Way back in December I thought it would be fun to ride a 100 mile mountain bike race. I had recently finished LOTOJA, a 206 mile road bike race, and soon after that a 25 hr mountain bike race where in which I had mountain biked 104 miles, and Darren 130. I was signed up for a full Ironman. I was on a biking/racing"high", you could say. I felt strong, healthy, and motivated. Well, the best laid plans.....
A lot of things can change in 6 months. For one I became the Stake Young Women's President (gulp). This has stretched me beyond what I thought possible. I love it, I love what I am learning. I love the girls, I love the women I get to rub shoulders with. But emotionally it takes a lot of energy from me. Speaking to 500+, meetings, giving trainings, being trained, Youth Conferences, youth dances, service projects, Standards Nights, and Girls Camp (double gulp). It's amazing to be involved in such great things with such great people! But, it takes just a little bit of time:)
And I just got tired.
While training for the Ironman I just kept getting slower and s l o w e r. I needed a break. I pushed through. Got sick, and stayed sick for two months. I had a weird Eustachian tube thing where I was getting vertigo. I went to a few doctors. I slept a lot. Took my vitamins. I got put on a steroid for the ear thing....hated it, gained weight, felt MEAN, and emotional. But it helped my ears! Although feeling much much better I am still not 100%. Still cough at night... OK somebody call the WAAAmbulance!
So basically I hardly rode my bike. Like maybe 10 times since May 5. That might be high.
But...
Everybody was going to Bend to do the High Cascades 100 Mountain Bike Race. I had paid
$250 to do it. Darren had reserved a super nice condo. The trails were suppose to be amazing. I tormented myself for weeks about if I should go or not. Darren said to just come and ride as far as I could, eat their support food. Enjoy the day. So I did. I was terrified knowing how unprepared I was for this challenge. Literally terrified. What if I got lost. What if I couldn't even make it to the first cut off....
5:30 a.m. start.
Terrified look, right? Eyes glazed, deer in the headlights kind of thing. Gives me butterflies to look at this picture and remember how I was feeling that morning!
Darren left me to get a good position in the front with the fast guys.
I felt like riding back to the condo and spending the day cruising around Bend, I could rent a paddle board on the Deschutes River, I could eat at the yummy restaurants....
But off I went!
This is me riding up Funner. Probably around mile 30.
My friend AB was riding with me. I kept telling him how unready I was for this. That he should really leave me and ride on. I had nothing more to give and we were climbing slow. I had to finally YELL at him to get him to leave me. There may have been some hitting and a little swearing involved as well.
It was a struggle for me. I got feeling bonky. I can always tell, because I start getting off my bike a lot, start feeling really discouraged....and then it dawns on me DUH!!!! EAT!!!!! I downed 600 calories in about 20 minutes. I had two pieces of licorice in my mouth at a time. I was famished. Luckily, my stomach did not reject this sudden intake of Honey Stinger Waffles, pineapple flavored licorice, and peanut butter GU (mmmm I love peanut butter Gu). It took an hour to feel my energy come back. But when it came I was so happy to be riding! How had I even thought of not doing this ride?
I had a blast. The trails were amazing. The scenery incredible.
There were some tough moments. I filled my pack up with water at mile 29. It was sooo heavy. I drank a lot of it just to relieve the weight. I flew down the descent smiling the whole way. I even passed two guys. I came upon two riders at about 42 miles. It was Lance and Celia!!! I couldn't believe I had caught up to them. They were concerned about missing the cut of time at mile 56. I had decided with Darren that 56 was my goal - could I even make it that far? But just to say I had made the cut off would be a good thing. As soon as we started climbing again it wasn't long until all I could see was their dust. I was alone again.
Soon after Lance and Celia's dust settled I sucked my last drop of Heed out of my pack. Seriously? 12 miles left. 12 miles of climbing and I had no water? Strangely, these are the moments that I think attract me to these events. When all others worries in life become insignificant specks. When you fight against reality. When you step out of the shadows of a protected, sheltered, safe life and into the broad daylight where all your weaknesses are exposed. It was just me. Just what my legs, lungs and I could do. Which on this day, wasn't much compared to what the others in the race had. But everything I had, I gave.
All I had left in my pack was Shot Blocks. Couldn't eat those without water! Yuck! As I was pushing my bike I heard Darren's voice in my head, "Lisa, you have to eat the blocks, you have to use what you have!"
Pushing bike = eat! I am a slow learner.
This, of course, helped. And I made it! My longest continuous mountain bike ride ever.
This is me at Dutchman's Pass with Mt. Bachelor in the background. I missed the cut off. And way at the back. I have to admit I was happy to see others there missing the cutoff as well. Misery loves company I guess.
Now for the exciting part of the story......
The part about Superman.
This is Darren at Swampy. He said the first 50 miles were hard. Even his licorice didn't taste good. That was his first clue that he was pushing too hard.
He has trained hard. Biked a lot. Raced.
He didn't feel strong a few weeks out from the race. He needed a little break. He backpacked into the Whiteclouds with the boys for a week and hiked a lot. But it was enough of a break from biking to help his legs come back to life.
Darren at Dutchman's.
His goal was to do it under 10 hours.
He came in at 9:05! I can't even explain how incredibly fast that is.
He had three HARD crashes, as he explains it. You can tell by the dirt on his right shoulder. He said he got slammed a few times, and once the rider behind him had no choice but to ride over his tire. He also said some not kind words....
I had gone home to shower and come back to see him come in. He was already there! I can't say I was surprised.
Even Superman gets tired and hot.
He took 7th in his age group.
His next "off the couch" activity is LOTOJA. His main reason for all this training and madness this year is to do well there. I think he's got it in the bag!
We had a great time in Bend. We spent time with friends, ate great food. I love the "biker-food" culture. It's all about the food.
Most want to go back to race next year. Not me. I want to go back to ride trails. But I have no desire to train to ride that 100. I have lost the fun factor. I just want to ride because I feel like it, not because I have to.
