Wacky W

Today I participated in the Wacky W ride.  This is a ride to benefit Douglas County Schools, with a 45, 62 and 100 mile route, along with a 6-mile family ride.  Last year, I did the metric century, 62 miles (100 kilometers).  This year, I opted for the true century ride.

I was feeling really good at the start, and was riding very strong.  I was skipping a few of the aid stations, fine with what I was carrying with me.  Or I made a quick 2-3 minute stop just to grab a quick Clif Bar and some Oreos.  By the time I got to the turn-around aid station, at about 57 miles, I was still feeling really good.  I took a little longer there, since it was starting to get pretty hot out.  I chatted with a number of people, ate and drank plenty, and had a bathroom break.  Then, back on the bike.

From that aid station, it looked like a lot of people took off in the wrong direction, while I followed the signs.  I was pretty comfortable that I was going the right way, and I ran into various signs and staff who assured me of that.  But when I looked at Strava this afternoon, I could see that a lot of the people went the wrong way, which actually cut about 4 miles off their ride.  Whatever, I was still feeling pretty good.

I headed back the way I came, passing the aid station at mile 76, figuring I had a pretty easy ride back.  Last year, on the first half of the ride, I was heading south on highway 105, climbing into a headwind, so when I turned around and headed back north, it was smooth sailing, downhill with a tailwind.  I was expecting more of the same today.  However, the ride north on 105 was into a headwind, making that section of the ride much harder than I was planning on, even though it was generally downhill.

I was starting to feel pretty miserable, a combination of a long day in the saddle, along with the increasing heat.  I slowly made my way to the last aid station, at 90 miles.  I was desperate for a break, and grabbed a lot of water and food, and took a chair away from one of the Campus Cycles guys that were on hand for emergency bike repairs.  I figured I'd take a nice rest, and eventually feel better so I could finish up the ride.  But it just never happened.  It was about 95-degrees, with sun beating down.  The shade was nice, but it was still hot.  I got up and walked around a little bit, but just wasn't feeling any better.  And the last 10 miles of this ride are really tough, with a thousand-foot killer climb up to Daniels Park.  If the last ten miles were going to be easy, maybe I could have made it.  But I really didn't think I'd be able to do that climb.  It was time to give up and call it a day.

So, I hung out for a little bit, and one of the ride staff came by in a car, looking for people like me that weren't going to be able to finish.  I threw my bike on a rack, and got a very comfortable ride back to the finish, passing all the riders I had recently seen at the aid station.  Watching them struggle up Daniels Park Road, I was glad I didn't give it a try.

I grabbed a late lunch of Tokyo Joe's at the finish, and plowed through a bottle of Gatorade.  Then, back in the car with an ice cold Coke for the drive home.

Overall, I'm disappointed that I didn't finish the whole ride.  Especially because I came so close.  But it was crazy hot out there, so whatever.  I have one final century ride coming up next weekend, and the weather looks to be significantly cooler.  Looking forward to it.

Here's today's ride: