From May 17 to 20, 2012, I rode 450+ miles in 4 days. I rode in the NorCal Aids Cycle (NCAC) as well as the Davis Double Century. The recap of my four day adventure will be done in four parts, one part of each day of craziness. This is part 3...the third day of my crazy adventure...when I did the Davis Double Century!
PART 3: DAY 3 OF INSANITY: DOUBLING UP WITH THE DAVIS DOUBLE!
Preface
So, how did I come to do a double century in the middle of the NorCal Aids Cycle?
One of my goals this year is get the California Triple Crown, to do three double centuries in a year. Of all the double centuries this year I wanted to do, the Davis Double was the one I wanted to do the most. I really wanted one of my triple crown doubles to include the Davis Double.
But, after I had already signed up for NCAC did I find out the Davis Double would be on May 19th, right smack dab in the middle of the NCAC ride. Shoot!
Earlier in the year, I was talking to some friends which doubles we were planning to do this year. I made mention that I really wanted to do the Davis Double but the date conflicts with NCAC. My (crazy) friend Tawny says do both. She tells me Day 3 of NCAC overlaps some of the Davis Double course so you could do both. Then, around the time I was doing my first double in Solvang, Tawny offered to help transport me to and from the NCAC and the Davis Double.
As with many crazy ideas that get planted into my head, it doesn't take to long for the idea to grow. When the Davis Double registration opened, I started to think about it more. I really wanted to do the Davis Double. But, that's a lot of riding to be doing and I needed to figure out the logistics. But as the weeks got closer to the Davis Double so did my desire to do it.
Then, a couple weeks prior to the beginning of the NCAC ride, I emailed NCAC asking whether I could do both. They gave me the okay and so I registered for the Davis Double. I think my extra craziness may have helped rake in a few extra donations too.
During the first couple days of my four day adventure, numerous NCAC folks came up to me to ask me if I was tho one doing the double. I had many tell me I was a crazy one but many expressed much encouragement in this crazy endeavor.
Insane Day 3 - The Davis Double Century
In the wee hours of the morning, my alarm clocks went off. I slept much better this time than the night prior so I felt okay. But, getting up out of bed is tough though as my legs are quite achy. I feel like an old woman as I try to get myself moving.
Tweet: "up wicked early and getting ready for day 3 of insanity! today is the truly insane day! oh man I'm achy!"
Today, the NCAC folks are wearing red. I wear my new red jersey, which says "Rides Like A Girl" on it. I then get the rest of my gear on and get ready to roll out of my apartment. It's about 3:30 a.m. I am going to ride to the start since it is only a few miles away.
Tweet: "I'm wearing my red jersey today like my fellow NCAC riders! about to head out my door and ride to the start! time to double up my miles!"
It is dark out so I have my headlamp on but not too cold. My legs feel okay riding on the bike though I can tell they do not have quite the same strength in them as I had two days ago. But, I am riding at a decent pace.
As I ride over the overpass, I see a tandem bike ahead. They have to be doing the double too as who else would be out on a tandem bike at this time of day.
It does not take me too long to get to the Veteran's Memorial. I see a number of cyclists here already and quite a bit roll out. I find the Hammerin' Wheels guys Todd, Kevin, and Dale at the front. Eventually, Rex, Mike, and finally Jeff joins our group.
Tweet: "day 3 of insanity begins! rode 4.4 miles to the double start!"
The Hammerin' Wheels guys and I roll out from the Veteran's Memorial Building and out of Davis. Mike pulls us along for a good while at a nice pace. Around 10ish miles in, I hit a little bump in the road. I do okay but I think my tail light comes a little loose because shortly later, it falls off my bike. In the middle of the pace line, I just let it go. The sun will be up in not too long and the guys behind me have tail lights.
At one point, the pace line rotates to me in the front pulling. I pull along for a bit. I get ready to rotate out and let whoever is next pull but I see Dale coming up on my left side so I stay in place. He has decided to charge to the front with Kevin shortly following. Then, these guys decide to kick the pace up even more.
