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My experience will be old news to the veterans of our group (if you can remember back to your first "major" ride ;)) but maybe of interest to the newbies.
We got up at 5:30 a.m. after being out until 1 a.m. at an Arturo Sandoval concert. It's a 90-minute drive from Dripping Springs to Liberty Hill. We went the "back" way through the country rather than Austin and I'm glad we did as the cars from Austin were backed up quite a ways to turn at the high school, the starting point. More than 1200 riders showed up for this ride! It was cool, breezy, and overcast with temps in the 60s when we started and probably never out of the 70s.
It might not have been a good idea to break in a new saddle on this ride but my old one was getting pretty uncomfortable after about an hour and the new one is a Terry saddle with a cut-out area made especially for women. In some ways, it felt better -- less pressure in the front -- but it was more uncomfortable in the "sit bones" area. I think this will get better, however, and there's no telling how uncomfortable I would have been on my old saddle. This is my longest ride so far so I still have "dues" to pay. ;)
The 28-mile portion of the ride (it went up to 125 miles) was divided into fourths, with a rest area every seven miles. At the first rest area, I really had my doubts about whether I could do the whole 28 miles and perhaps I should go back now to make it 14. I just felt so worn out already, and the hills weren't even that bad. My sister couldn't ride because she broke her foot a couple of weeks ago and she was there with her car and rack, meeting us at each rest stop so I knew I could ride back after 14; I decided to continue.
I'm so glad that I did! The next segment had both ascents and descents but it was a little hard to enjoy the descents knowing they would soon be ascents! However, in some ways, this segment was easier than the first. I think I went a little too fast (for me) in the first segment and this time, I paced myself better. Also, a 78-year man named Henry rode up next to me the last two miles and it really helped to have someone to talk to and help keep me paced. When we got to the rest area, he told someone that I helped him out but I think it was the other way around and I think he did it on purpose. He could have passed me but saw that I was struggling a bit and decided to ride with me. I had encouraged my husband and brother-in-law to go ahead of me at their own pace, which is why I was on my own. I hope I'm doing as well at 78 as Henry!
What amazed me on the third segment is that most of those ascents were much easier than they looked, from both directions! Since I flew down them, I thought they'd be horrible going back up but that's the miracle of gears, isn't it? :D There was one hill that I had to walk the last part but other than that, I did great! My only drawback at this point was my sore butt and a bit of a stinger growing between my shoulder blades. I popped my chain on this leg but my husband was behind me and helped me get it back on. I've seen how to do it twice now so I think I can fix it on my own from now on.
At the third rest stop, my sister offered me her old saddle but I decided to stick with mine. I made a point of standing more often to relieve the pressure and amazingly, my rear felt better on this leg than on the previous two. I really felt like I was hitting my stride on this last leg. I had focused on cadence throughout the ride and was pleased that I was always pretty close to 70 rpms, plus or minus a couple. I remember looking up at one more hill and being close to tears, wondering if I had one more hill in me. But I just put my head down and lowered the gear and started spinning and before you know it, I was over that hill! After that, I just kept spinning and spinning and spinning and felt like I could go forever! :D
At the end of the ride, they served us spaghetti and salad and then we headed home. After a hot shower and a brief nap, I'm feeling pretty darn good and so proud of myself! My sister took pictures so I'll post a few once she sends them to me.
Thanks so much to my DU cycling friends for your information, encouragement and support! I promise I won't write a small novel every time I go on a ride but I just had to share this with you! :D
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