62 Miles ... Errr, 65ish ... In the Books!

Check that off the list!

With the help of my awesome brother-in-law, 2 Rivers Bicycle Shop and the Fort Atkinson Lions Club, I can say I completed a Metric Century bike ride. Plus a few extra miles.

The official course was 64.7 miles. Juan Carlos and I took a wrong turn in Johnson Creek, so we can safely round that up to 65. Whoops. And in defense of the Lions Club, the course was marked very well. We just screwed up.

Here's what I think:

• 65 miles with someone riding along and with rest stops seems MUCH shorter than 54 by myself with no rest stops and no additional fueling.
• Fueling your body along the way during a 5 hour ride is essential. Yes, I drank a lot of water. But I also took full advantage of the wonderful spread offered at the rest stops: orange slices, bananas (OK, you're right, I didn't eat those), grapes, cookies, bread/bagels and peanut butter. I probably ate, in total, 1.5-2 oranges, a handful or two grapes, a delicious Double Stuff Oreo and a half of a oatmeal craisin cookie. There were four total rest stops on our route, and we took full advantage of three of them. Yum! 
• I suck at hills. It's not that I'm not strong enough, it's that I don't shift properly and attack them properly. I need some practice on my technical riding skills. I end up just powering through, which is fine, but slow and not pretty or efficient. If I was smarter about setting up right for the hill, I'd have a lot more success. Oh, and I REALLY need to learn how to pedal standing up. It's ridiculous that I can't. 
• This cold/cough thing that I thought was just an annoyance is perhaps more than that. I could feel it in my lungs as I was gasping for breath on the climbs ... dreaming of a nebulizer. Just not able to get a full breath. Which means I might have to break down and go to the doc this week. Grrr. 
• My legs are good. My butt is good. My neck got sore toward the end. 
• I think we burned around 3000 calories. Which made the fried chicken dinner with butter-dipped sweet corn taste soooo much better! 
• Lots of people older and heavier than me finished ahead of me. Per usual. 

I meant to take a before and after photo. I managed to get the "before" done. But we had to high-tail it out of town as soon as I scarfed down my free meal because Jim had to leave for work. But the "after" would have included an oval Chinet plate with an empty corn cob and the bones from 1/2 a chicken dinner. If that helps.

All in all, this is truly a cool event for Fort Atkinson. There's something pretty neat about cruising on that familiar, quiet Main Street on an early Sunday morning and then pulling back into town and landing in the middle of Hometown USA:

Big white tents in the middle of a beautiful park. Adorable, gray-haired Midwestern men serving up corn and chicken. Former English teacher? Check. Grade school basketball coach that you still address as Mr. Schafer? Check. A Fort Generals baseball game going on. My husband and family waiting to greet us. Oh, and did I mention my nieces brought their new puppy along?

Seriously, it's like a flipping CMT video.

Remember, the ride includes three distances ... 18, 36 and the big one we did. Something for everyone. Hope you to see you there next year.

BEFORE: OK, do I ever wear anything besides this neon yellow 

long sleeve shirt? Yes, I do. But it's my favorite. Truth is I took it

off before the ride started. And I am starting to think my helmet 

doesn't fit right. Or I wear it too far back on my forehead. JC looks 

like a pro. I look like a dork. 

FIRST REST STOP at a county park just outside of Helenville. One toilet = long lines. But the food was great, the volunteers were gracious and we were grateful. Oh, and that's Juan Carlos' rear end ... and his cool bike on the right.

You're welcome, Karla. 

P.S. Thank you again, Jim, for not only putting up with this sort of inconvenient at times hobby of mine, but for getting me the road bike, for hauling it and me hither and yon, for pumping up the tires ... and for telling me you're proud of me when I finish. Mwah.