Yesterday, I suggested to my SAT that we go for a longer ride.  I decided we both needed some exercise and a reason to explore a different part of town.  Sadly, it has been months since 1) I last rode more than 20 miles and 2) I’ve cycled regularly.  So, last night, I did a little research and selected a route that seemed feasible.  It was a 70 mile loop around McDowell Mountain in the NE part of the city.  Note that it has been MONTHS since my last long ride.

The first hour or so was quite enjoyable, as the temperature was a very comfortable 18C / 64F and there was little climbing.  I felt great, I felt fast, and I was happy.  I said all that to my SAT and I think he was pleasantly surprised by my words (or shocked, I couldn’t tell).

Around mile 50, my right quadricep muscle suddenly tensed up and “freaked out.”  This was rather alarming, as that had never happened to me before while riding my bike.  (It DID occur on my recent hike in the Grand Canyon, but I digress.)  We took a brief pause at that moment to feed me salt pills, water, and encouragement.  I tried stretching my legs, but that resulted in ominous muscle twinges, so I stopped that in a hurry.  After pushing my bike up the current hill for a few minutes, I gingerly repositioned myself on my saddle and started pedaling.  My plan was to keep spinning my legs, remain in an easy gear, and focus on my breathing.

A few miles later, my right inner thigh muscles seized up and started complaining to me.  Crap.  This was not good.  I really wanted to finish the ride, but if my muscles continued to cramp, I may have to abort my mission.  I walked my bike a few more minutes, gently stretching my muscles as I hobbled along, then placed my posterior on my saddle, more determined to finish the ride.  I was SO CLOSE!

Well, dear readers, apparently my left leg felt neglected and desired my attention, for at mile 61, it decided to convulse and quiver.  “That’s it, you’re done,” my SAT declared.  “But I’m only 9 miles away!!” I wailed.  “NO.  Stay here and I’ll ride back and pick you up in the truck,” he said.  Humph. So, I waited in the shade, stretched out all the muscles I had, cramped or not, read a book, and drank some water.

I guess I should consider riding my bike a bit more regularly if I want to avoid experiencing muscle abuse!  (…or buy an electric bike…)

Readers, if you have incurred leg cramping, how do you combat them?  Avoid them?

(“C” is for cramp.  I am amusing myself while waiting for my ride/support vehicle to pick me up!)

I haven’t updated in a while because I haven’t any new adventures to post.  I am at a loss.  It was easy to post when I was training for an event; after all, the focus was there, the deadline was looming, and the scheduling was relatively easy.  Yes, moving and adjusting to one’s new home take time and effort, but now that most of the relocation work is done, I want to have a goal again.  There are a few more factors that may prove to be more hindrance than help in this new city of mine, though, such as: HEAT, the sun, heatstroke, dehydration….ok, I guess the main one is heat.  Summers in the “Valley of the Sun” are hot.  I mean, really, a city does not have a nickname like “Valley of the Sun” without a good reason.  Average daytime temperature for the months of June through August: 104F / 40C (data collected from 1981-2010 and can be found here).  The coolest time of the day in the summer is early morning (like 4:30am-5am).

I bought a gym membership shortly after moving to the “Center of the Sun” (haha) to give myself a workout alternative to baking in the heat.  While I believe that sitting out in the sun can burn calories (and skin), I’m not a fan of intense heat.  I am coming to the conclusion that I will have to learn to be a “morning person” and get biking or hiking workouts done in the wee hours of the morning if I want any fresh air during the summer.

That said, I need help from YOU.  Ideas for new fitness goals happily solicited!  Some thoughts include training for the Rim-to-Rim hike in the Grand Canyon (and its successor, the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim), getting a mountain bike and learning how to stay upright on it, getting a touring bike and planning some bike trips….

…maybe I should learn how to swim.  That may be a refreshing way to spend my summer…!

In our ongoing pursuit of friends in our new city, my SAT and I are worming our way into whatever interesting endeavors OTHER people are doing….a couple of weeks ago, we went on a group hike, during which we met a guy who organizes a Grand Canyon weekend each year.  This was the 21st year!  I’m impressed.  Charles knows the southwest really well and wrote a book describing the best 60 hikes in and around the Phoenix area.  He’s kind of a local celebrity, at least in the hiking community.  Well, since Charles was gracious enough to invite us to his Grand Canyon weekend (despite not knowing us well at all!), we graciously accepted.  I mean, what ELSE did we have planned that weekend?

