California Classic Weekend- The Ride

(I am skipping the Week in Review for 5/13 - 5/19.  It was boring anyway, with tapering for this event and all.)

The California Classic Challenge...that is what the event is called when the same person does the century ride (100 miles) on Saturday and the half marathon (13.1 miles) run on Sunday.  Well, I have been officially "challenged"!  Wowzers...let me explain.

The Ride:

The Food:

The night before the ride, I set out everything I might possibly need for the ride.  I set out what I expected to carry as fuel- if you remember a previous post, you will know that I tend to have a fear of starving.  Here is what I am planning on stuffing in my pockets:

And this is what I looked like (with the addition of my phone, camera and some extra sunscreen):

I felt like a backwards kangaroo all day! And in hind sight, I didn't need hardly any of it.  The aid stations were so fantastic!  Check out the aid station at mile 53 (they even had Subway sandwiches!):

I indulged in some M & M's...they totally hit the spot!

I kept the food and drink coming at least every 45 minutes.  At about mile 80 I started fueling every 30 minutes because I could feel the legs getting tired. 

The Fun:

Did I have fun?  Oh, yes I did!!!  Here is the starting line (there were even more cyclists behind our group):

I was part of a group called "Remember Haiti" cycling team.  We raised money for Christian Friendship Ministries (christianfriendshipministries.org) and spent the first 15 miles together. 

As part of the course we were able to ride on Highway 168 for about 10 miles.  That was very cool!

I just had to call out "car back" while we were on it.  Totally fooled someone too, which made it all the more fun.

The course also took us on some beautiful scenery:

Cattle grates are not very fun to ride over.  The worst one to cross was when we were going uphill, so the speed was slow.  I thought I was going to get stuck in one!

Pat and Wonder Valley...just before our "little" climb.  It really wasn't that bad, thanks to some hill training and Pat being informative that the hill would be over by the time we reached mile 50!  He had also warned me that there would be people stopped in the shade and walking their bikes.  Sure enough, there were!  The hill wasn't that steep, just three miles or so long.  But three miles without a break...those are some long three miles!

One more fun part is pictured above: The Ironbirds swooped near the nest!  Yes, that's right...the course took us right by Fresno Pacific on Chestnut Avenue.  It was fabulous to be back in the old 'hood!  We were right around mile 95 at this point.  The course took us straight down Kings Canyon, to downtown, and finally to the finish!

Woop, bam!  One HUNDRED miles later... but really we rode more than that.  Let me explain.

The Folks:
Our series of detours began early on.  At about mile 20 there was an accident ahead of us on Herndon.  There was a fire truck, an ambulance, and bicyclists congested.  There was also a street that would take us right, there was a group of cyclists ahead of us who turned onto it, so Pat had the "brilliant" (see sarcasm) idea of turning too.  We knew where we were, but soon realized that the group ahead of us were not associated with the century ride!  Woops!  We got back on course on Academy, but noticed we would be about 1/4 mile under the official distance.  Somehow we would have to make sure 100 miles showed up on the Garmin afterwards!

There were a lot of cyclists out there, and it was nice to see some familiar faces along the way.  Sure enough, we caught up with my tri friends Amanda and Becki.  I was able to chat with them a little bit and saw them again at the mile 25 aid station.  Fabulous folks, indeed!

Around mile 60 we met some less than fabulous folks.  This is the introduction for detour number two.  Pat and I were riding in a line, minding our own business when a group of four cyclists came and jumped on our line.  That's a fine, totally normal thing to do.  It's called drafting.  Pat was leading and noticed we had company, and was working hard to pull all of us.  At about mile 64 I offered to lead, and Pat accepted.  The cyclist behind me offered for Pat to fall right behind me, but Pat decided to go to the end of the line (because that way they would have to take a turn eventually at leading, and because he needed a break- it's easiest at the end!).  At about mile 65 there was a right turn on the course...guess who didn't see it?  And guess who didn't say anything? 

Picture this:  Kerry Sue riding along, wrapped up in the responsibility of leading total strangers.  The group of strangers make the turn, Kerry Sue keeps riding like crazy, Pat is screaming "KERRY SUE!!!" over and over.  Kerry Sue finally turns around and notices there is NO ONE behind her...wait, no, there's Pat!  Why is he so far back?  And...wait...is he giving the sign to turn around?  No way.  That's what you call "bonus miles." 

Fortunately, the rude folks part ends with that story!  On the last 10 miles we met two more men who joined our line.  These guys were nice enough to take their turn leading.  It's really just common courtesy.  They even helped us out during detour number three.  We missed another turn once we got into downtown, but quickly turned around and made it to the finish. 

Here is a link to see our ride and details:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/180376519

Besides having issues with my butt hardly ever feeling comfortable, and my left toes cramping fiercely, it was a GREAT ride!  I still can't believe it was 100 miles.  There was some great scenery, met new friends, saw old friends, and forged confidence for the Ironman!