I then slide to back to the rear of the pace line. As Jeff passes me, he says something along the lines "When did we decide to start racing?" Since I am the tail of the group now, with no tail light, I try to maneuver my headlamp around to the back of my head and flip it to the red light setting. This is tricky to do and maintain the brisk pace. Having already put 200 miles on my legs this week, they require a bit longer to warm up so holding this pace is hard. After a bit, I just let the pack go and just ride my own pace.
As I watch them fade into the distance, I am so mad at them. Why did I bother meeting and waiting for them if they were just going to drop me so early in the ride. I could have just started before 4 am or earlier if I knew they were going to ditch me like that. I did not expect to ride together the whole time but at least to the first rest stop, the flat boring part.
I ride along to the rest stop. I get to the first rest stop and see that all the Hammerin' Wheels guys have left this rest stop too. Don't bother waiting on me. I am more irritated at them (Note: I may be more crankier than usual due to tiredness).
Tweet: "first rest stop...mile 27.4...the HW boys already dropped me...pacing myself!"
As I roll out of the rest stop, I see a message from Javier saying "Smart girl" in response to my tweet (above). This cheers me up a little and I ride along towards Winters.
I ride along through the country roads. At one turn, there is a volunteer there directing us to turn right. He is dressed as Santa Clause. Kind of an unusual but he's pretty peppy and it is rather amusing.
I also am seeing a beautiful sunrise. I manage to take a quick picture of it on my phone as I ride along.
Eventually, I get into a nice pace line for a bit. They kind of slow down as we roll past winters so I pass them up. After a little bit, the line catches up to me and rides my tail for a bit. It starts to get a little bit windy as we get near Cardiac hill. One fellow helps pull me for a bit through the wind.
Then we all start climbing the hill. All sorts of fast people pass me as I climb up this hill. I just trudge my way up the hill. I have climbed this hill a number of times so know it to not be that big of a deal. There are bigger hills for later in the day. However, not too far up the hill, I feel a twinge on my left hip (around the hip flexor). It nearly cramps up.
Then, the climb gets really hard. I eat a few shot blocks but my legs and hips are just screaming in pain as I climb up this hill. I am in a so much pain and feeling so miserable, I nearly want to cry. I think I feel my eyes welling up a little bit as I continue to truck up this hill. I know I am nearing 50 miles and thinking I am only 1/4 of the way through this day. This day is going to be a very long day.
I keep going but I do really want to cry. I think about my friends who have encouraged me in my craziness and the ones that have been following me along in my adventures. I remember some of their encouraging comments. I remember I am an endurance athlete and so I am trained to endure...this is what it is about...going when things get rough. So, I keep going, despite feeling miserable.
I finally start descending and I just fly down the hill. And not too long after, I reach the rest stop.
Tweet: "the climb up cardiac hurt...my hips and legs are weary! but made it to mile 60...it's going to be a long day!"
At the rest stop, I pop some sport legs capsules, refill my water, and eat a bagel and some fruit. I check my phone and see a few encouraging messages from friends. This helps a little. From Daphni, I see "Ride your own ride"; From Wendy, I see "That's our girl!" I also see a couple text messages from Craig. He has been sending me messages throughout each day of riding, which always peps me up. But, at this time, I had hit a low and his messages are even more appreciated, though they do almost make me want to cry again. One of his messages is him telling what a crazy, amazing girl he thinks I am. He always says just the nicest things to me and right now, it makes me feel better. I tell him how Cardiac really hurt and how I am in a lot of pain.
I then get back on the bike and continue on. I decide to be more diligent about my fueling now. I take a shot block every 20 minutes. I make sure I am drinking water routinely too.
