A few months ago, a few of my friends and I decided we wanted to sign up for the Goldilocks 100 mile bike ride. I ran a marathon, I can ride my bike. We had a training schedule put together by Jessica and I tried to follow it, but with two little kids home most of the time and bad weather, I didn't get out as much as I could have.
I did some training rides with Jessica and Kristen. My longest training ride was from Midway to Oakley and back. Hard work climbing those hills to the Jordanelle Damn and Francis. But I did it. Here we are at the top, I believe on our way back to Midway.
The ride (not race, but ride) was yesterday, May 10th. We arrived bright and early. I woke up at 3am and picked Jessica up at 5. It started at SoDa row in South Jordan near DayBreak. Becky picked up my race packet the weekend before and I put my tattoo on Friday night. No one saw it though - I kept my jacket on the entire time.
Becky and I snapped a picture before the race began.
There were 5 rest stops. This is me at the first one at mile 18.
The first 40 miles or so weren't too bad, actually the first 50 were fine. We rode around South/West Jordan and then continued on the Mountain View Corridor to Eagle Mountain for rest stop 2. I was by myself for most of the race. I started with Becky, but she's faster than me. I felt like everyone was faster than me. After rest stop 2 I was averaging almost 14 miles per hour. Not too shabby. My brother's family lives in Eagle Mountain and the ride went past the entrance to their neighborhood so they were out taking pictures of me and cheering me on. It was great to see them showing their support. Lisa snapped a bunch of pictures for me. This was at 40 miles into the ride.
Between rest stops 3 and 4 I was on a road and area I never knew existed. Towns like Cedar Forks and Fairfield. I had a tail wind with me and felt like I was going extremely fast around 30 miles per hour. Little did I know that I'd have a massive headwind the entire way back to the finish line. It blew/sucked. Literally. So hard to keep moving when the wind just wants to push you over. I think I lost over an hour of time because of the wind. When I finally made it to rest stop 4, after reaching Fairfield, I was done. Mentally. Physically my legs felt alright, but my butt and shoulders were sore, and the wind was awful.
My high school cheer buddy Sarah caught up to me and helped push me through about 6 more miles. We had 14 left to the finish - of course the wind never let up, but we did miss the rain/hail storm that I hear some riders experienced. I pulled over to rest a moment and eat something when one of the race cars pulled up next to me and asked what I needed. I said that I was done and she told me to throw my bike in the back of the van and hop in. I felt like I'd be cheating, but she told me it was alright and that the race is supposed to be fun, and the wind made it not fun. Turns out the lady was the race director for the entire event. Made me feel better until she got a flat tire less than a quarter mile after she picked me up. She drove me to the top of a hill and went to get her tire fixed. I rode with Sarah some more until we hit the Porter Rockwell hill. Last big one until the finish line. I walked my bike about .25 mile and a nice Papa Bear stopped to see what I needed. He graciously drove me 8 miles to almost the finish where I hopped out and rode my bike across the finish line. Yes, I didn't fully do the 100, but 92 miles is still amazing in my book. I finished in 9:49. I really thought going into the ride that I'd be done by 7 hours. Not so. I think my Goldilocks days are over and can now focus on mountain biking here in my little valley.
One of my best friends from Jr. High, Jenifer Hartley, rode as well with her Mom and sister. It's been 15 years since we've seen each other. It was fun to catch up a bit. Here's our after it's over picture.
I think I'm done trying conquer big items for awhile. I've run my marathon, almost conquered a century ride. I'm doing a booth at Swiss Days. I'd say my life is completely full. One of my friends mentioned on facebook yesterday that she thinks I do more now than I ever would have had I not experienced brain cancer. I agree. I don't think I mean to tackle more, but subconsciously have to prove to myself that I have a life left to live and give.
Big thanks to my husband and kids that were still at the finish line when I crossed and my parents, sister and boys who were there but because I took so long, had to leave for other commitments. I have amazing/crazy friends that like to tackle hard things with me. This is the documentary video that the Goldilocks ride did on me.
2 comments:
You are such a bad a** Lisa!! I love watching you live life to the fullest! You go girl!!
Way to go! We are proud of you! We will always be there to cheer you on!
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