I am a total badass - Gran Fondo Ride Report

As noted in my last post, I was TERRIFIED for the ride this weekend. 8,000 feet of climbing, with steep, twisty descents. After this weekend, I went from feeling terrified to feeling like a TOTAL BADASS.

This ride was RELENTLESS. The hills were non-stop, and they were long and steep. The final climb was from Deep Creek Lake, up to the top of WISP mountain, a ski resort. The AVERAGE slope was 13% (to put it in perspective, the biggest slope you typically see on the highways is a 6% grade). The downhills were pretty twisty/scary so I was almost happier to be climbing than descending. I did manage to work on my descending form although I probably wore out my front break. Here is the elevation chart (note that the scale is 2,000ft and there are at least 8 mountain passes):

The first 18 miles to the first aid station had 1500 ft of climbing (it was mostly down) and took 1 hr and 20 minutes. The 22 miles between the first and second aid station took almost 3 hours and had 3700ft of climbing. Total ride time was around 6 hrs 15 minutes (excluding time at aid stations).

While I think back on Bike and Build, the ride reminded me of the Berkshire mountains and the days leading up to Pittsburgh. However, I think that those rides stand out in my mind as being difficult mainly because of the fact that we biked several days in a row and I was a completely inexperienced biker. This time around, I have a lot of faith in my cycling abilities. And I can truly say that this is probably the most difficult ride route I have ever done. 


Keeping this in mind, I totally rocked it (for me)! Due to the relentless, steep climbs that made me bike 2-3mph, I averaged only about 10 mph (compared to 14-16 usually). Every hill I saw bikers getting off their bike to walk, especially the final climb. I was tempted, but I remembered my badass friend Emily Pedneau who had a rule when doing bike and build to never stop mid-climb. With that in the back of my head, I just kept pedaling. (My mantra was chocolate - peanut butter - ice cream, chocolate - peanut butter - ice cream - true Mahoney on the inside.) Emily's rule and my mantra got me up all the hills but one. The one (see the elevation chart right after mile 45) had me going soooo slow, that when a biker passed me and I tried to make a correction, my bike slid out from under me and I hit the ground (only wounding my pride in the process, although I did end up with a grease mark on my upper arm somehow). Unfortunately, it was near the top of the hill, so I only could get away with walking about 50 yards before the road slope was such that I could get back on my bike.



Here is why I feel badass - I never would have been able to do this back in my bike and build days. I was not good at the whole biking thing and there are so many times I quit before I needed to. I was so proud to get through this ride and to feel strong up the hills (albeit real slow). The last 10 miles were mentally and physically rough, but I just kept pedaling and never gave up. I feel so awesome today and this is a reminder of why I do these things. It truly is masochistic (hence the name masochistic metric), but to be able to see what I am able to accomplish just gives me so much confidence in myself. And the chocolate peanut butter ice cream at the creamery later was a worth it as well.


After the ride, I showered and headed to the Team Z cheering station, positioned well on the final climb to help people up the hill. They were pretty much the only people cheering along the entire route (one of the reasons I love being part of the team). The ride was short of volunteers near the end and I ended up helping out at the final aid station for awhile before finally heading out around 6:30 to grab some dinner and ice cream from the local creamery. The evening ended with about an hour in the hot tub back at the rental house I was staying at, on the porch overlooking the lake. 


This morning I woke up early, grabbed breakfast with the team, and then did a practice open water swim (sans wetsuit) in the lake before heading back home. It was a great morning and an overall great weekend. Would I do the ride again? While riding yesterday I was saying "Hell no!" but of course, as always, I am not rethinking that decision and will most likely end up back there again. (If you think I am a badass, there were people who rode 125 miles of the relentless terrain yesterday. Shoot me if I ever sign up for that).



And now some pictures:

 Early Morning at the start

The view from the start

 125  milers getting ready to start

 off they go - that descent was SCARY! You could smell the brakes burning. One of our guys had his back wheel burst due to the heat of the brake-friction. Luckily he's okay.

Cliff - This guy did 100 miles with a smile on his face! He even recruited his wife to do the 25 (that included the final climb) - I would guess his wife had some choice words for him that climb

Mary getting her bike ready - she hit 54mph on one of the descents!

 More Zers

Beginning of the ride

Steel Drums at the first aid station!