Indeed, we had a “grand” time!  The focus of the weekend was to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and then back up (17 miles total).  A “down-up” hike, as I call it, is a sick psychological game, really: for the first half of the hike, you are merrily and confidently striding along the trail, reveling in how fit you feel and how easy everything is.  Alas, what goes down, must go up, at least in this hiking situation, and that is when reality sinks in: the mouth becomes dry, the legs become lead, and the backpack becomes a burden.  Before I get into too many details, let me share a few pretty pictures…

(Photo 1: alone on the trail; Photo 2: looking out from “Ooh Aah” Point; Photo 3: the warning we happily ignored; Photo 4: we were up there!)

When I hiked in Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas, I normally brought a baby Coke on my hikes to enjoy at the peak.  Well, instead of a Coke, I had a lemonade at the BOTTOM!  There is a little cafe at the bottom of the canyon (Phantom Ranch), from which one can buy a lemonade, some lunch, or even a beer.  You can also mail a postcard from the cafe that is carried up to the top by mule power.

(Photo 1: the South Kaibab trail bridge that crosses the Colorado River and marks the end of the trail; Photo 2: mule train ascending the South Kaibab trail; Photo 3: Phantom Ranch, the oasis on the canyon floor; Photo 4: our drinks at Phantom Ranch!)

We took the Bright Angel trail back up to the trailhead because there were 3 water stations along the way; there is no water on the South Kaibab trail.  The hike back up to the top was hard.  Much harder than I expected.  I used to be in prime hiking condition last year and could easily overtake anyone with whom I hiked, girl or guy.  Sadly, as the adage goes, if you don’t use it, you lose it and boy, have I lost it!  I am way out of hiking shape.  I still finished the hike with my various body parts intact and I was faster than most of the other people, but I was in pain.  My legs were cramping, shaking, and seizing up.  My pace became slower and slower until it got to the point where children and 80-year-olds were passing me.  Granted, those people were doing a MUCH shorter hike, as they were not going all the way to the bottom, but still, it was still a blow to my ego!  Thankfully, the weather wasn’t as hot as we all feared, for we had cloud cover for pretty much the entire hike back up to the trailhead.  Things would have been even more difficult if the sun had been directly on us.  I was still able to appreciate the beauty of the Bright Angel trail, but that appreciation was viewed through a hazy, painful filter.  Despite that, I managed to snag a few photos:

(Photo 1: Indian Gardens, only 4.5 miles to the end!; Photo 2: more beautiful Indian Gardens; Photo 3: lovely blossoms and prickly pear at Indian Gardens; Photo 4: a really cool rainbow!)

I was SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY to reach the top.  ‘Twas a humbling experience all around: the awe-inspiring beauty of the Grand Canyon, the pleasure and privilege of being able to do this hike, the knowledge that I am out of shape….ah well, I got a few good pictures, met some really fun people, and ate some great food.

(The end of the hike.  Hooray!)

Hello friends!  I hope you are enjoying the warmth of spring wherever you may be.  I am enjoying (enduring?) what is more like summer in Canada than spring; this week will see “seasonal norms” here in Phoenix.

(This little chart is for my Canadian connections.)

The above chart “translated” into Fahrenheit for my American allies looks like this:

Last week was actually nice, though, with cooler temperatures and rain.  I felt comfortable enough to check out a ladies’ group ride on Friday morning that catered to the working gal (6am start!!!!).  By anyone’s standard, I am no longer a beginner road cyclist, having done a double century.  However, I am a beginner group rider as I rarely rode with a group while training for that double century.  As a result, I am hesitant to follow too closely behind a cyclist I do not know (this is called “drafting” and the closer you stay to the wheel in front of you, the more efficient you are on the bike because you are letting the person in front of you act as a wind shield.  All you have to do is ride in their “wake.”).  What if the rider in front of me is a new rider and has yet to learn how to stop….or turn….?  What if the rider in front of me is an erratic rider and is unpredictable?  The other thing I have yet to learn about group riding is to trust that the person in front of me (and the people in front of the person in front of me) is aware of his/her surroundings and will warn me about obstacles and debris on the road.  When I am in someone’s “draft,” I often can not see in front of me because I am typically shorter than him/her.  It’s unsettling for me to ride my bike in a group without having a clear view of the road.

