Riotgrrravel

Coming out of Westside Dirty Benjamin I was really struggling to put it all behind me, and move on to my next ride, Riotgrrravel the following Saturday. The day after WDB was rainy and dreary, and instead of a morning ride I opted for snuggles with Lucy on the couch.

 #1 Snuggler

 I was definitely not feeling up to battling the elements to ride and decided to play it by ear as the day went on. The afternoon gave way to better weather and I decided to tackle cleaning all the dirt, mud, sand, leaves and who knows what else off of Greta. This proved to be quite a challenging task, but I was happy to get it done and out of the way.

 So dirty!

With the gorgeous evening unfolding I set out for a sunset ride. I took one of my go to loops in the city that is roughly 20 miles and sends me east to west across Minneapolis. It is quick, easy and allows me to enjoy the sun setting on the Minneapolis skyline. My legs were feeling okay and I didn't have too many body aches from the day before. My only complaint was some pain in my achilles tendon, which I tried to brush off for the first few miles. After no improvement in my discomfort I decided it wasn't worth it to keep riding so I cut my ride short and skipped out on the lakes loop in Uptown.

By Tuesday, I was recovered and ready to make my first bike trip to Stillwater. I was riding with Dave and neither of us had ever taken this route, but we had a general idea of where we needed to go, and kind of an idea of how to get there. Navigating out of St Paul was rather tricky due to construction and endless amounts of detours that seemed to lead us in circles. We finally found the Gateway Trail, but had to hike through someone's yard to actually get on it. Once on the trail, the directions were super easy and we soon found ourselves taking the long descent down towards the river. So fun and so fast to fly down!!! We stopped for lunch and cocktails along the river before turning around for home.

After our meal and drinks, the massive hill climb to get out of the city was not fun! We both decided we had eaten too much food, and the addition of the day's heat had us both riding a little slow. Thankfully, we both bounced back pretty quickly and our navigation home through St Paul was much better. After we parted ways I met up with Zach, Sam and Corey for a little Tuesday night ride. Nothing too crazy, just all around good times :)

 Sam the explorer

I logged roughly 88 miles for the day and my legs were feeling it by the time I made it home for the night. It was a great day spent entirely on my bike!

Riotgrrravel was fast approaching and I needed to start working on my game plan. I knew it was time to keep things pretty easy and low key so my legs would be rested for Saturday's race. So Wednesday was a short bike ride to softball practice that quickly turned into beers, burgers and baseball on t.v.

Keeping it classy!

Thursday came and went with rain and no biking, but a very good, much needed yoga class. I was in search of mental clarity and one of the best ways to achieve that is on my mat. Yoga is where I practice pushing my mental, physical and emotional limits; where I sweat out the frustration and stress of life and recharge my mind, body and soul. It was a challenging class and it was exactly what I needed! With a clear mind, and sore abs, I was ready to head into pre-race day.

Friday morning started out normal, but as the day unfolded I couldn't help but become more and more superstitious about racing the following day. I rode my usual loop from home so I could check out the flood situation around Minnehaha Creek. With all of the recent rain, most of the trail was underwater, and even some of the city streets had standing water. I honestly cannot get over how fast the creek is flowing! I pulled into Sea Salt for a quick glimpse of the wrath of Minnehaha Falls! Absolutley amazing! If you have not seen it you need to!!!

 Minnehaha Falls

I moved on and made my way to the lakes in Uptown before heading home. I couldn't help but stop and snap a photo of these ducks taking full advantage of the flooded creek :)

Duck rager!

After making my way back home I decided to tackle the household task of cleaning the gutters out. No big deal, right?? Wrong! I almost fell off the ladder three times and actually hurt my shoulder during the whole ordeal. You would think yoga or biking would be the more likely cause of a minor injury, but I guess not! Lamest way to get injured and grossest thing I have ever done! Also, another reminder of why I hate yard work! I went into the house to clean up only to realize the power was out. Did I cause this to happen or just a coincidence? A quick phone call to mom for some advice, a notification to Xcel, and thankfully, within an hour the power was back on. I needed to finish getting Greta prepped and ready to ride in the morning so I brought her outside, and I figured Lucy could use a little sunshine too. Everything was fine until Lucy was startled in the yard. She ran her fat little butt so fast into the house and down the stairs to hide that I was worried she was bitten by something. I ran after her only to find her laying on her side and not moving. I immediately thought: is she going to die?, did something bite her?, where is the emergency vet? I managed to pull her out from under the stairs only to see that during her freak out she somehow managed to get her front leg tangled in her collar. What a drama queen!!! After removing her collar and giving her a little massage she was back to normal and I could get back to prepping my bike.

