We biked down to the start of the race, which was held in Reaney Park. The start time was advertised for 9am, and when we arrived at 8:15 (via bike, I might add), there was a long line to register. The start time came and passed, and there we stood in line. When we got our T-shirts and "map", we set about standing around until we decided just to leave. This is a very unofficial/very casual bike ride. There were five of us, two on mountain bikes (ouch!) and three of us on road bikes. Tami and Dave (road bikes), Kristen and Evan (mountain bikes), and me (road bike). The first 20 miles was fairly easy--long uphill grades and long downhill grades. There really isn't a lot of flat in the palouse. We stopped at a small church and refuled on cold water, bananas, bagels and grapes. One of our mountain bikers (Evan) was already hurting--he hadn't wanted to don the spandex padded pants for the ride and was feeling the effects of lack of training and padding. He stuck with it though.
The next 10 miles was slightly more challenging--longer steeper uphills and downhills. The day was starting to warm up, and the breeze was at our backs which meant the slow uphill climbs were essentially windless. We rolled into the small town of Colfax with our group still intact and gobbled bagels and peanut butter and grapes. I still felt fabulous and was happy I'd been training and riding my bike to school so often. Tami decided to call it a day here--both she and Dave are from a very flat part of Washington and she just wasn't ready for all the hills. I can totally sympathize--the first time I rode my bike to school here I almost puked. And that was after an entire summer of riding in Boise at least four days a week. Tami and Kristen switched bikes here, which made things much easier for Kristen.
Kristen, Evan, Dave and I set off after our short break....on the wrong road. And added six miles of a VERY steep and long uphill grade. Thank goodness we realized we were off course because we would have ended up halfway to Spokane! We turned around and returned to Colfax. (Evan was spent, and called for a ride. He hadn't conditioned, and still managed to put in a full 36 miles on a mountain bike!) I tried not to be upset at the misdirection and chalked it up to part of the adventure. After all, we'd been hearing about the horrible hill out of Colfax. It couldn't be worse than the grade we'd just done, right? Wrong. Holy shmoly. The "real" hill was much steeper, although not as long. My quads burned with the effort, but I made it up in good time. Just towards the top, a hearse came around the corner. I laughed and called back to Kristen and Dave, "They're coming for us!"
The 17 miles between Colfax and Palouse (the town) was torture. Every time I was sure we'd finished climbing we'd round a corner and up and up the road would go. I was starting to feel exhausted, but knew I couldn't quit. Finally, about five miles outside of Palouse the road evened out a little and gave way to more gradual grades and flat spots. Thank Goodness, I wasn't going to be able to much more climbing without food! We came into Palouse and I decided we should stop at a cafe and get some lunch. I was famished, and no bagel was going to sate my hunger. I wanted real food! The cafe ended up being brilliant and brought us incredible fruit smoothies and croissant/ham/green tomato basil sandwiches. Dave and Kristen broke the news they were going to stop here, and couldn't believe it when I said I was going to finish. I set off knowing the 15 miles between Palouse and Pullman is mostly downhill or flat. I was right, and only had four minor/moderate climbs before the road gave way to glorious downhill. When I rolled into Pullman to claps and cheers, Evan and Kristen were waiting for me at the finish line with a mint/chocolate chip blizzard. It was perfect!
All in all, I ended up doing about 72-3 miles. The ride was a 100K plus the additional six mile "detour" and the 2-3 miles to the starting line. I love cycling--not only does it spare the achilles from tightening from inadequate stretching if you're running, but it builds mondo upper body, calf and quad strength. It also does a fabulous job of making one appreciate the distances covered! All great for endurance!
1 comment:
And people comment on us riding HORSES 50 miles for a T-Shirt.
Wear that shirt with pride girl. Whew.
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