I hit some rollers and am doing okay. A couple folks pass me by and making nice comments such as "good job." One fellow says "you're doing great #305!" It is nice to have friendly riders out. I also take in how pretty it is riding out near Berryessa and wine country. Beautiful countryside
I eventually get into a nice rhythm. My cycling legs have somewhat found their groove again. I do not hurt so much as before. And, in not too long, I have made it to the next rest stop. I like the rest stops at the Davis Double are much closer together than they were when I did the Solvang Double.
Tweet: "my climbing legs are doing better. hip kind of wants to cramp but I'm being diligent about fueling. at mile 79. it's pretty out!"
At this rest stop, I use the bathroom. Then, I eat a bunch of fruit. Some watermelon and orange slices. I see pickles there and remember someone saying how pickles are good. I cannot remember if it helps cramping or what but figure, I should eat some.
As I am eating away, I hear someone holler my name and turn to see my friend Mike. Mike is a very high energy, positive guy. I am so happy to see him. His energy gives me energy and peps me back up. We chit chat a quick bit. He had started a little after I did. He asks if I have seen any of the HW guys. I tell him how they all ditched me early on. He just about rolls over on the floor laughing.
Then, I see my friend Tim and Julie. Both greet me and we chit chat a quick bit. I am really happy to see some friends at this time. I had been struggling out there by myself and seeing friendly faces really energizes me back up.
I get back on the road feeling like I have a second wind kicking in. Shortly after rolling out, as I am climbing a roller hill, Tim rides past me. He gives me some encouraging words (which I really appreciate) and off he goes, seeing if he catch the other guys.
As I ride along, I recognize where I am. I rode out here for my half ironman earlier in the month. I know that Honey Hill is coming up. It is not a super tough climb but still a decent climb. I eat a GU before reaching Honey Hill hoping this hill goes better than Cardiac did.
I hit the hill and climb it without much struggle. My climbing legs seem to have finally warmed up and climbing like normal again. My hip is not bothering me so much now. Though, as I am climbing, I have a little trouble breathing. I feel my lungs close up a little bit. It does not slow me down but I do pant quite heavily as I get up the hill.
Once over the hill, I feel alright. It is such a relief that my legs are feeling much better, especially my climbing legs. I am nearing the 100 mile mark thinking good, I am nearly halfway done.
Tweet: "mile 98...had a little trouble breathing as I climb honey hill but legs felt ok. i feel good now!"
At the next rest stop, I see they have cold Cokes! I down a Coke and eat a handful of potato chips. The salty chips really hit the spot! I know a big climb is coming, Cobb Mountain, and hoping the Coke will give the energy I need to get up it.
Not too long after rolling out, this couple passes me. The guy says "you know, you ride like a girl" (trying to be funny because of my jersey). Oh, how funny (*sarcasm*). The girl riding next to him says "he means that as a compliment." He then says "you'll probably pass me on the hill later." I watch them disappear ahead of me.
As I then head on out towards Cobb Mountain. Some of my cyclist friends had described this hill to be quite the climb. Last night, I looked it up and checked out the grade on ridewithgps or something. I did not see too bad of grades for this hill. Look to be a long(ish) steady(ish) climb.
Whatever I was looking at last night about Cobb Mountain was not accurate at all! I climb along this hill and it starts getting a bit steeper than anticipated. I flip my garmin to the screen that I can see the grade. The grade is over 10%. It flips between 16-17% at some points. Geez! A bit steeper than I thought but my climbing legs are feeling strong and I just pedal my way up, up, up the hill.
This climb starts to get a bit warm out. My sweat is just dripping down my face. A little bit into my eyes. My eyes sting a little bit since I wear contacts. I pull off my sunglasses and stuff them into my jersey pocket. I then pour some water on my head to keep me cool. I continue climbing away wondering just how long is this hill.
As I am climbing this hill, I am thinking this is kind of like Beatty (a hill in El Dorado Hills I am highly familiar with). There are some moderate grade sections and then the steeper section in the middle then back to the moderate grade but it is like repeats of it but without the descent. But, Beatty does not bother me quite as much as it does others. So, I keep going along up the hill.