I was settling into the evening and running through a list of things I needed for the morning when I received a text from Maddie. She had just picked up a new bike and was wanting to take it for its first ride. So I hopped on the saddle and headed up to her place. It is a pretty quick ride, and is usually uneventful, but due to a little miscommunication I almost rear ended an SUV. I'm going to share the blame with the driver on that one. Thankfully, it was just a close call and nobody was hurt. I arrived in one piece to Maddie's and we decided to ride to Minnehaha Falls for ice cream. After a lot of bike talk and life talk it was starting to get dark so we began to roll home. We took the trails to Lake Hiawatha to catch a glimpse of the beautiful sunset.

Wow!

With roughly 40 miles of easy riding for the day, I arrived home around 10pm to do one last check of my gear and to finalize my game plan. My last two races were with AJ, but I was going to Riotgrrravel completely solo. My team name this time was simply: 'a babe'. He is usually the one to decide when we leave, and he packs most of the tools and supplies so I don't have much to figure out. Without all the prerace questions and pressure from him I was feeling a little lost. I was just about ready for bed when I decided to check the event page on facebook. Oh shit!!! Due to all the rain and flooding, they had changed the route of the course! There were two upsides to the route change: the mileage was knocked down from 33 to 30 miles, and less hills-I'm not going to complain about either of those changes. However, in my efforts to be ready for the race I rode the route a few weeks ago and I knew what to expect. This last minute change made me super nervous and left a lot of unknowns. By now I was feeling more than done with this whole day! I don't remember the last time I have had such a strange, off day and I was hoping this wasn't a sign of how the race would go in the morning. I messaged AJ about the route change and after getting some good advice I was off to bed.

I rolled out of bed a little after 5 and went about my normal pre-ride routine.

 First breakfast

Everything was going great until I went to get dressed just before leaving. I put my pigtails in, shorts on, sports bra on, but hesitated to pick out my jersey. I initially grabbed the jersey I rode in for Dirty Benjamin, but couldn't shake the terrible feelings that came along with my last ride in it. I know it seems really ridiculous to think the jersey had anything to do with my struggles, but after yesterday I didn't want to take any risks. I needed Riotgrrravel to go well for me. I needed to feel prepared and confident, and I just couldn't ride in that jersey. So I opted for my green argyle jersey that I rode the Fulton Gran Fondo in. The Gran Fondo went so well and I still remember how amazing I felt when I was finished. I was hoping I would feel equally as amazing after Riotgrrravel.

I was right on schedule when I left the house and headed towards Hastings. It still felt really weird to be going to a ride alone. I stopped at Emily's Bakery and Deli to check in and I was given my race number and new cue sheets (directions) for the course. I settled in to have a donut and coffee before heading off to the starting area.

I arrived and took Greta out of the car for final adjustments before roll out. After getting my number pinned on I decided to set out for a little warmup ride. I was feeling super nervous and wanted to get some of that energy out before we started. I knew that since this race was only 30 miles I couldn't take the first 10 miles easy like I did for Almanzo and Dirty Ben. I also wanted to get away from the starting area where more and more riders were showing up. I rode out a few miles to get a feel of the gravel and stopped to stretch before heading back. I arrived back to the starting line and was stoked to see so many women, and a handful of men, out to ride! Riotgrrravel is a fantastic event because it is geared towards getting more women involved in gravel racing/riding, which is definitely a male dominated sport.

We were off the starting line shortly after 9:30, and I was on a full out sprint. As I started out I had no idea who, if anyone, was on my tail. I wanted to start out strong to get ahead of the pack and see how long I could maintain my pace. If/when I was passed I was planning to latch on to the lead group for as long as I could. As we got a few miles into the race no one had passed me yet. I was very surprised by this because I knew there were some very strong female riders in my company.

Get it girls!

Around mile 5, Loretta pulled up next to me and said 'Holly, you cannot pull the whole race.' She was so right! I was already feeling tired from the chase behind me and I realized it was my turn to settle in to the pace line. There were 5 of us in the lead group-4 ladies and one guy. Once I settled into the back of the line I was able to take a deep breath and relax a little. We were keeping a pretty fast pace, but this break allowed me to rest while others in the group took their turns to pull. Since I am accustomed to riding mostly by myself, whether it is for training rides or my other races, this kind of pack riding is fairly new to me. It was a really nice change to share the work load and be able to draft off of others. I started to wonder if we would stay together as a pack for the whole race or if someone would make a push to try and pull away.

