cooled down a little.
Just as I was getting ready to head off, I saw Maria coming down the
road. She swung into the rest stop and
we rode down the hill together.
Detour! There is a train blocking the road. One guy had been waiting for 5 minutes already;
he wasn’t climbing back up to Taylor Road (although it wasn’t that big of a
climb, I totally understood where he was coming from). We road back to Trailhead and found we could
pick the route back up by going down Taylor Road. My Garmin picked the route back up once we
were on course, however I noticed it shaved about 2 miles off our ride. The ride was already only 98 miles, so now I
needed to make up 4 more miles. My
stomach was nauseous, my feet were cramping up and I was getting a headache,
but I was excited that we were at mile 92!
As we rolled up Foothills Boulevard my feet were on fire, but I was
determined to ride a full 100 miles, not 94.
I tell Maria that I am going to go straight past Hewlett Packard
and loop back around so I hit 100 miles.
She said she figured if I can ride with cramps in my feet, she can add a
few more miles. We pass Hewlett Packard,
Blue Oaks and the street dead ends; we turn around, make a right onto Blue Oaks
and ride to the next signal, make a u-turn and back to Foothills
Boulevard. We turn right back onto
Foothills and right into the Hewlett Packard entrance to the finish line. There is a photographer taking photos of the
folks coming across the finish line. I
see Mark, where’s mom?
Mark tells me my mom went to the truck to get something. When she comes back she has me “recreate” the
finish so she can take pictures.
Although I’m feeling awful, the pictures come out like I’m having a ball
because I’m laughing because the photographer is taking more photos of me too!
We head over to the BBQ area, there is a raffle going on and
I want to see if there are any snacks I can have. I see a box of bagels and want to dive in but
don’t feel like reading the ingredient label.
I still have half a sandwich, but it’s on my bike and Mark put the bike
in the truck… I have a KIND nut bar in my back pocket, I inhale that, turned
out not to be a good idea as it did not help my stomach.
I was given a medal for being a Champion for Diabetes
because I raised $1590, I got to go up and receive it. That was pretty cool. After that, I went to the free massage area
as my neck and shoulders were killing me.
The gal did a great job, but I was so tense, I needed about a 2 hour
massage and it was supposed to be a 15 minute massage, but she went a little
longer.
That’s it, all the training, all the begging for donations,
all the worry, all the fear, all the planning, all over, just like that. I text my girlfriends who I ride with on occasion
that I’m done and alive. I had big plans
for my evening after the ride. Last time my
girlfriend had a BBQ party for us and I felt fine, I was thankful that my
brother’s Birthday BBQ had been moved to Sunday, as I was not feeling well.
We got home, I laid down on the couch and my head throbbed
and my stomach would not let me eat or drink anything. I was annoyed as I had my dinner feast all
planned. I ended up getting off the
couch around 5 and going to bed. I sent
a text to my friend to tell her that I was not feeling well, she texted back
with her prescription and with a note saying that she was going to save this
text! I get what we dub as riders
amnesia, I forget the pain and suffering, hence I ride again and again. She has my back; she’ll remind me of the
pain! I texted her back, no need to
save, I felt so awful, I wouldn’t forget!
It wasn’t until about midnight that I could actually eat.
I woke up Sunday morning feeling fabulous and excited about
the ride. My appetite was still smaller
than normal, but I felt good and was ready to tackle the day! I texted my friend, “you’d better save the
text!”
First few pedal Strokes!