At one point, I spot the guy who said "you ride like a girl." He's weaving back and forth on the road. I slowly inch up to him and eventually pass him. I am very tempted to make some comment about "This is how a girl rides" but he seems to be struggling so I let him be.
A bit later up the hill, it is getting toasty up this hill. I pour more water on myself and make sure I am consistently sipping water. I still feel pretty good going up this hill though good grief, where is the top?!
I see my friend Mike on the side of the road, in some shade. I ask him if he's okay. he says he's taking a little rest. Shortly after I pass him, I see him get back on his bike. I look back and he seems to be doing okay.
Finally, I see what seems to be the top. Then, I see the rest stop. Yes! As I near the rest stop, I spot Jeff riding out of the rest stop. He does not see me. But, I feel happy that I have nearly caught up to some of the guys I started out with this morning.
Tweet: "after 100 miles, they throw you one long, hot, not so low grade hill...but I got up Cobb Mountain without stopping! @107 miles!"
Arriving into this rest stop, I feel pretty happy having gotten up Cobb Mountain without stopping. My climbing legs feel strong and I feel good all around. I am glad whatever misery I felt around mile 50 has passed.
I refill my water bottles and find a nice, well earned cold Coke to drink! Oh so refreshing after that long, rather warm climb! As I am standing around, I spot my friend Griff. He is another very high energy, enthusiastic friend. He asks me how doing the AIDS ride and the double are going. He gives me some encouraging words and off he goes.
This guy (Carl), who I had seen riding with my friend Mike earlier, approaches me. He asks me if I saw Mike as he's been waiting for him. I tell him that Mike is not too far behind me. We chit chat a little bit.
Shortly later, my friend Mike rolls into the rest stop. Poor guy looks tired. He introduces me to his friend Carl. We tell him we kind of already met. Mike tells me how Carl is a runner too. Carl has run the Western States 100 (on my bucket list of crazy things). We talk about crazy running & cycling endurance events as Mike gets some food and such. Always fun to meet another fellow crazy person.
I then spot Julie as she rolls into the rest stop. Julie always complains about hills and how she thinks she is no good on them, though I feel she has gotten much stronger on hills lately. I am so delighted to see her reach the top of Cobb Mountain. I expect her to complain about the hill but she does not. She tells me how she made it all the way up without stopping or walking, which she had to do last year. I am so very proud of her!
After a bit, I get ready to roll out. Mike and Carl roll out with me but they do not stay too long with me before disappearing ahead of me.
I start a descent. I have gotten faster on my descents lately and ready to go down this hill fast and furiously. I start flying down the hill. A little bit down the hill, my front wheel starts to wobble a little. I still have control so I brake a little bit to slow down but continue descending. The wobble gets even worse and I feel like my whole front wheel and handlebars are wobbling WAY out of hand. This freaks me out. I wonder if I broke a spoke.
I look to see a safe place to pull over and spot a small driveway like area to the right. I direct my bike in that direction and start braking more. The front wheel is wobbling around like mad. I get the bike to stop on the side. A couple cyclists behind me ask me if I am okay and alert other cyclists coming down to slow down. I say I am fine. I hear them mumble something about my wobble as they continue down the hill.
I get off my bike and check the wheels. It looks to be okay. No broken spokes. The tires are not flat. I do not know what is causing the wobbling. I let the rims cool down a bit since I had to brake rather hard to stop mid descent. I decide I should continue on, descend a little slower.
I roll down the hill. An occasional wobble would start but then I slow down my descent. I get down okay. Very odd. I may have to have my bike looked at when I get to the lunch stop. But, this has me a bit worried as I still have a fair amount of riding to do. And, I need Georgie to get me through it all.
As I reach the lunch stop, I feel pretty tried. I also find I am a bit behind the time I had expected to ride. I feel a little disappointed but think if I make this lunch stop brief, I can try to pick things up after lunch.