Anyway, the ladies’ group ride on Friday morning was very small (only 3 showed up), so I didn’t feel pressured or stressed at all.  Plus,  the pace was really moderate, almost bordering on slow.  But that’s ok because I wanted to meet some other women!  And I did.  I will join them again for a weekend ride, as that is when more ladies are able to participate and the rides are a little longer.

~~~

More girl stuff!  I met a girl at church who is also a Canadian (fellow Vancouverite!) and Asian….does that make us “Canasians?”  Haha.  Anyway, we took a spontaneous little field trip to Mexico this weekend while the guys were away at a retreat.  Many people from Arizona and Southern California visit Puerto Peñasco (known as “Rocky Point” in English) in Mexico, as it’s only a few hours away and it’s a different place to see the ocean.  We stayed at a cute little motel, ate lots of food, waded in the ocean, and checked out the shops and streets.  Puerto Peñasco really caters to American tourists, as there are bilingual signs and people everywhere.  The main industry used to be fishing, but I believe that tourism has taken over the #1 spot now.  The one thing that really struck me was the obvious difference between the wealthier tourist area with its resorts and the poorer residential areas with its sandy roads (i.e., unpaved), neglected houses, and wild dogs running rampant wherever you look.

(Photo 1: slightly neglected buildings on the beach; Photo 2: the nice, touristy part; Photo 3: a fancy residence that is very out of place in its neighborhood; Photo 4: across from the fancy house in photo 3.)

And now, here are some beach pictures!  The sunset was really pretty.

 

(The daylight picture was taken on another part of the beach on an old, abandoned lookout point.)

One of the funnier things we saw was a German-Mexican restaurant called the Kaffee Haus.  It is owned by a German man and his Mexican wife.  The husband was away when we visited, but the wife was really happy to chat with us and she even gave us a free brownie.  Their restaurant is super busy and caters to both the tourists and locals.  All of the German pastries are made by the German husband!

(Photo 1: the pastry case; Photo 2: a taste of the German “kitschy” decorating!)

We had to remind ourselves to stop eating at numerous points during the weekend….and with that, I will end this post!

Well, it’s been 2 weeks in our new city and we’ve been preoccupied with unpacking, cleaning, and consulting some contractors for initial quotes for home projects (like replacing windows).  While we are motivated to get our (very 80s and very NOT upgraded) house in order, we also know that we need to take some time to get to know our new surroundings.  Earlier this week, I rode my bike up South Mountain for the first time, with my SAT (“self-appointed trainer” for those of you newer to my blog!).  While the climb is not as steep as the Red Rock scenic loop, it still affords road cyclists the opportunity to practice those important climbing skills, like breathing.  The view from the top is pretty scenic, as you can see most of the valley and the road is fairly smooth, much more so than in Red Rock Canyon.  Mileage is 7.5 miles one way and the overall grade is only 3%, but in all honesty, that felt worse at different points during the climb because I’ve not been riding my bike regularly!

(At the top.  I would’ve taken more pictures, but it was getting warm and I wanted to go home!)

~~~

We went on our first group hike today and it was lovely.  I signed us up for a hiking group and the goal was to do the Tom’s Thumb loop, a total distance of approximately 12 miles and elevation gain of ~2700 feet/823 m.  The temperature hit about 90F/30C today, but the refreshing breeze present during most of the hike was splendid and a welcome relief.  We were delighted to see all the desert flowers in bloom and the many saguaro cacti acting as prickly sentinels guarding the land around us.

(Desert wildflowers!)

(A brightly colored reptile; standing in front of Tom’s Thumb.)

We live in the Sonoran desert, which is much more green and lush than the Mojave desert we left in Las Vegas.  From what I have read, the Mojave desert is higher in elevation and drier than the Sonoran (except Death Valley, CA) and its boundaries are generally defined by the Joshua trees found there.

(Joshua tree.)