I wanted to settle into a slightly slower pace around mile 10, but told myself it was only 30 miles, and I was 1/3 of the way done. At mile 15, I was pretty excited that we were halfway done and at mile 20, 2/3 done. I found it super helpful to take the race in small chunks and to remind myself it was more of a sprint race than endurance ride. Mile 25 came and went and no one had yet to make any moves to take the lead. Being new to this I decided to sit back and wait to see what happened with the group. If they took off I was ready to go with, but I was also more than happy to stay at our current pace. I took one look at my cue card to see where our final turns would take us and I started to develop my plan.

With a few miles to go, I started to increase my pace to see what would happen. Since I have absolutely no idea what my sprinting capabilities are I figured this was a good time to find out. I moved to the opposite (wrong) side of the road, where the gravel seemed smoother, and started to speed up. I was feeling strong and this was a good move until a truck came up over the hill right at me! I had to quickly slow down and move to the right side of the road. Now, I realize we are riding on public roads, but this truck caught me completely off guard and really threw off my momentum. I know I wasn't the only one affected by this as the whole group had to make adjustments. We quickly all got back up to speed and made our final sprints to the finish line. I realized I didn't have much of a sprint in me at this point and I watched the other girls and guy pull ahead of me. I felt a little bummed by this, but I know I gave it my best shot.

I came in 4th place female, and 5th place overall, with a total time of 1 hour, 32 minutes and 16 seconds for 30.5 miles. The time difference between the 5 of us was only 12 seconds from 1st to 5th place. I was definitely happy with this finish! I was however a little irritated that the guy made a solid effort to out-sprint me at the end. I mean, come on!!! Let the girls have their glory day!!! He did beat me fair and square, but thankfully the other ladies kept it an all female podium :) Awesome work by Alix, Chelsea and Loretta for such a strong finish! And a huge thank you to Ellie and her family for organizing the event! Riotgrrravel was everything I needed and wanted it to be. The gravel, weather and course could not have been better! It truly was gravel redemption after Dirty Ben and a great reminder of why I have fallen in love with gravel racing!

Westside Dirty Benjamin

“I am doing this!” That was the message I sent to AJ at mile 55, and it became my motivation to finish the hardest bike ride I have ever done. I know I claimed Almanzo 100 to be my hardest ride ever, but Westside Dirty Benjamin easily takes the cake!

To understand why this ride was so challenging, I need to start at mile 0 and with a little background. The Westside Dirty Benjamin (WDB) is a 100 mile, self-supported gravel road race. Self-supported means you are responsible for yourself and you pack it in, you pack it out. You must ride with the necessary items to complete the ride-food, water, tools, whatever you want or think you might need. Luckily, we were allowed to bring a drop bag that would be waiting for us at mile 55 with items to refuel and rehydrate. Knowing this, I tried to pack my bike with just the right amount of food, and only necessary tools to get me through the first half of the race. What I didn’t know about this day is that the majority of the riders would not make it to their drop bags.  The WDB course itself is a mix of mostly gravel, some technical trails, cyclocross terrain, and a little pavement to round it out. Registration for the ride was open to the first 400 people to mail in their postcard over the last few months. When it came to race day, only 189 of the registered riders made it to the starting line. The weather was ominous and rain was inevitable. How bad the weather would get is almost indescribable. 

Team #abeardandababe ready to roll out!

 

We rolled out of the start shortly after 8am. The first 7 miles of the race were on dirt trails and through a wooded area that resembled a minimum maintenance road. I had left AJ almost from the start, as we had to stop and form a single file line to get onto the trail. The trail was overgrown with weeds/grass and had plenty of standing water and mud to boot. The group I was with seemed to be having similar struggles navigating the terrain, and while it was fun to get nice and dirty early on, we were all very curious to see the effects of this on our bikes later in the ride.  We rolled out of the woods and up a giant grassy hill, and onward to our gravel adventure. After the race was over I found out that a large group of people, AJ included, took a wrong turn during this section and added an extra 3+ miles onto their route. 

The next 15 miles or so were good, as I cannot remember much about them. I tried to get a little food in me and find other riders to keep pace with. Things quickly changed around mile 25 when the wind picked up and the rain started. At first the rain was slightly refreshing, but as it picked up in intensity it soon became painful, and I quickly became cold. It felt like little daggers stabbing me as I counter balanced against the crosswind. There were at least two times that I thought my bike was going to be swept out from underneath me. I’ve never been taken down by wind before, and hopefully never will, but it was definitely something that was on my mind. The wind was so brutal that it was actually blowing snot right out of my nose! Ew! With all my energy focused on controlling my bike, it became almost impossible to eat or drink while riding and I desperately needed to refuel. I decided on a PB&J rice cake and only lost a small portion of it to the wind.  