Tweet: "had a scary descent in which bike wobbled crazily. stopped & checked bike ok. made it to lunch stop- 120 miles"
At the lunch stop, I find a few of my friends - Jeff, Todd, Rex, and Julie. I sit and have lunch with them for a bit. The food is pretty good and it is nice to have lunch with friends. In Solvang, my last double, I sat and ate a quick lunch all alone. The support here is great. Good food, cold drinks, and lots of ice to refill our water bottles with. They even are giving cyclists ice in socks to put on their necks.
After a little longer than planned, I get back on the bike. As I pedal out of the lunch stop, my knees and legs are achy. They have a tough time restarting. I ride my way out of Clearlake, or whatever town we are in. I am feeling kind of slow but legs are still spinning.
A pace line comes past me. I do not bother to try to latch on anymore as my legs are too tired for such. As the tail of the pace line comes by, I see Julie is the tail and she says "get on!" So, I do. I ride not very far before I feel far too tired to hang out and let myself fall off the pace line.
As I am drifting back, Julie looks back. She sees me fall off the pace line. She then falls back letting the pace line go. She slows down until I am back on her wheel and then starts pulling me. What an angel she is! I think as I ride along how this is the WAV spirit I love! (WAV is my women's cycling group. My biggest emphasis with this group is that we never leave a woman behind). Here we are in the Davis Double and Julie, my sweet angel, did not just let me get dropped. I think about how wonderful my WAV girls all are. The WAV girls donated the most out of my friends to NCAC and a bunch of them will be cycling to the Capitol on Sunday to welcome me home. And, here I am in the middle of the hardest day, feeling a bit weary, and one of my WAV girls has come to help pull me along, not letting me just get dropped.
She pulls me along for a bit. As we get to Resurrection hill. Julie knows I am a stronger hill climber than her so as we approach the hill, she says she will be so slow on the hill and I can just leave her behind. Silly girl, like I would do that after she hung back to help pull me along.
We climb the hill. I keep her in my sight behind me. She seems to be doing okay on the hill. My climbing legs still have their groove so gets up Resurrection without much issues. It is hot as heck though. There is no cover at all here and not pretty at all. At least with Cobb Mountain, there were trees around and lovely scenery as you dragged yourself up the hill. This is just concrete and dirt around me.
My feet start to burn a bit as I reach the top. They feel like they are on fire. I try to loosen up the straps to see if that would help.
Tweet: "a pace line dropped me but Julie, my angel, fell back to pull me along! that's the WAV spirit I love!"
Tweet: "mile 140ish. just conquered resurrection hill! time for a cold coke!"
At the rest stop on top of Resurrection, I take off my cycling shoes to hoping relieve the burning in my feet. But, it is so dang hot up on this hill, the ground is too hot to stand on in socks. I spot Todd taking shade cover in one of the tents. I see Jeff and Rex for a quick bit before they take off. They say it's pretty much all downhill and flat from here.
I drink a cold Coke and eat a quick snack before getting back on the bike. I thank Julie for helping me along and start getting going again. I do not want to rest too long as my legs stiffen up pretty quickly now.
As I start descending, I start to notice that my front handlebar bag does have a lot of stuff on it so hanging a little bit low. Is this what is causing the wobble? Is the bag hitting the front wheel? And sure enough as I start descending, the wobble starts again. I then yank the straps to tighten them up more. And, the wobble stops. Yes, problem solved!