The Sonoran desert is the hottest desert in the United States and is the only place in the world where the saguaro cactus grows in the wild.

(The trail and cacti.; A huge saguaro cactus waiting to give us a hug.)

All in all, a wonderful day with new friends!  I’ll leave you with a couple more pictures.

As I type this, I am struck by how quickly my time in Vegas is coming to an end.  The past 6 weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and emotions as we make preparations to move our bodies and our (many many) belongings out of “Sin City.”  Since yesterday was my SAT’s birthday, I had this idea to combine a celebration in his honor with a quasi-going-away party.  So, for the past 2 weeks, I plotted and planned, sneaking into his phone contacts and Facebook friend list and sending out invitations to party!  What I planned was a birthday road ride, followed by a casual lunch gathering at one of our favorite hangout spots.  About 30 friends, both cyclists and non-cyclists, joined us for the day and it was such a fun time.  Beautiful weather, great company, and a very happy birthday boy!  He was very surprised and we were both touched by the number of people who took time out of their weekend to spend it with us.  Here are some pics from yesterday’s festivities:

(Clockwise from top left: the friends who joined us for the ride; other friends who joined us at the restaurant; my SAT with 2 of his “Saturday Starbucks” riding buddies and the cool Vegas-theme clock they gave him; birthday boy with his cake.)

~~~~

This morning, the two of us and our friend Mike tackled the infamous Lee Canyon hill climb.  This climb is just over 17 miles long and gains over 5348 feet (1630 m).  It is one long road that keeps getting higher and higher….before I go into the specifics of the pain, I want to impart a little information about climb ratings.  In road cycling, different hill climbs are assigned a number from 1 to 4, with 1 being very difficult and 4 being easy.  Factors such as overall steepness, length of climb, and how far into the climb the steepness begins influence the overall numerical rating.  If the climb is ridiculously stupidly difficult, it is assigned “HC,” which is a French term for “hors catégorie” (“above category”).  Needless to say, the Lee Canyon hill climb is rated HC (i.e., so stupid and difficult that it is beyond classification).  These climb ratings were originally used for those mountain roads in Europe (France in particular in the earliest years of the Tour de France) where cars were not expected to be able to pass, which begs the question: if motorized vehicles were not expected to pass through these steep mountain climbs, WHY SHOULD PEOPLE ON BIKES DO THESE CLIMBS?

I digress.  Climbing Lee Canyon this morning was not as bad as I expected.  Although many cars passed me and the sun was beating down on me, the overall temperature was quite nice and I had my NPR podcasts for company.  My SAT and Mike were probably in more pain than me because they elected to climb Lee Canyon on their UNICYCLES.  Haha.  Good on them.  Really!  Getting to the top was satisfying, though, and we all enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment and renewed sense of feeling in various body parts whilst soaking in the beautiful scenery.  My cycling computer said I burned over 1000 calories during the climb and I celebrated by eating some fries and drinking some Coke.

(Top left: One-wheelers!  Top right: at the start.  Bottom: Mummy Mountain.)

We stopped a couple of times at designated points to catch our breath and grab a snack.  Mike’s wife was gracious enough to drive the support vehicle (we told her that she would have a LOT of reading time….hiking time….nap time….).

(Clockwise from top left: taking a break; rest stop #1; at the top! Look at the snow-capped mountains!; my Garmin with the official ending statistics.)

So, there’s another little adventure completed.  Now, back to the packing….

As the title of this post states, there have been changes happening RIGHT NOW which have been distracting me and interfering with regularly scheduled life.  We’re in the midst of moving and all of our worldly possessions are in the process of being packed and purged.  T-8 days and counting — yikes!  Anyway, I thought I’d post a few more pictures from that photo shoot I participated in last month just for fun.

Yesterday, we took a break from work and packing and cleaning and went on a very short hike.  We joined a friend and enjoyed scrambling up a small mountain in Red Rock Canyon just before dark.  The desert flowers are beginning to bloom and their colors are magnificent against the red and cream sandstone.

And here we are at the top!