 At mile 36, for the first time that day, I remember questioning my intentions and desire to continue the race. Only problem was I had already passed the bailout point at mile 29. I continued to push on, and did make one brief stop with another rider, Dave (I think), to try and adjust my front brake. I struggled with the mechanics because my hands were so cold that I could not grasp the lever and nut to tighten it properly. Thankfully he was able to get it tightened for me and we were off on our way again. Unfortunately, the adjustment didn’t fix the brake problem and it remained an issue on and off throughout the entire ride. The struggles kept coming as we pushed through. Not only were the wind and rain merciless, but so was the gravel. Easiest way to describe it is organic peanut butter- super soft and squishy and your tires sank right in. It was like riding on sand at the beach, minus the fun and sunshine. Every once in a while there would be a little hard packed gravel to accelerate through, but most of it required pushing through.

By now I was approaching mile 45 and knew my drop bag was awaiting me in 10 miles. Woo! Only 10 miles until I get a break! I caught up to two riders and decided to roll with them into the checkpoint. One of the guys was battling a broken cleat on his shoe and had decided to call it quits when we got there. Talk about adding insult to injury for him! We did have a slight reprieve, as the wind and rain were finally starting to let up and things were getting a little better. At this point I received a text message on my phone, and immediately thought of AJ.  I was hoping he was doing okay through all of this, and I also knew if it was him and something bad had happened, he would have called me. I decided to wait to check the message until I stopped to refuel since we were so close. At mile 50 we came across a huge snapping turtle that no doubt could have popped a tire if it was allowed to strike. I briefly wondered what other creatures I would encounter on this day as I embraced the beauty of the countryside over the next 5 miles.

We rolled into checkpoint and I was so happy to get off of my bike for a little bit. I had cold water, a banana, half of a sandwich, and the rest of my supplies waiting for me. 

Checkpoint arrival J

 

The awesome volunteers were there cooking up hot dogs, re-lubing bike chains, and providing emotional support. There was a cooler of Coke and New Belgium Ranger beer (my favorite) to help ourselves to. The decision to have a beer was a no brainer since there was no way it could hurt me at this point. I was finally able to read AJ’s text message saying “I bailed out at mile 40 and am at the finish. You’re absolutely nuts!!! I’m here for you, call me if you need ANYTHING!!! If you get this please give me a heads up that you’re ok and planning to finish.” I was jealous of the warm car he was sitting in, and was secretly wishing I had bailed out too. It was at this point I took a picture of my beer and sent the message ‘Check point. I’m doing this!!!’

 

Carb loading at its finest!

 

“I’m okay”

 

It was then and there that I decided I was going to finish this race. I figured it couldn’t get any worse than it had already gotten! I slammed my beer, stuffed my food in, picked up Greta (my bike) and was ready to roll. On my way out the volunteers mentioned to me that I was only the second female to make it through, to which I replied “Fuckin’ right!!”

The next portion started out as another singletrack/mud trail through the woods, and I was able to ride most of it. The short sections I had to walk involved many mosquito bites and thick mud. Thankfully, this trail wasn’t very long and I was quickly back to the grind. I spent the next 15 or so miles feeling awesome! Things were going well, I was maintaining a decent pace, and I was making progress! I reached the Luce Line and caught up to a guy I rode into checkpoint with, and had a brief conversation about the mud we just rode through. At this point I could tell my bike was definitely hurting from all the mud, water and sand, but there was nothing I could do about it except continue to pedal. The Luce Line was amazing! It was fast, shaded, protected from the wind, and the gravel was fairly hard packed. At one point, I caught glimpse of a black cat on the side of the trail and thought of my own kitty, Lucy. The cat didn’t actually cross my path, but maybe it was a sign of things to come. I kept pedaling and soon I was 70 miles in. I decided to snack at this point so I could keep my energy up. 

The route eventually led to a paved trail for about a half mile and then at the end of the path ‘BRAAPP’ was written in chalk leading you straight into the tall grass. It was another cyclocross/mud trail and the absolute last thing I wanted to deal with! Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about getting dirty while biking, but this was the first straw that almost broke the camel’s back. This time I was only able to do a few pedal strokes before getting stuck or spinning out in the mud and having to unclip and walk for a portion. When the terrain seemed to improve, I would get back on and try again only to have the same thing happen again and again and again. I remember this is when I started muttering things out loud. I remember saying “this is so stupid” and “are you fucking kidding me????”  This section was less than a mile long, but seemed to take forever to get through. I looked back at one point, and noticed someone else struggling behind me. I felt their pain and I am sure they felt mine too. A slight redemption came after this when we were able to roll along on glorious paved roads for a handful of miles. It felt incredible to comfortably pedal my bike and make progress.

