Goldilocks 100

Packed the bike in the car, made overnight oats and went to bed early-ish 

in anticipation of our big events.

Dan, Marty, Lizzie, Erika and Mark Rosen are all running the Spanish Fork half-marathon.

When they signed up, kinda got me thinking I wanted to do something challenging too.

Turned out the Women-only Goldilocks ride was the same day and the start in South Provo was only 15 minutes from their starting point.

Packed a water bottle and a Nuun bottle (electrolytes I like better than Gatorade).

Three Clif bars, three paks of electrolyte jelly beans (prefer these over gu or shot bloks),

and three extra Nuun tablets. 

Arm warmers (came in clutch!), shoes, gloves, helmet and sunglasses (always ride with these),

chapstick, phone charger, headphones, map of ride, extra battery for my mileage tracker, and

dental floss. (Because if you have oatmeal stuck in your teeth on the bike, 

you can't pick at it and after hours fussing at it with your tongue, it will drive you insane!)

I put on sunblock ahead of time and left it in the car and brushed my teeth after 

finishing my oatmeal and before starting the ride (for the same reason as above.)

Dan and I were up by 5:00 a.m. 

(Why does 5:00 a.m. sound so much better than 4:45?

5:00 is like, okay, early morning.

4:45? Don't even think about it, you monster!)

Dropped him off in Spanish Fork where Marty and Lizzie were waiting at 6:15.

His race started at 6:30, about the time I arrived at my start.

Put on my shoes, waited in line for the bathroom, attached my number,

brushed my teeth, chatted with neighbor about arm sleeves or not.

(She said it was going to get colder. She was right.)

Then waited at the start with the other 100 milers.

80 started 20 minutes later. 60 20 minutes after that, then 40, then 20.

Chatted with another neighbor about her past centuries. And then we took off.

I was near the front pretty quickly but a pack of 10-ish and their two male guides 

(men are allowed if they agree to stop and help anyone with flats etc.) were too many to pass

but not quite going as fast as I'd like. 

I let them get a ways in front so I wasn't frustrated.

I was trying to average 18 mph the first two hours.

Averaged 17, so felt good about it. And by 20, several in the pack in front stopped at the rest stop

so I got ahead of them. 

The ride along Utah Lake was a bit desolate and kind of an uphill/headwind slog. 

But it was early on so I just got in my head and rode.

At one time another pack passed and sure enough there were 10 of them, but instead of 

the men "whipping in" their riders in front of me like the previous group,

the girl at the front yelled "hop on" as she passed and it made me feel welcome and also wonder if I shouldn't jump in and try to draft for a bit. So I did.

But they were faster than me and after a couple of miles let myself fall behind.

Lots of orchards, couldn't tell what was being grown in some, but others were red apples and green apples and pears. Acres of pumpkins and lots of u-pick. Might have to go back!

After 30 miles we were back in a more residential area, a few gravel stretches (annoying)

and then some rain. 

Stopped at 37 miles when it was really coming down. Ate a banana, and pondered with several others about what to do. A few packed it in, loading their bikes in a truck, calling it quits.

I decided I could see what the next 10 miles brought and decide at the lunch stop.

It's pouring!

Standing under the pavillion had actually made the weather seem worse than it was. The sound of the trees blowing in the wind and the rain pelting on the metal roof made going out in it feel intense. But in reality, it was doable. And pretty soon, the rain stopped and the sun came out.

I stopped at the lunch/rest stop at 47 miles to wring out my wet socks and stretch.

And then I hit the road. It was a 20 mile out and back to the same lunch place and I really wanted that mileage behind me before stopping, sitting and stretching at lunch.

But I needed a boost. So I started listening to music. Loud. 

One of my favorite albums, Fun. Some Nights.

I listened to it on repeat three times on a row, feeling good, often singing along, 

sometimes crying happy tears from conquering something hard. 

There were only five other women ahead of me and we cheered each other on as we passed.

At the turnaround spot in Mona there was no fanfare. 

Just two other ladies ahead of me, pausing to stretch at the u-turn sign.

The ride back to lunch was fast. Hadn't realized I was on a steady incline on the way out.

Sat on the grass in front of Rowley's Red Barn to eat and stretch (man it felt good to stretch) 

and chat with my neighbor about her cute shorts & jersey and the predicted rain in two hours.

Most people at the lunch stop were still heading on the out and back or only doing the 80.

I was so glad I was at the 67 mark already.

After 30 minutes, I was ready to continue on.

Again the ride was fast for a few miles. Hit a couple mile stretch that was a steady incline again and then began wondering why I had't seen any flags marking the route.

And sure enough, stopped with some ladies at a big intersection and discovered we'd missed a turn.

One lady wanted to get back fast and decided to follow her GPS back to the finish but not get back on course. Two others of us decided to retrace our steps. We had the race map and gps that was a little helpful. But using my phone and apple maps showing us where we were at that moment, we deciphered where we went wrong and how to go back. It was only about 2 miles back. 

All in all it was about a four - five mile detour and 30 - 45 minutes. 

(My watch had stopped tracking by then.)

Didn't feel as frustrating because we were together and we made a pact to stick together until we knew we were on the right route. 

We made it back, found the unmarked turn (how did other people figure it out?)

and within a block, a group of five were stopped, confused about where to turn.

Stopped again and pulled out maps and phones, found our way and within the next mile

it started pouring. Raining so hard I thought it might be hailing.

Survived the rain, rode with my new "got-lost-together" friend Jennifer and enjoyed having someone to talk to and a distraction from the long last miles. I let her go ahead when I needed to slow down, but we met up at the 90 mile rest stop and soon after our third got-lost-together rider showed up.

So we got a selfie.

Dan, Marty and Lizzie were waiting at the finish! 

They had run half-marathons, gone home to shower and eat and came ALL THE WAY

back to South Provo to cheer me on when I came in!

It made me feel so good (and so sad that somehow we didn't get a pic with all of us!)

In the end I went 107 miles and was in the saddle for 7 hours 17 minutes. 

I think I was on the ride for 8 hours 20 minutes.

My butt was SORE the rest of that night and so was my knee which had started bugging about the 90 mile mark. But the rest of me felt great. My arms, neck and back were tired but fine. I think I fueled better than I had on the 60 (plus I wore my shorts with the best padding).

Tried to eat a Clif bar every 90 minutes before lunch and a banana at the 37 rest stop. 

Sport beans and another banana got me through to the end.

Back at home I laid on the couch and watched TV with Dan the rest of the evening and when I sat up, sat on an ice pack. Two Advil took my knee pain away the next morning. 

The best reward was Nielsen's frozen custard for dessert.