I ride along and turn onto Highway 16. After a little bit, I see a pink arrow on the ground. I know those pink arrows. They are the markers for the NCAC route. I have finally reached the point where the NCAC route and the Davis Double intersect. Of course, it's mid afternoon now so the NCAC riders have probably long passed. I am a bit bummed. I had hoped to see some of them today. I still hope to finish early enough to get back in time for the evening program but I see that I am behind schedule and just getting more and more tired as I go. *sigh*
I continue along, occasionally seeing a pink arrow here and there. I see where some of the NCAC rest stops were earlier that day. The pink arrows are comforting to see as I trudge along this hot afternoon. Though, as I calculate how much more I have to ride and the time of day it is, I see my finish time getting later and later. I feel a little sad I will likely be missing dinner and the evening program. I feel bad about it since tonight was the family night. I had looked forward to returning to NCAC this evening and Craig seemed excited about going to the family/friends dinner. But, I have so much more riding still left to do and as I continue on, it seems less and less likely I will make it back in time. :(
My feet continue to feel like they are on fire. They do not want to be in my cycle shoes any more. The sides feel tight. My feet start to hurt quite a bit. My legs are still spinning just fine but my feet are burning with pain. I try squirting some water from my bottle on my feet. It does not help really and probably made things worse as I could blister more now. I try to unstrap the shoes again hoping that them being looser may relieve some of the burning. This does not help. I am in SO much pain.
The pain gets to the point of unbearable. So, when I reach a flat portion and seeing that it probably is relatively flat from here to the next stop, I just pull my feet out of my shoes, which are still clipped into the pedals. I put my feet on top of my shoes and pedal away. They feel much better now to be aired out and not confined into the tight shoes!
For about 3 miles, I ride with my feet on top of my cycle shoes. Then, I reach the Guinda rest stop.
Tweet: "last stretch was long, hot and exhausting. made it to the NCAC route. think I'm so far behind i'm going to miss the NCAC dinner & festivities later :("
Tweet: "oh at mile 165...roiute will be longer than 200...my feet are burning in pain but legs feel ok!"
At the rest stop, I feel a little dismayed that I am so far behind schedule. I feel rather tired and cranky. I get getting a bit mad at some friends making comments on facebook about what my bike may need (because of the wobbling problem). I SO do not need that right now. I am out in the middle of nowhere having ridden 350+ miles in 3 days now and feeling blah.
I text Craig that I am tired and cranky and how I am running late and how I think we'll be missing the whole NCAC dinner. I feel so bad now. He replies, telling me it's okay and he'll be there when I finish. He sends some more encouraging messages and this helps pep me up. I may have gotten a little in over my head with this crazy four day endeavor but I am determined to finish what I started.
I wander to the back of the rest stop and see some Todd, Jeff, and Rex here. Todd and Jeff seem rather spent. I feel it too. I head over to the food table and see they have boiled potatoes here. For long endurance trail runs, potatoes are one of my favorite rest stop items. Oh, I am so excited to see them here. I eat about 4-5 of them, with salt added on. Potatoes and another can of coke, I feel revived a bit.
There is a kiddie pool here that some of the cyclists have their feet in. I am glad I am not the only one who had burning feet. I take of my socks and wade my feet into the kiddie pool for a little bit, cooling down my poor hot feet.
Then, I get myself back on the bike. Going to at least try to finish before sundown. It will be close though.
I ride along a mostly flat road. I pass Cache Creek. I still see the NCAC pink arrows. While I did not get to see any of the NCAC folks today, it is nice that I am now riding along the same course.
My legs are still spinning pretty well considering the amount of miles I put on them. I roll into the countryside and there are big fields. The air seems to have a lot of dust in it. I start having a hard time breathing. I am panting away, practically gasping for air. At one point, I sound like I am dying but the rest of me feels okay. I start to hyperventilate but I do not want to stop. I want to keep going. I am going forward.
I begin to feel it now. Not the pain, not the exhaustion, but the sheer determination and will power. It is like a fire inside of me is ignited and I am pushing my way to that darn finish. I did this crazy thing because I want this. I want to finish this double and that drive is keeping me going.
Tweet: "at 183 miles. legs feeling strong though dust in the air had me hyperventilating a bit...but still going going going..."
At the rest stop, I make it quick. I dump a bottle of water on my head. My breathing goes back to normal. I refill my water. I see my friend Joan and her husband roll in. I am so happy to see Joan. (Joan has been one person who really encouraged me to do double centuries and go for my triple crown.). I also see Todd and Jeff roll in. The two wander to two lawn chairs and plop themselves down, ready to rest for a bit. I look at the sun and know I have to really book it to beat sundown. So, I get right back on the bike and off I go again.