And then the darkness came. Around mile 75 is where things went from bad to worse for me. Everything became a struggle! The gravel was super soft, the headwind was 20-30mph and I was feeling so defeated! I could barely get my speed above 12mph and it seemed I was often going 7mph. For me this is not a fast enough pace. I tried everything I could think of from altering my pedal stroke, shifting my gears, riding a different spot on the road, changing handlebar positions, to eating. NOTHING HELPED!!! I struggled like this for what seemed like an eternity. I remember saying to myself over and over that “something has got to give!” It truly needed to and thankfully, for brief periods on and off, it did. Whether it was harder packed gravel, a short downhill coast or the awesome guy that helped pull me through the wind, there were small patches of light. I remember him telling me that “I was keeping a good pace.” I replied “thank you, but I am really struggling.” I held onto his pull for as long as I could and was so thankful for his help when I could no longer keep up. I watched him get farther and farther away from me until I could no longer see him. 

I remember at many different points not seeing anyone else in front of me and no one behind me. I was all alone! This wasn’t anything new for the race since I rode most of it by myself, but it was the first time I really realized how much I needed someone else for encouragement. AJ had posted earlier on facebook that he took the bailout and that I must have completely lost my mind because I was going to continue and finish the race. With this post came multiple emails that caused my phone to chime. Having no idea what any of the emails said, I took each chime and used it as encouragement from someone to keep going and to stay strong. I thought of my favorite cheerleader, Cara, and her words of encouragement from the previous night, and used them as long as I could. I pictured how hard she would cheer for me if she were here and actually laughed a little to myself because of where my mind was going. Soon the emails and texts were no longer enough to encourage me. The chime of my phone was making me mad and with the madness came more random outbursts. After the fourth or fifth unread text message that came in I recall yelling “Damn it AJ! Stop texting me!” I honestly had no idea if they were even from him. At this point, I was feeling like I would never be done, and I feared it was him asking me how long I would still be. I remember thinking, “he has absolutely no idea what I am going through right now!” Each text felt like more and more pressure to know how I was doing, where I was or if I was okay. I honestly didn’t know the answer to any of those questions. After a few more messages came in, I finally pulled out my phone to see who they were from. They weren’t all from AJ, so then I felt like an asshole for being mad at him. One of the messages from AJ did state he thought my friend Parker had won the singlespeed category. I remember very loudly yelling ‘I don’t give a flying fuck about Parker!!!’ After this outburst, I realized my own personal defeat. It wasn’t anyone’s fault I was struggling-this was still my decision to continue on. I could still call AJ and bail myself out of this mess. Being angry at others wasn’t going to get me to the finish line faster; it was only going to deplete the remaining energy I had. And I was still determined!

I knew I needed to find comfort in the discomfort I was feeling. To do this, I drew upon the strength I have developed from my yoga practice. I reminded myself that my mind will give up much sooner than my body will. I reminded myself that this is temporary and the accomplishment will be worth it. And I was getting closer to the end! I had roughly 12 miles to go and even at my slow pace I would be done in an hour. I had come so far at this point that bailing out wasn’t an option. I thought of the two previous centuries I did and again reminded myself that I signed up for this. I wanted to do this! I was going to do this! I was doing this! I thought of all my family and friends that have supported me during this and provided so many encouraging words that I could not stop now. If I quit I would not only be disappointing myself, but I would have felt like I let others down as well. I wasn’t causing any harm to myself; I was just struggling. 

This mindset was strong for a few more miles and then was tested again. At mile 93 I became borderline hysterical. The road I was riding seemed as if it would never end, and the gravel was extra soft. All I wanted to do was coast down a hill and gain some momentum, but the wind made that impossible. I started to feel panicked and my eyes welled with tears. I was so close, but so far away from being done. I wanted nothing more than to get off my bike, throw it down and stand on the side of the road and weep. This is a terrible feeling that has only happened to me a few other times on my bike. This was how I felt when AJ and I did our Easter ride in which I struggled tremendously, and second guessed signing up for any of the three centuries. I thought about how much harder this has been for me than Almanzo ever seemed. I realized this is the place that no one ever wants to get to. And I knew I needed to somehow get myself out of this dark, dark hole. I started by slowing my pace down even more and with that I was able to slow my breathing. I was so close to being done that it no longer mattered how long it would take me to finish. I told myself to calm down and continued to focus on my breath. Even if it took me another hour, I was going to accomplish this. I decided to distract myself with music and turned on ‘The Heist’ by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis to power me home. ‘Ten thousand hours’ became my final motivation to keep spinning.