In other news, we’ve been experimenting with veganism.  We watched a few documentary films about farming and food production and were really appalled by the so-called “living” conditions of the animals that are raised for human consumption.  Those poor cattle, chickens, and pigs are crammed into tiny pens, forced to live in its own excrement and rarely get any fresh air or exercise. The animals deemed “defective” or “useless,” such as male chicks (because they don’t lay eggs), are thrown into the garbage.  Such a waste of life.  We have been impacted by what we have seen and for the past couple of weeks, have enjoyed a plant-based diet.  Since I have a bit more free time, I’m the one who has been finding different recipes and cooking up all kinds of great things.  Who knew vegetables could be so filling?  Some of the things I’ve made include quinoa patties with roasted red pepper cashew cream (SO GOOD), a layered eggplant and zucchini casserole (kind of like lasagne, where the eggplant act as noodles), chickpea “tuna” salad, and a sweet potato and quinoa chili.  The most decadent thing I’ve made was a raw apple pie; the crust is made of walnuts, dates, and a couple of flavorings that are food processed, then pressed into a pie plate.  After the crust is sufficiently chilled, you pour the apple filling into it.  It’s really quite good.  My SAT and I are liking this new change in our diet and know that all of the fruits and veggies we’re eating is fueling our bodies well.  How long will this last?  Hopefully a long time.  Do any of you dear readers have any great vegan recipes?  Have any of you attempted a “raw” food lifestyle?  I’d love to hear your stories and recipes!

About 2.5 weeks ago, I got to model for a photo shoot!  No, not Victoria’s Secrets, although wearing cycling spandex is just as revealing as lingerie, in my opinion.  The local NPR station here publishes a magazine called Desert Companion which informs readers of the myriad of activities in and around the Las Vegas area.  A friend of mine owns a bike shop in town and she asked me if I could round up some road riders for a road cycling photo shoot.  I’m not going to lie: I felt sort of flattered and important!  I get to organize people for a PHOTO shoot for a legitimate MAGAZINE!  I could sense fame and fortune at my fingertips!  (I’m still waiting for said fame and fortune, but I can be patient for good things.)

The morning of the shoot was brisk, beautiful, and (very) breezy.  We met at 6:45am near Red Rock Canyon and rode up and down the same stretch of road for about an hour.  Our photographer told us to “look like we’re struggling,” or “get down on your drops,” or “ok….get ready….GO!”  After the first series of photos were taken, we travelled over to another stretch of road for some more action shots.  Too bad the headwind was literally pushing us off our bikes.  Ah yes, the sacrifice I made for art.

Only one photo was going to be published in the magazine as part of the March 2015 “Sports, Leisure, and Outdoors” issue and this was it:

And here is the magazine cover:

(I’m on page 66!)

It was a fun experience, even with that darn wind.  Seems like I can’t escape ferocious headwind when I bike.  I hope that isn’t the case this weekend because I’m planning on doing a pretty big ride.  As always, details to come!

Some people have asked how I feel now on the other side of the double century.  Am I sore?  (Not as much as I thought!)  Am I sad?  (No.)  Happy?  (Yes!)  Relieved?  (Yes!)  And other people have (almost) immediately suggested other ultra endurance events for my consideration, just in case I was bored now or missing the training regime I’ve followed for the past 4 months (and if you were wondering, those “other people” really mean my SAT).  For instance, in the car on the way home from Yuma yesterday, talk turned to the HooDoo 300, a 300 mile race that can be done solo or in teams of 2.  There is “only” about 18,000 ft of climbing.

Me: “You are suggesting that we do the HooDoo 300 together now, a scant 2 days after finishing the double century?”

SAT: “Well, yeah, it’s a thought to keep in mind and maybe think about…”

Me: “Why do you think I have the same sicko gene as you?”

SAT: “I didn’t think you did, but now I’m thinking that you sort of do….I think that more and more people are believing you less and less that you don’t have that gene.  Maybe it’s a suppressed gene.”

Me: “I don’t want to continue this conversation.”

~~~~~

Despite my disgust at my SAT’s line of thought, I would like to have another goal or big adventure to tackle.  Even though training and preparation can be painful and tedious, accomplishing a goal is very satisfying and blogging about it even more so, at least to me.  I like to write and I’ve enjoyed sharing my progress with family, friends, and interested readers.  Honestly, I would do my best “writing” whilst riding my bike; instead of mindlessly moving my legs in circles, I would try to compose interesting and amusing (I hope!) paragraphs in my head.  How can I make this sound fun?  What pictures can I include in the blog post?

