100 Miles

Did the Psycho Century ride on Sunday.


Why?

• Because I was asked if I was going to.
• I wanted to see if I could.
• I liked the ride from last year, thought it was easy (what a difference a year makes.)

Sunday was a beautiful day. Cool in the morning. Probably mid 60's. No wind. Some cloud coverage and sunshine. Paid my way and off we went.


Felt good the first 30 miles. Really good. Hey, what do ya know. I haven't lost it after all. Did experience trouble on a hill but made it up and got to the 2nd sag stop with plenty of energy.


Was disappointed to learn someone had stepped on a trimates tire and broke his spoke. He was done for the day. He seemed ok with it. I would have been furious and looking for the person that did it. 2 other trimates drove with him so they headed back to the start. That left me, SI and Nick to finish 70 miles.


The next 18 were uneventful. Started feeling a little tired but was ok. Bob Seger's The Fire Inside was playing over and over in my head. It helped pass the miles. The pace seemed to pick up a little. SI assured me we wouldn't pound and I believed him.


48 miles down and we stopped at the next sag stop. Was feeling shaking so I ate some pasta and drank some gatorade. Checked my front brake it was rubbing just a bit. Nick made an adjustment and told me not to use it. :) Off we went.


The next 20 miles were torture. Sounds a little dramatic huh? What was I doing out here? I kept asking myself. What was I thinking? This ride seemed a lot harder this year. Hmmm. Could it have been the ridiculous amount of riding I did that made it seem so easy last year?


I was about a block back from the guys when I noticed they had stopped. I knew we were only about a mile and half from the sag stop and couldn't figure out why they weren't moving. Just before crossing the intersection and reaching them I did notice a white arrow. I slowly passed them and asked what was going on. They weren't sure which was to go. Come on, it's this way I said, I really didn't want to stop knowing the sag was so close. They followed me and sure enough the state park was right there. I hit a pot hole just before turning into the park. I'm done I thought. I was feeling shaking and tired and just not right. "I'm done". I said it out loud. I didn't like the reaction I got. It was something like just eat, you'll be fine. I wanted to hear, ok, hope you feel better, see you back at the car. I really didn't want to go on. Thought I was done for the day but I buckled under the peer pressure and ate and drank and called home. We stopped for probably 15 minutes. I was feeling better.


We checked the map before leaving and I reminded the guys that the crazy hill was coming up. Shouldn't have put it that way. Every time we approached any type of a incline it was referred to that way. Nick told me that for the next couple of weeks I will probably be referred to as the crazy hill lady. :)


The last 30 miles were enjoyable. Good conversation. The scenery was picture perfect. Saw a turkey vulture and was told that it was waiting for me to drop. :) There was a wind farm but the mills weren't moving. Lots of cows, unfortunately I missed the one wading in the pond, I was to busy watching SI's tire while riding the mantra - don't get dropped.




At 99.5 miles the end was not in sight. I whined to my fellow riders that I was stopping at 100. They would have to come and get me because I only signed up for 100 nothing more. They said they were stopping too. :) UGH, they weren't even letting quit when I was supposed to. We ended up with 101.5. And I was really happy I didn't quit. Am I sure I want to sign up for IMKY?