The final 7ish miles were all road riding! Thank goodness! I hit the pavement and started pushing the cranks as hard as I could. I was going to finish strong or completely die trying! A few miles from the end the rain started again, and I was sad to see all the mud and dirt wash off of me. I worked really hard to get that dirty, and I was looking forward to having a picture to prove it. Since I wasn’t wearing glasses the rain made it really hard to see and my eyes were stinging. I came barreling into the finish as fast as I could and I could not have been happier to be done! I received congratulations from the race organizers and was told I was 36^th to finish. I felt pretty happy about that and rumor had it that I was the 2^nd or 3^rd female to finish. AJ was there to snap the evidence of my hard work and I’m so happy to have that photo!!

WDB finisher 2014!!!

 

It has taken me a long time to process and decompress from Westside Dirty Benjamin. After the race, I discovered how extreme the weather became while I was riding. Trees were knocked down and wind gusts reached over 60mph at times! No wonder I was almost blown off my bike! I realize now it was probably a little unsafe to be riding in those conditions, but at the time I was lost in the task at hand. WDB was a mental, physical and emotional challenge for me. I am ecstatic to have this ride in the books because I DID IT!!!! This is a huge accomplishment that I am extremely proud of! What I am not proud of is the darkness, struggles and craziness involved in my finish, and the mild case of pink eye I contracted after the race. I wish I could say it will always be the hardest race I have ever done, but there is no way of knowing the biking challenges ahead. Each race comes with unknown risks and benefits, and I feel more prepared to take anything on after finishing WDB. I have become so much stronger through all of my efforts, but it has not been easy to admit my own temporary defeat inside an amazing accomplishment.

The results of the 2014 Westside Dirty Benjamin are in. Of the 189 riders that showed up, there were 88 finishers. I was 36^th overall and placed 2^nd out of 9 females in the women’s open category. My odometer clocked roughly 102 miles with a total race time of 7 hours and 48 minutes and an on bike time of 7 hours 30 minutes. To those who finished-CONGRATS!!! Amazing, awesome, crazy, hard work! To those who bailed: I don’t blame you because that sucked! You made the right decision for you and that is all that matters! After all of this, I can’t say that I am looking forward to riding the Westside Dirty Benjamin in 2015, but I will be there! And I hope Mother Nature will be a little nicer to all of us!

Almanzo 100

Almanzo 100! Where do I begin??? I really had no idea what to expect when I signed up for this race. When I mailed in my postcard in January the longest ride I had ever completed was 65 miles and that was on my road bike. How was I going to survive 100 miles on gravel? The answer to that questions is quite well actually!

I have spent the majority of my spring trying to get as much time in on my saddle, and specifically on my new Salsa Vaya, as I could. I wish I could say that it was love at first ride with my new gravel rig, but it was not! Training came with a lot of frustrations and sore spots. My first venture out on gravel fell on Easter Sunday. AJ and I set out to ride 80-100 miles on a beautiful day. All started well, but around mile 60 I started to get super tired and nauseous. It took all I had to continue to spin the pedals and force a shot block down my throat. I hobbled away from those 82 miles feeling sore, defeated and doubtful. I had roughly one month to get my shit together before Almanzo.

 'Church' is in session

The Easter ride was my first realization of how important nutrition and hydration becomes when you do endurance rides. My mistakes were not eating a large enough breakfast, not eating soon enough or enough on the ride and not consuming enough water. All these mistakes would take a little trial and error to figure out, but I still had time. Bottom line: EAT MORE!

 A few days later Zach and I put down 47 miles on mostly gravel and I came to the conclusion that the Vaya, aka Greta, needed some major adjustments. Everything about it was uncomfortable to me. My back, neck, shoulders, knees and butt were all feeling the pain. And struggling to ride less than half the distance of Almanzo made me slightly panicked. The one thing that did go well for me on this ride was nutrition. I packed a variety of things besides shot blocks and Clif bars. Who knew beef jerky and Lay’s potato chips could be so delicious?! Having salty and sweet options on my ride was the best thing I have figured out so far. I have had people laugh at what I pull out of my frame bag to eat, but you never know what is going to sound good during an endurance ride.

 Adventures with Jesus on Earth Day

The next few weeks involved more miles and more adjustments to the Vaya and preparations for my first biking challenge of the year. I was registered to ride the Fulton Gran Fondo on May 10th. This would be my very first century and my chance to do an easier trial run before the big show on the 17th. I did have a little confidence going into this ride because it would all be on asphalt and on my road bike, Ruby. I took her out for her first spin of the year the Monday before the Gran Fondo. Fueled by a stressful day at work I threw down 20 hard, fast miles before sunset and felt amazing. I had forgotten how much I love this bike!