So, if any of you have any ideas (not YOU, my SAT), let me know in the comments!

“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley” (From the poem “To a Mouse,” by Robert Burns in 1785)

Well, dear readers, the reason for this blog’s existence has come to pass.  My SAT and I completed my first double century yesterday after many, MANY hours of seemingly endless pedaling.  Warning: this post is a LONG one, so read at your peril and/or leisure.

Training for this event began in early November 2014.  I used Bicycling magazine’s 16 week training plan and scheduled the double century for February 28, 2015 (i.e., yesterday).  I’ve never trained for a physical event before, so this whole experience was definitely eye-opening and challenging.  The first 3 months of training went fairly smoothly and without interruptions.  The month of February went extremely quickly, not only because it is a short month, but also because of major life changes and illness that popped up unexpectedly.  Those changes necessitated weekends away from home and days of recuperation, all of which pushed my training down the priority totem pole.  It was a little frustrating, but no matter what plans one may make, they are almost certain to be disrupted.  Robert Burns knew that way back in 1785!  My consolation was that I had built up a decent foundation of fitness and mileage by early February and that was probably going to be enough to see me through the double century on my originally scheduled date of February 28, 2015.  I was also fairly certain that if the double did not occur on my originally scheduled date, it was not going to happen for a long time, if ever, because of all the life changes coming my way.

My SAT (“self-appointed trainer” for those of you coming to this blog now!) and I checked various weather websites religiously over the past week and were disappointed to see the forecast for Las Vegas and Death Valley (original venue of the double century) worsening as the week wore on.  Rain = 50%, wind = YES and very strong, colder temperatures, etc.  Should we cancel?  Postpone?  Celebrate the impending cancellation?  Well, my SAT thought differently and had a great idea on Friday February 27 at approximately 12 noon: what if we did the double century anyway, just the two of us, in Yuma, AZ?  (FYI: I was out doing errands when he had this brainwave.)  He called my parents in Yuma — they are retired and spend their winters there, like many other retirees — and told them his plan.  Would it be ok for us to come out there tonight and use their house as a home base (or, “aid station”) so that we could attempt the double tomorrow?  The weather was supposed to be dry, sunny, and not too windy in Yuma.  My SAT calls me at about 12:20pm, saying “we’re leaving for Yuma in a couple of hours and we’re going to do your double there tomorrow.”

*crickets*

Ok.  Yikes.  It was actually going to happen, but on a much smaller scale.  Instead of an organized event with plenty of aid stations and support vehicles, we were going to improvise some sort of route that will equal 200 miles self-supported.  This just got real.

Saturday February 28, 2015.  5:00am.  Yuma, AZ.

We got up at 4:30am, after driving for 5 hours the previous day.  A part of me was still in disbelief.  Whose idea was this?  It didn’t take long to get ready because we did the preparation and packing last night after arriving at my parents’ place (home base).  Here we are just before we rolled out:

We had about 2 hours until sunrise, so we thought it may be a good idea to get some miles around town done while it was still quiet.  Since we didn’t have an official route, just a vague sense of north/south/east/west, we wandered a bit and after about 25 miles, pedaled back to home base to ponder our next move.  After a brief discussion, we decided to head north along SR 95 to the US Border Patrol checkpoint, which was 50 miles away.  Not the most exciting cycling destination, but we would get a large chunk of miles done.  All was going well so far: PERFECT temperature, dry, flat terrain….we were making good time, especially with a helpful tailwind at our back.  Then, at mile 53 of our journey, I got a flat tire. Good thing I had a bike mechanic with me!  The cause of the flat was a “big” thorn (according to my SAT):

Photo 1: The “big” thorn.  Photo 2: my bike mechanic/SAT fixing my flat.

One challenge for me was to keep eating.  Many seasoned endurance cyclists told me to eat often during the double.  Normally, I’m a fan of food and eating is one of my hobbies.  BUT eating whilst riding is a totally different story.  My stomach was rebelling and even at this early stage in the double century, I was starting to feel some gastrointestinal distress.  Since our double century was self-supported, we (or, rather, my SAT) had to carry our food, water, and clothing with us.  Our food consisted of pizza, bananas, pb sandwiches, Shot Bloks, and fig bars:

 Junk in my trunk.