After a little bit, a couple Sacramento Wheelmen guys pass me. I think we had passed each other earlier. One man tells me I am doing a good job. As the two guys pass, I latch myself onto their draft and we go flying along the country roads for a bit.
We near the last rest stop. I have heard the last stop has grilled cheese sandwiches and other yummy treats but it is only ~10 miles from the finish. I debate whether I want to just blow through the last rest stop and really fight to finish before sundown or make the stop. Grilled cheese does sound good. I remember the last rest stop in Solvang was the best with chili soup.
I look at the sun setting as I race along the country roads. I think I am going to have to pull out my headlamp soon. I think I may let the sun win today. I decide I will stop at the last rest stop at the Fire Station.
Tweet: "at last rest stop. less than 10 miles to go!"
This rest stop is most certainly the best rest stop of the day. It is inside a fire station. Super friendly volunteers here. I eat a couple grilled cheese sandwiches, which taste amazing! A lady gives me a cup of pea soup, amazing also! I drink a cold Pepsi and enjoy my soup. I am glad I made this stop.
I also take the time to pull out my lighting equipment for night riding. After finishing up my food and Pepsi, I get back on the bike for the final stretch.
We head down very familiar country roads now. I feel that Davis is near. I do not need to look at the route sheet to know where I am going anymore. I know the way home and my legs are just flying now. I feel I have a third/fourth wind or whatever you want to call it kick. I am going to do this. I want this. I want to be that crazy person who finishes this double century having already ridding 200 miles the two days priors. I am going to finish my second double century. The want and determination is strong and it is sheer grit that has me going.
I get into Davis and I get stopped at a stoplight on Villanova. I push the button waiting for the light to change. And just as the light turns green, this guy I had passed earlier comes flying pass me. I lay down the hammer and go chasing after him. I want to finish ahead of him and I do catch him and pass him. I then come flying down the final stretch past the high school to the Veteran's Memorial Building.
I slow down to turn into the driveway of the parking lot. The crowd of friends and family members clap as I roll in (they are doing this to all the cyclists finishing). A rather nice way to finish. And, as I roll in, on the side, in the dark, I spot Craig. I ride right up to him and then unclip. Finally, I can get off the bike.
Tweet: "finished the Davis Double and day 3 of insanity!! booyah!"
Done! Finished my longest ride ever! And, that's how a girl rides! ;-)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
I want to thank all my friends for their support before, during, and after the ride. The numerous messages of encouragement many of you sent during the ride really helped me get through the ride. Special thanks to Javier & Joanne in sending the most supportive messages throughout the day!!
Thanks to Jeff S., Todd, Rex, Kevin, Tim, Julie, Mike K., Dale, Carl, Griff and Joan for riding at least some of it with me and/or seeing your friendly faces out there. Good seeing you all out there! Congrats to you all for doing the Davis Double! Special thanks to my sweetie Julie for helping me out in the middle there! I greatly appreciated it!
Thank you Tawny for putting such a ridiculous crazy idea into my head as I am glad I am doing it, though I might not have been so glad during some of it! Congrats to you in finishing yet another double! Bummer we didn't get to see each other!
Thank you to all the support from all the NCAC folks in me doing this crazy endeavor!
Thanks to WAV and Hammerin' Wheels for all the rides we did together to have me prepared for such an endeavor! Also, thanks to Java Joggers just 'cause you rock and have really helped me get me to where I am today as an athlete, and a happy (though crazy) person.
And lastly, thanks to Craig: I am lucky to have someone who is so very supportive of my crazy endeavors! Your messages throughout the day really helped me through, especially through some of the tough parts! And, I am grateful you were there to see me finish! :)
Why, please tell me WHY??? ;) ;) ;)
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