The Gran Fondo went flawless for me! My nutrition and hydration were spot on and I came into the finish feeling like I could put in at least another 25 miles.

 First century in the books!

 

The biking high that I had was something I had never experienced before. It was the most amazing, incredible thing! I was so happy to have accomplished my first century and even happier that I felt so good! AJ was there to capture my first century finish and also some other post-ride, celebratory moments. I needed this ride to go well to give me a boost before Almanzo. A huge thank you goes out to Parker, at Angry Catfish, for his patience, guidance and perfect adjustments to both of my bikes!

 Ridiculously happy!

The week of Almanzo I took things pretty easy. My work schedule didn’t allow me much time for riding and looking back I think that was for the best. I managed to get some yoga in and some easy miles cruising around Minneapolis. Thursday night I spent figuring out what I was going to eat and drink on my ride, what I was going to wear and what other things I thought I couldn’t live without.

So many bags and bags within bags!

Friday morning involved any last minute preparations and running around the house before AJ and Zach arrived for us to take off to Spring Valley. We checked into the hotel that evening and rode our bikes down to the grass track races and registration.

Grasstrack races

I was given #235 for the race. I absolutely love the canvas race number! As a group we decided to take things pretty easy and we were all tucked into bed by 10pm.

 
5:15am came and I sprang out of bed. Another group decision was to get up early and be as prepared as possible. My day started with my first breakfast of 2 waffles with butter and syrup, coffee, milk and an English muffin with peanut butter. Second breakfast came around 7am when I ate a bowl of oatmeal with milk and homemade quinoa granola and another cup of coffee. I stashed a banana in my jersey for right before the start. As the race got closer I started to get more nervous and quiet. I felt almost all business once we made the short ride down to the start.

Prerace smiles and nerves

Our whole team, 4beardsandababe, met up for the first time at the starting line. Omar and Sam had driven down from Minneapolis the morning of the race to join us. It was awesome to have a whole crew to ride with! We ambitiously lined up with the 7-8 hour crews.

 The beards and I

At this point my goal was to ride hard and finish with minimal walking. I had heard brutal things about the hills we would be climbing and although I am a strong climber I wasn’t out to kill myself during this.

 

Game face on! 

Roll out went a lot better than I expected it to. It was a nice, comfy pace to get warmed up. Everything was off to a great start until we reached the first big climb at mile 10. As I took off and started up the hill my chain locked up. Luckily, I was able to get unclipped and get a foot down before falling over. Thankfully, AJ and Zach pulled over to stop and help me. I honestly thought my attempt to complete Almanzo was over at this point and I only made it to mile 10. As AJ fixed my bike I stood there and watched so many people pass me and couldn’t help but feel frustrated. I was frustrated that I might be out of the race and also that if we got my bike working again that I would have to walk this hill. It was not what I wanted to do so early on in.

Quickly I was back on my bike and was passing Omar at the top of the hill. Sam had taken off when we pulled over to fix my chain so now I was on my way to hopefully catch and pass him. I did feel bad about leaving AJ and Zach behind me, but I know my strengths when it comes to hills and I knew this is where I wanted to push to regain some ground. Around mile 30 I found Sam on the side of the road. We gave a quick thumbs up and I kept pedaling. With my whole crew behind me now I realized I was doing this on my own. But I really wasn’t alone. With all the riders on the course you were almost never alone. I did my best to pick out people to hang with as my pace horses and continued to push on. I missed the grocery store turn and kept on riding. Looking back I am super glad I didn’t take the time to stop.

 So fun to fly down those hills!

Around mile 45, I pulled over for my first stop. It felt good to get off my bike but the 5 minute cool down did not feel good when I got back on. My legs felt tired and I really wish I would have kept going. I knew mile 63 was where I could get more water and I was pretty sure I had enough left to make it there. What I did not know about was the water stop at mile 55. I am so thankful to the farmer that gave us access to the gloriously cold water! I stopped and downed a bottle of Skratch lab and refilled all my water bottles. I decided to do a little stretching and to eat the salami and cheese sandwich I had packed. After 10-15 minutes I was back on my bike to face and finish this race!

The second half became the true test of my mental, physical and emotional training. The winds were brutal and it seemed like all of the gravel was loose and I was biking so slowly! I tried to latch on to groups of riders that I caught up with or that passed me, but the pace was either too slow or too fast so I spent the next 20 miles pulling myself through the wind. This was exhausting! As I would see riders ahead of me I kept thinking ‘ducks on the pond’ as motivation to keep pushing forward and to try and catch them. A huge help during this part was the cheerleading provided by complete strangers on the side of the road. It was so amazing to see how many people were parked in random spots and were offering up snacks and water to riders. This support was awesome and completely unexpected!

Beast mode in full effect

 

I came into Cherry Grove and had every intention of not stopping until I heard someone say ‘they have beer’. I quickly pulled over and decided this would be my final stop in the race. One of the toughest decisions I faced this day was Hamm’s beer or Coke??? The beer sounded better in my mind and I figured it couldn’t hurt anything at this point. I was 75% finished and knew it was just mind over matter until the end.

Carb loading at its finest

I chugged the beer, slammed three Oreos and a banana and got back in the saddle. Thank you Banjo Brothers for this fun and much needed break! I received a text from AJ saying he was at mile 66. Based on my calculations he was a solid hour behind me and there was no way I could wait for him. I had no idea where Zach, Sam and Omar were, but I was hoping everyone was okay.

The winds and loose gravel continued for the remainder of the ride. I knew I was fatiguing and needed to start taking it easier on some of the downhills because the last thing that I needed was to crash. Looking back I think I had at least three pretty close calls with wipeouts going downhill or around corners. A crash early in the race would most likely have been okay, but at this point in the game it could have been the final nail in my coffin.

I finally reached the river crossing and decided to take my shoes and socks off. I knew this was the slower way to overcome this obstacle, but I also know I struggle to ride when my feet are cold. This was a great decision. I got my socks and shoes back on and found a third, fourth or maybe fifth wind at this point. I was feeling good again and I was getting even closer to finishing. The next 5-10 miles were a blur and I remember this being the point where I no longer wanted to eat or drink anything. I forced myself to consume an energy goo and water to wash it down. I knew Oriole hill was looming ahead of me and although I had never seen it the stories were enough for me to take fair warning.

As soon as I turned the corner to Oriole hill I said to myself ‘Fuck that’! I dismounted my bike on the side of the hill, swallowed my pride and started walking. There were several people that attempted the climb on their bikes and I tried to provide words of encouragement as they passed me. One guy at the top said it was his third attempt at Oriole and his first success. I told him congrats and gave myself a little more slack for taking the ‘easy’ way out. At the top of the hill I realized we had about 10 miles to go. Only 10 more miles!!! I could do this in my sleep!

Those last 10 miles were by no means easy. Everything in my body was sore. My legs and butt muscles were burning from the whole ride and my arms and abs were screaming at me from being used to pull myself up all those hills. I was so ready to be done! Each remaining hill was a challenge, but before I knew it the end was in sight. With 1000 meters to go I wanted to finish as strong as possible so I took off in a sprint to the finish. It was so awesome to come in to receive applause and high fives! The most rewarding moment was shaking Chris’ hand when I crossed the finish line and being able to say ‘thank you’ to him for putting on such an amazing event.

As I walked it off and laid my bike down I spotted my friend Robert and went over to see how his ride went. He gave me a big hug and we exchanged congrats on our finishes. Turns out he was only about 10 minutes ahead of me.

Finished and exhausted!

I waited for my crew of gentlemen to finish and hoped they were all doing okay. AJ was the next to finish, followed by Omar, Sam and then Zach. We all finished and that is a huge accomplishment!

 

2014 Almanzo finishers: 4beardsandababe

 

Looking back on my first Almanzo I am really happy with how things went. I finished with 7 hours and 15 minutes of saddle time and 7 hours and 55 minutes of total ride time. Not too shabby as far as I am concerned. Hind sight is 20/20 and of course there are many things that I would have done differently. The things that I wouldn’t change are numerous as well. Early on in the race when I realized I was going at this solo I decided to turn my cyclocomputer off of the odometer setting and over to the average mph setting. As much as it sucked to watch my average speed slowly decline as the race went on I knew I didn’t want to look down and see that I had only gone 5 miles. I just kept pushing myself and I knew where certain stops were that would roughly tell me how far I had gone. With this being my first gravel race I really didn’t know the best techniques to ride with. I kept telling myself that I am learning to ride gravel recklessly and confidently. I needed to trust in myself and my bike that we would be okay when it was all over and done. The reckless factor came from knowing that at one point I was going 38mph downhill, on gravel, on a bike (I probably shouldn’t tell my mom about this)! The confidence came from knowing my bike and knowing to let loose a little bit and not fight the squirreliness of the handlebars when things got a little out of my comfort zone.


I can honestly say this was the hardest ride/race I have ever done, but I felt amazing afterwards. There is something to say about pushing yourself to the limits and achieving a goal you have worked so hard for. I am so thankful for my strong body and mind! I am already planning to race again next year and my goal has been set: faster time and less walking. Oriole hill I am coming for you!