 Not sure the grade is apparent but that hill went straight up. And I biked it!

 View from the top

 Team Z tent cheering on a rider

One of the several limos we saw that day

Again, the picture doesn't do justice to the slope but I guarantee you is was tough!

I might die this weekend...

I am TERRIFIED for tomorrow. I made the mistake of signing up for a 62 mile ride that I thought was going to be difficult but doable. Instead, I found out it has 8,000 feet of climbing (my hilly 90 miler was only 4,000) and tons of twisty descents (maybe the name "masochistic metric" should have given me a clue). I HATE descending with tons of curves and twists, especially after my ride into johnstown, PA (14% descent with a traffic light at the bottom). So if I don't survive, it has been nice knowing you.

Key tidbits from the athlete's guide:

At 62 miles and 8,000 feet of climbing, the "Masochistic Metric" is as challenging a single metric century ride as exists. The route follows the "Diabolical Double" and "Savage Century" rides through mile 47 before turning south to head through beautiful, rolling farmland culminating in the climb up Overlook Pass to the summit finish atop Wisp Mountain. The "Masochistic Metric" route includes the majority of the steepest, and for many people the toughest, of the climbs of the Savage Century and Diabolical Double routes. Compact cranks or triples are very strongly encouraged. 

All rides finish atop Wisp Mountain after a cruel, final climb to the summit finish at ASCI.  

Steep descent with dangerous off-camber switchback

steep, narrow, twisty descent (x4)

Descents

What goes up, must come down.  There is as much descending as there is climbing, and  much of it is steep and technical.  Many of the roads are very remote and seldom traveled  which makes for beautiful cycling, but also makes for roads that can get gravelly runoff  after rains.  Take care on descents.  And please ensure your brakes and brake pads are in  good working condition.  You will be using them extensively. 

Confidence Boosting

This weekend was such a great confidence booster, with a little bit of a bump. Last weekend my workout was a brick workout - a 3 hour bike ride followed by a 90 minute run along the C&O canal. I felt awful the entire time and was not having much fun. This weekend was a completely different story (except for my run).

Saturday morning I woke up at 4:40am to head to Culpeper for a 90 mile bike ride.Unfortunately, I had major insomnia issues Friday night & didn't fall asleep until after midnight. Part of it was because I was pretty worried about this ride. Culpeper is one of the hilliest rides Team Z does and people kept talking about how challenging it is. I made it to the ride at around 6:45 and was greeted with this scenic setting (makes the rides worth it) and several other team z members:

This is just a small bit of the beauty that we saw throughout the day. After a bunch of nervous small talk, the group took off just after 7am. I didn't have anyone I was definitely riding with, which is not a good way to spend 90 miles. After a few miles, I came up on Mary, someone who I have ridden with before and who knows how to pace herself throughout these rides so I settled in behind her for the start. She was with this other woman, Linda, and we had several other people around us. After Mary chased down another biker who took a wrong turn, Linda and I waited for her and we became a cohesive riding group for the day. Thank goodness! It made the day a lot more fun and Mary gave me some great advice. Linda also has done Wisconsin previously and was able to give me a lot of insight into the race and give me confidence in my ability. Here are pics of Linda and I in front of Old Rag:

I will admit, I was suffering the last 20 miles or so, mainly because I was bonking slightly and needed more salty, less sweet food items (next ride I will have salt tablets to use to help replace salt which I think will be important). However, I felt MUCH better than I did at the end of the 80 mile ride, which was much more humid and much hillier (at least in my mind). There was never a point where I didn't think I could go on, or where I wanted to cry at the sight of another hill (oh yes, it's happened before). At the end (after ~6 1/2 hours of riding in 7 hours), everyone was saying that if we could do this ride, we could do Wisconsin. That is a HUGE boost to my confidence.

One thing it has made me realize is that I really wish I had known more about nutrition when I was on Bike and Build. My nutrition strategy has done a 180 and I truly understand the importance of electrolytes (salt, gels, gatorades). I was sick a lot of the last part of the trip, primarily driven by the heat. I often wonder what would the trip have been like had I known how to fuel for the rides. I am a MUCH stronger biker now, and a huge part of that is just knowledge.