We reached the US Border Patrol checkpoint and I sweet-talked the guards into letting me use their bathroom.  Remember that nice tailwind I mentioned a few sentences ago?  That was now a raging headwind that stayed with us the entire day.  It was about 20mph and made the 50 mile return to home base difficult and long.  We started taking short breaks every half hour to nibble some food, stretch, and reclaim our sanity.

Photo 1: pretty scenery.  Photo 2: Tired and suffering from GI distress.

We finally made it back to home base!  At this point, we were at 125 miles and 10 hours into the day.  In case it wasn’t already obvious, I am not a sprinter.  The wind slowed us down incredibly and my upset stomach was annoying the heck out of me.  We took a longer break at home base, mainly for me to use the bathroom and to relax my tummy.  Much too soon, it was time to head out to our next exciting destination: the Arizona State Prison Complex!  Yes, don’t you wish you could have been there with us?

Photo 1: my parents took this of us!  They drove out ahead of us specifically to take some pictures.  Photo 2: pretty light on the road to the prison.

We hit 150 miles at 6:20pm (hour 13, good time for a break!).

My Garmin before it reset.  Grrr….

This was when we had our Garmin disaster.  My SAT wanted to recharge both Garmins (cycling computers), but 1) forgot to pack the battery packs in his trunk bag.  At our last visit to home base, he brought them with us to recharge our Garmins at some point in the night…..2) when he plugged in the battery to my Garmin during our hour 13 break, he saw that it reset, losing all my data as a result.  While not preferable, that wasn’t a total loss, as we still had SAT’s Garmin.  He plugged in his Garmin to the battery and put both in his trunk bag, intending to take it out after a half hour or so, to give it a chance to recharge to a sufficient level of power.  When he checked the Garmin, he learned to his dismay that it shut off, probably because it lost satellite contact.  The good news: only the 9 miles we cycled during the half hour or so were lost.  Bad news: we probably had to bike 9 miles to make up for the data we lost in order to have our Garmin record a full 200 mile ride.  Not a happy thought during a double century.  My SAT said that since he forgot to bring the battery packs, he would ride the extra 9 miles as punishment.  [My first thought: “….and riding this double century isn’t punishment enough?”  But I digress.]  The AWESOME thing is that after uploading all the data we recorded to Strava, the social media site for cyclists and runners to post their rides and runs, the website interpolated the missing miles into our GPS track!  Turned out we rode a few miles more than necessary.  Ha, I rode a super ultra double century!

It was about 11:40pm when we returned to home base for the last time on this double century.     Back at home base.  DONE!

I am kind of impressed that I did this on schedule.  I am very thankful to my SAT who encouraged and bullied me (in a loving way….I think….) to do this double and appreciative to him for carrying all our stuff, fixing my flat, protecting me from the wind, and just being so supportive of this whole endeavour.  There MAY have been a few occasions during the double when his sunny optimism and unflagging enthusiasm were in direct opposition to my more stoic outlook on the ride.  I know that at one point, he happily proclaimed that he was having so much fun and that “this is definitely the BEST day of the year!!!”  I don’t remember saying anything in response.  I may have grunted.  In any case, we both survived and, despite our fatigue, went to In-n-Out for celebratory burgers and fries at 1am:

Nothing tastes as good as being FINISHED feels.

My final stats courtesy of Strava.

Cycling Lessons Learned:

• Train lots.  Follow a plan and stick to it to the best of your ability (I had to modify mine a bit at the end due to life events and sickness).  I was tired during my double century, but maintained a steady pace and effort.  My SAT remarked that I was “riding strong” several times during the double and was really glad I stuck to the plan as well as I did.
• Stretch lots!  I stood up a lot, I rolled my shoulders and neck, I twisted my upper body to each side.  I’m happy to report that my soreness is minimal, my butt is totally fine, my feet are great, my wrists and hands are good.  One concern I had was the soreness and muscle tension I would incur, as those things have been my constant companions during my training.  I’m so glad those aren’t concerns now.
• Eat lots.  This was difficult.  I nibbled some food every half hour and ate something more substantial every hour on the hour.  I also did my best to drink lots.  I put Cytomax in my water, which has electrolytes and calories.  Later in the day, I had a 50/50 mix of Gatorade and water in my water bottles.
• There WILL be tummy pain.  This can’t be helped because of all the food consumed during the day.  In my case, I was packing my body full of food in order to get the calories I needed to keep riding and avoid “bonking” (the depletion of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles, which manifests itself by precipitous fatigue and loss of energy).  However, my body couldn’t digest — and more importantly, ELIMINATE the food — I was eating.  I was getting more and more bloated and the pain I was feeling was due to gas buildup.  I literally had a “food baby” — seriously, I looked like I was 4 months pregnant.  Thankfully, my tummy didn’t stop me from completing my double century.
• Try to enjoy the ride.  Really.

Final Thoughts

Am I glad I did this?  Yes.  This ride was definitely a challenge and there were a few times I would not have minded stopping.  Permanently.  Cycling is not my first love, and even now, I am still a “reluctant roadie.”  However, I have proof that I can stick to a training plan and follow through with the plan’s goal.  Would I do this again?  Honestly, I don’t want to THINK about bikes or riding or events or anything related to those things for a while.  (And believe me, my SAT had plenty of opportunities during the double century to “tempt” me with even sicker ultra cycling rides: “I can’t wait to do the HooDoo 500 with you!  Wouldn’t that be fun to do it as a 2-person team?”  No comment.  At least out loud or on a public forum.

I think I’ll continue this blog to document other outdoor adventures.  It has been a good experience so far and it has been fun to write reports for myself and for my vast audience of readers (thanks to all 5 of you who read this!).  Until the next big adventure!

At this moment, it is sufficient to say that I finished my first double century.  Details to come tomorrow!

In my last post, I mentioned that my training was derailed due to a bout of illness. Well, I feel much better now and as far as I’m concerned, the double century is still on.  (Wait, did I just say that?)  My mileage decreased significantly over the past week due to fatigue, etc.; for instance, on Saturday, I was supposed to do an ultra-century (100+ miles) and only succeeded in pedaling 22 miles.  That is 10% of what I am supposed to do in less than 2 weeks.  Oh well, I’ll just do my best in the time I have left.  My SAT said that I could push back the date of my double century, but I do not want to do that.  I really really want to do the double on the date I originally scheduled, which is February 28.  I want to enter the month of March without worrying about scheduling long rides!  I want the freedom of having the time to do other things and I want the satisfaction of having completed a goal on time.  Call me stubborn, call me inflexible, call me maybe?

Well, it was bound to happen.  I’m sick.  Sort of.  I’ve been fortunate to be blessed with good health and rarely get hit by colds, flus, and other such maladies.  Today was supposed to be a long training ride — 124 miles, to be exact — but when I woke up this morning, I felt tired (more than usual), detected a sore-ish throat, headache, and runny nose.  Maybe it’s an allergic reaction to the idea of a long ride….maybe it’s an allergic reaction to whatever is in the air….or maybe it’s the beginning of a legitimate ailment.  My SAT and I decided to head out to meet our usual Saturday group and see how I felt along the way.  Well, we were going so slowly that he had to ride ahead to tell the group that I was going to be late and that I probably wasn’t going to ride the rest of the day.  I’m not going to lie: I wasn’t super excited about riding 124 miles today!  But I would rather feel 100% and do that ride than feel yucky and icky right now.

In the meantime, I want to share a few pictures of the burros I spotted on my ride yesterday morning.  I elected to do the Red Rock loop (again!) and just before mile marker 10, I saw these 2 burros happily munching on grass and just enjoying the sunshine:

One of them actually came to take a closer look at me:

I love seeing animals when I’m outside and I really enjoyed my time with these 2 burros.  I spent a few minutes taking some pictures and talking with them (yes, I really did talk with them).  For those few minutes, it was just me and these cuties, enjoying the fresh air and each other’s company (well, I can imagine that, right?).  I’m glad I got to get out yesterday because I don’t think I’ll be doing much today.  I should have known something was up when I identified myself — more than usual — in this sign:

(Foreshadowing?)