Flying Wheels Cycling Century '08

The Flying Wheels Century started in my neighborhood and was along a route that I'm getting familiar with. Starting in Marymoor Park, the route led us out to Duvall, up to Snohomish, down to Monroe, through Carnation, back into Issaquah, and then back to the starting point. Not quite 100 miles (98.5) and 3,850 feet of cumulative elevation gain. I have done parts of this route about 4 times, but gone in the opposite direction so it felt like a completely different ride.

Today was the first break in the weather for a few weeks and I got to wear cycling shorts for the first time this year - woot! Still a little cool at the start, but no rain. In my pockets, I packed my usual century smorgasborg: pb&j sandwich, banana, handful of almonds, fig newtons, some sports gel (these days, my preference is Hammer Gel: chocolate and espresso of course), some electrolyte tablets, and Tums just in case my legs start to cramp up from lactic buildup. We headed out at 8:00 am with the hordes of riders all decked out in their colorful jerseys. I think it's the century with the largest attendance in Washington which was good because it lessened my chances of getting lost. I'm known to get so discombobulated in the last 25 miles and stop paying attention to cues spray painted on the road and end up missing a turn.

Within the first 5 miles, we hit our first hill. I'm finding that lately, it takes me a good 10 miles to warm up on those cool days and I really don't like hitting hills this early. It wasn't long, but it was steep and it sucked and I sucked. I immediately hit my granny gear which I haven't used this year. I didn't get my compact-double in time for the ride because we had to special order a part. So, for this ride, I still had my triple and actually had to use it twice. After that hill, I was warmed up and we cruised towards Monroe. I'm glad that I had packed my own grub because the food selection at the stops wasn't the best. I remember some of the centuries I did down in California had some of the best spread....homemade cookies, homemade banana breads, great selection of fruit. The only thing missing was a waiter when you pulled into a rest stop. Today, the selection was slim and I was happy I brought along my own fig newtons. How do you not have fig newtons for a ride?

Into Snohomish and the halfway mark - woot! The sun was out, my legs and body felt great and my pb&j sandwich was extra yummy! Now we were in the valley which meant the next 20 miles or so was going to be flat and a little breeze was picking up so I definitely had to find a pace group who could break some of that headwind. Of course, I returned the favor and did my share of pulls.

After Carnation, we hit 75 miles and I was starting to feel a little fatigued. I had one more hill to go at the 82-mile mark and it was a 3-mile climb. I threw back my last gel and hoped for the best. All through the ride, everyone talked about the last hill and it was the part of the ride I've never done so I had no idea what to expect. Thankfully, it was staggered so I geared down into that granny gear, and attacked (well, more like 'endured' at this point) the hill in steps. After each step and as I approached a corner, I kept wondering if that was the last bit...ugh, no it wasn't! At the beginning of the hill, I stopped looking at my odometer (yes, I finally got a new computer!) and just focused on turning my legs despite the cramps developing in my calves and quads (OTP!! - how I wished I ate a banana at the 75-mile mark). I reached the peak just in time and then I hit my wall and wanted off my bike. I know it's a bad mental habit I get into and all it does is make the last 15 miles worse than it actually is. The last part was on a stretch of road that I've ridden on so many times so that eased things a bit. At last, almost 6 hours later, I reached the starting point. Get me off my bike, now! I downed my recovery drink and headed over to the Velodrome but the massage tables were all full so we got some ice cream instead (the best fudgecicle ever). They have beginner clinics on track racing so guess who's signing up :-) teehee. So, there, I finished my first century for the year and now I have my North Cascades Loop to look forward to - 382 miles in 4 days. My pace will be much slower and I will also be lugging a trailer with my compact-double....hmmm....should be interesting.