Anyways, I drove immediately from the ride to my friend Robyn's because we were throwing a surprise bridal tea for my friend Reetika's engagement. Initially when we made the plans, I thought we would be riding on Sunday. Luckily, Robyn is quite the gracious host so she allowed me to shower at her place. It was weird going from spandex to a dress so quickly but that seems to be my life these days. It was good hanging out with the girls, and happily Reetika's fiance ended up joining us so we could get to know him better. Poor guy! He handled the tea well.

This morning I woke up at 6am on my own (no sleep this weekend!) and went for a run at 7:30am. It was HORRIBLE. The humidity enveloped me within the first 5 minutes and I struggled tremendously. My 13-14 miler turned into an 11 miler. However, this has not shaken my confidence too much because I trained for Marine Corps last summer and despite similar struggles in the humidity, I pulled together a good race.

After that, I went to the Millbrook Quarry in Gainesville for a practice open water swim. The place was beautfiul and the water was awesome! They had set up a 650m loop and I managed to do 3 loops (~a half-ironman distance swim of 1.2 miles) with a wetsuit, only resting about 2 minutes between each. Each loop was about 14 minutes, which puts me on pace for a 90 minute swim. I could have done more, but I had to head to the animal shelter afterwards (to cuddle with puppies since I had no energy to walk them). I have not done an open water swim since November 2010 and the swim has been freaking me out a lot lately, especially not being able to swim in London. After this experience, I am so much more confident that I will be fine in the swim as long as I keep practicing and don't let up. I forgot my camera, so here is a pic from the Team Z facebook swim of the quarry:

All in all, this weekend really boosted my confidence. I will be prepared for this Ironman, and I have it in me. The race is now less than 3 months away (~12 weeks!) and I am looking forward to it rather than fearing it at this point. The rest of the summer will be incredibly busy. I have a 100k bike ride with 8,000ft of climbing June 23rd (eeek!), am heading to Wisconsin the end of the month to preview the course, and have a half-ironman in upstate new york July 14th. I am looking forward to making some more great memories and new friends! Now it's time to head to bed (before 9) to catch up on some much needed sleep. Thank goodness this week is a recovery week...

UK round 2 - A MUCH different experience

This has been a crazy whirlwind of a month. I got back from the UK April 27^th, and then was heading back to Glasgow/London May 12^th. In between, I didn’t actually unpack from the two trips and my life was in a bit of a limbo (here but not enough to settle back in). During my two weeks home, I hit training pretty hard, knowing it would be difficult to get back to it once I left again. I was reminded that the humidity really affects me (my 50 mile ride in high humidity was much more difficult than my 72 mile ride the week before, although it was more enjoyable since it was with Graham catching up).

I started off my 2^nd trip with a 45 mile bike ride/6 mile brick workout that went awesome. It was on the same roads as the week before but I felt so strong the entire time. My flight to Glasgow was at 9 at night. I discovered the key to me being able to sleep on a plane is a 4 hour hard workout, a beer before the flight, and flying at my normal bedtime!

Glasgow was cold/rainy. The first night there, the winds were so bad that my friends big, sturdy umbrella completely broke. Workwise though, Glasgow was awesome. I was going in a new role within my team, and I quickly discovered that I love the role. We basically met with the head of the departments there, walked through their business processes (updating process flows), and did risk assessments of their processes, identifying  the key things they do to address the risks. Being the nerd that I am, I love that type of stuff and it suits me really well. I am also energized by interactions with people and in my other role, I mainly stick to my desk and don’t interact with people outside of my group too often in a work capacity.

The people in the Glasgow office were great! I discovered that I love Scottish accents more than British, and everyone was very welcoming. The last day, the head of the group that had been hesitant about our trip before we came (we were taking over from another group that had been difficult to deal with), was so pleased with us she brought us big blocks of Cadbury’s chocolate and even hugged us when we left. Success! Also, while it was cold/rainy, we had some great meals and the hotel had a legitimate gym (lap pool and everything) so I am looking forward to going back.

We flew to London Friday night. My manager, Melonne,  and I went out dancing Friday night. Then Saturday I woke up and did my 12 mile run in Central London. It took FOREVER due to time at stoplights/dodging tourists. Sadly, I was legitimately TRAPPED in front of Buckingham Palace for 10 minutes with about 1,000 tourists with no way to escape (they blocked off the exit paths and a barrier separated us from the street). I was definitely a bit traumatized (both of Buckingham Palace and running in London in general). In the afternoon, I hit up the Tower of London, which I had missed the last trip and it was pretty cool. Afterwards, I used my family genes to navigate to an awesome gelato place I had visited before, only vaguely knowing the name (I had it wrong) and the general area. Melonne and I ended the evening hitting up Punjab, my favorite Indian restaurant I went to before.

