Getting close........

Cemetery Point - Pine View Reservoir

A big week

A big week it was.  After the ride to Woodruff on Monday, I was looking at some serious heat on Wednesday, so I decided to do some early morning road intervals instead.  A decent 50 miles before work, using the Garmin to record results.  A couple mountain bike rides for good measure and I was ready for what should have been an assessment ride on Saturday.  Turns out, Saturday was a pretty good training ride.

Cache Valley Century

The Cache Century is a charity ride, to help people with disabilities enjoy the out of doors.  At the check-in this go around, I was greeted by one of my many nieces.  Shouldn't surprise me, as her family has a particular interest in this type of event.  Still, I was very apprehensive getting ready to go.  I had set my sights on a specific time, and the need to ride most of the day with fast groups.  The course had changed quite a bit this year, as one town refused to let the event pass through.  I should have paid closer attention, as it would prove to be somewhat costly in the end.  Groups going out early weren't too fast, but still a comfortable pace.  Getting out toward Preston, Idaho, we had maybe 30 people, pulling two abreast at times.  Most everybody stopped at Preston, while I just looked for the next group to leave.  Looking at the elevation chart below, you can see where we dropped into the river bottoms just before Dayton hill.  As expected, I let the main body gap me just before the turn off of the hill.  That was followed by another smaller hill that allowed them to spread a gap on me.  Over the top, I slid into the drop-bars and pushed it hard for about five miles trying to catch the group.  Little did I know there was about a dozen riders on my wheel enjoying the fast pace.  I flew through the next rest stop and headed for a little climb just before Newton.  As expected (again), I let the main group go, thinking they would "water" at Newton Park (only a couple minutes away). When I pulled in, there was another group already down the road, but for some reason, I decided to swing back toward Newton Dam.  Looking at the elevations below, that is the "hump" at the 50 mile area.  Turns out, I didn't need to go that way and had just over five miles and some good grinding before I turned back at Trenton Hill.  I gassed it back to the park and caught another group going out.  Jumping between groups, I made it to Mendon - on just a bit more than one bottle of water.  Overall time wasn't too bad, but had spent more time than planned on my own. Quickly back on the road, I was either too fast for a couple groups, or too tired to hang on to others.  I stayed with a train for a few miles, until we got to Cache Junction.  Coming off the bridge, I had let them go and was on my own for the next five miles, climbing to Clarkston.  By then, I was feeling the effects of lactic acid buildup.  The quads would fire and I was spent.  I took a couple minutes at Clarkston and considered taking a direct path back to Richmond, that would still give me 100 miles.  It would have put me close to my target, but I elected to go around.  One final mistake was going straight to Lewiston, instead of cutting back to the south.  This meant I would be completely alone, not that it mattered at that point.  Once onto Highway 91, I was facing a hot and stiff headwind.  Five of the longest miles I could imagine.  A ton of exposure and no help - a bad idea, but I made it in.  Only riding with groups about 35% of the time.  That can't happen at LOTOJA.

When all was said and done, I had just over 110 miles, with my average heart rate at 82%.  Total time was 6h-40m, with a bike time of just under 6h 14m.  The last 10 miles set the overall rolling time back a bit.  Still, not a bad day.  Just not what I had planned.

A minor irony, as my rider number in this event was remarkably similar to my assigned LOTOJA frame and bib number.  Huh.......

A lot to do this week, and the nerves are getting the better of me - again.

Stick around.......

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Ride HARD!