107 Miles to Somewhere

Last weekend Brett and I rode together in the ULCER (Utah Lake Century Epic Ride).

This was my first century.



Up until this day, I had only ridden 81 miles and we ended up riding 107.4.

Our day started out with very little sleep. Normally that happens because I am anxious about the ride, but this time I received a call from a neighbor at 12:45am and I ended up helping her in her home until just after 2am.

If you wonder what you do at that time of night while helping someone -- I'll tell you-- you name their barf buckets.

We named hers "Buddy".

Fitting I think.

"Please pass me Buddy."

"I need to puke, where's my Buddy?"

"Everyone needs a Buddy."


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So, after getting approx 3 hours of sleep, we got up and prepared to leave for the race.

Breakfast consisted of oatmeal with honey, cinnamon, and almonds...mmm. I also took a banana, but was too full to eat it.

We arrived in Lehi just a few minutes before our scheduled departure of 6:55am. We used the restroom, spoke to a few of Brett's co-workers and we were off.

We had a friend about 3 miles into the ride that was out taking pictures. Brett started with me, but then stopped and waited for his co-workers so they could work together as they all wore matching 'kits'.

I wore the wrong 'kit'.

Pink and gray shirt that showed my muffin top.

Did you know that you can still have a fat gut after training for such an event? Well, you can and I have the pictures to prove it.




The idea was that Brett would ride with his groupies for a while and catch me in a few miles.

Well, of course this presented a challenge for me and I decided that I needed to show these said 'groupies' that I could ride solo if needed. So, while Brett thought he would catch me at mile 5 or possibly even 10, he actually caught me at mile 26, at the rest stop. - GO ME!

There was a terrible accident at about mile 10. The lady reminded me of what I must've looked like with my face planted in the pavement. It was awful.

Anyway, the ride was six hours, so of course I have six hours of material to share. That would make for a terribly long post though so I'll just say that I learned a few things on this ride.

1. It is much easier to ride with a group than it is to ride alone.
2. Hot headwinds are a terrible companion on any ride, especially at mile 60.
3. Meeting up with your kids 1/2 way through is motivation to finish anything. (Thanks Terry for bringing them to see us).


4. Having your seat adjusted to fit your height sure makes for an easier ride. (Thanks stranger for suggesting I fix my seat)
5. I'm super impressed with Bonneville Cycling for putting on such an amazingly supported race. The food and support at the rest stops was unbelievable.
6. I like long rides. They make me want to GLOAT (see my Facebook status for further gloating)
7. Riding with Brett makes everything better. I'm grateful he didn't listen to me and he actually rode with me through the majority of the ride. We needed each other many times that day.
8. There are as many stupid cyclists out there as there are motorists. Get it together people!! If we're going to make a name for ourselves, make a good name!
9. I like looking at my Garmin and seeing that I have burned over 5000 calories in a day
10. I'll do it again.

Thanks 107 miles to Somewhere for a great day.