 Tower Bridge, NOT London Bridge as most people (even Londoners) assume

Sunday was a genuine tourist day. Melonne and I did a day trip to Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge. Needless to say, I would go to Bath again but am good on Stonehenge. Here are some pics: 

 Windsor Castle - For some reason in my head I did not think of it being a fortress

Bath - the entire city was rebuilt at the same time so it all works together very well

 There are actual Baths (Roman) in Bath

 Chapel in Bath 

 Apparently there are stones in Stonehenge

The second work week was definitely different/more challenging than the first, but ended up going really well. We were in a difficult position going in, as the office is super busy and has had loads of random visitors taking up their time (like me previously). Also, there have been consultants there for the past two months mapping out the operational process we were also there to walk through so people were concerned that we would waste their time doing the same thing. Fortunately, after a rough start, we managed to turn the week around and really won over people there.

It was weird. I was there for nearly three weeks before, and in the one week I was here this time I met way more people in the office and really got to know some of them. Again, the office has great people. The role I was sent in before was more of an auditor without a defined mission statement. Since everyone was super busy and was not really interested in having me there, I was never really introduced to people and felt generally uncomfortable. This time was very different and I am grateful for that. I had a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth from the last experience, and was really not looking forward to the return trip. After these last two weeks I’m looking forward to going back and building on the relationships/connections I made. But first, I am looking forward to settling back into home and really kicking up the ironman training.

I am also pleased to report that other than the swims and the 80 mile bike ride, I managed to get in all my workouts. I will be making up the 80 mile ride tomorrow and will truly get thrown into the humidity. Luckily, after 4 weeks of awful weather, I had three 75/80 degrees days in London to end the trip/somewhat transition.

Here are some more random pictures from the last night I was there:

Westminister at sunset

Street Performers near the London Eye 

 Westminister again

 Love

 Love Love

 Big Ben

London Part 2 and a sweet home coming

My second weekend in London was all about the London Marathon. Val was running it on Sunday so Saturday morning I met up with her at 8am. We did a short "shake-out run" to a tube stop further down the line and then went to the marathon expo. It was SO MUCH FUN! I had a great time helping Val pick out her last minute items & chatting with the vendors. My favorite was chatting with someone from Virgin Active (a sports club) with the nametag "Marathon Motivator." The expo was well run & it was great NOT to be running the next day.

After the expo, we went to Portobello Road, an antiques street market in Notting Hill and then did some more last minute race shopping. Around 4 we headed over to Kensington Gardens (where Will & Kate will live) for tea and then Val cooked us spaghetti & meatballs for dinner. At 8pm I left her apartment and headed back to the hotel, grabbed a drink, and went to bed.

Sunday morning I woke up, went for my own long run, and then headed off to meet up with Val's friends to cheer her on. Here are some pics of the marathon - 

 One of the local charity group - basically 2 out of 3 runners seemed to have a charity bib

 CROWDS

 Mile 13/22ish

After missing her around mile 13 (somehow), I finally caught a glimpse of her at mile 23! She apparently looked a lot stronger than she felt. She did awesome! After the race I met up with her and a couple of her other friends & we FOUGHT to get out of the area through a sea of people. She changed in my hotel & then we went to her charity's after party where she got food & a massage, meeting up with even more of her friends. I think at least 10 of her friends who showed up at some point throughout the day to cheer her on. It's great to see that she has a great support group in the UK and all of her friends are fantastic and very welcoming. Finally, we ended our evening with great burgers, fries, and an Oreo sundae. I am impressed Val had enough energy to do anything more than collapse.

The rest of the week was fine, although I was really feeling ready to come home. I do not like living out of a hotel. I like making my eggs/coffee in the morning & then having a couch and DVR to come home to in the evening. I also really missed my gym as the 10 X 10 room in the hotel didn't cut it. I went for a lot of runs, both alone, with Val, and with Brian but I really was started to feel burnt out on the runs. I never thought I would say this, but I missed swimming. I also REALLY missed biking.

My last night there, I had dinner with Val and AK (another old coworker) Thursday night at an amazing Indian restaurant. My flight was delayed on Friday night so when I finally landed it was 10pm ET (3am London Time). My amazing dad picked me up from the airport, and after watching some biggest loser, I went to bed.

Saturday I woke up and eventually went for a 10 mile run. I am excited to get back into the hard workouts, but I won't lie, the run was pretty rough. Luckily, the rest of the day was great with lunch with my family and then meeting up with some of my high school friends & one of their adorable daughters! I felt bad because at  around 6 I practically fell asleep on her couch, but I did bring English chocolate so I figure even trade!

This morning, I woke up early & headed 70 minutes out of town for a 70 mile bike ride. The drive was long but the view was TOTALLY worth it. Here are a couple of pics of the wonderful views (stolen from the Team Z facebook page) - 

These pictures do not do it justice. There was beautiful farmland, lots of animals, a clear blue sky, and very few cars. For the people going 70 miles, we did a 56 mile route & then a 17 mile route from Boyce Elementary school. At the end of the 56 one which I mostly rode alone, I definitely was bonking a bit because I am struggling to eat enough on the bike. After eating, I headed back out with Mary and Mark who knew a shortcut to take 2 miles off the route. I made sure to keep up with them, working hard just to have to bike less. It was definitely worth it. Overall, I averaged just under 15 mph, finishing the ride in 4 hours and 50 minutes. After the ride, we all stopped at the local general store for some great food.

I now have two weeks at home (1 weekend) and then I head back to the UK for 2 more weeks. I have a lot of DVR to catch up on between now and then. After that trip, I should hopefully be home for the rest of the summer. Next weekend is a recovery week for the team (aka short ride) but I think I will try to do a longer one since I will be missing the big one while I am gone. If anyone is interested in joining me, let me know!

Random thoughts about London -

*The tube system is pretty awesome. The longest I ever had to wait for a train was 8 minutes (due to a maintenance worker strike) but in general trains come every 1-4 minutes

*When you enter a London tube station, you still might have a 1/4-1 mile walk to the platform. If you change  lines it's antoher 1/4-1 mile walk to the other platform. There is a LOT of walking and very few people actually drive around.

*If you order a pickle, you will get some weird relish thing. If you want a pickle, order a Gherkin.

*Mac = raincoat

*I was thrilled to be there for the wettest month since the 1970s sometime

*If you like hoppy beer, you are out of luck

*A British propoganda poster during WWII had the motto "Keep Calm and Carry On." There is a lot of play on that nowadays (i.e. "Keep Calm and Drink Beer") but I love that original motto. When I go back, I want to get something that says that.

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London

Today marks my 8^th night in London and this is actually the 2^nd hour I have of “just sit” time since I’ve been here. I hate sitting in an empty hotel room so I have been on the go pretty much all the time, getting only about 5-6 hours of sleep a night. I am finally living the “normal” 25 year old lifestyle and I am EXHAUSTED. But I am happy to be making the most of my time in London. Most of that activity has been thanks to my wonderful friend Valerie who has let me join in on all her various activities. She and I used to work together at Deloitte, along with the other Hilton co-worker I have traveled here with (Brian) which is just kind of funny.

Thursday I arrived at the airport at 6:35am (1:35am ET) after leaving Austin around 11am ET the day before. I only slept about 2 hours on the plane which did not bode well for the day ahead. After making it through customs, I headed to the office for a full day of work. When I got back to the hotel around 7, I had just enough energy to find some food at a grab and go place in Trafalgar square and then proceeded to collapse into bed. Unfortunately, I think the time change & the IV of coffee I consumed completely messed with my system & I woke up at 12:30am and didn’t fall back asleep til around 4:30am. I even did a workout at 2:30am in the hotel gym (I know, I know, crazy). Luckily after that I adjusted to the time change pretty well.

Friday was another day at work then Brian and I met up with Valerie for dinner at a fancy French steak and frites place. The place is a set menu and does two plates of steak and fries. It was delicious and great to catch up.

Saturday Val and I met up with her friend Susan and Susan’s 2 year old son Alex for a run. Val took me past all the big sights near my hotel including Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Westminster, Big Ben, the London Eye, and the river. It was a great route. Afterwards, Val ran home while I grabbed lunch, checked out the Monet exhibit in the National Art Gallery, and then stumbled onto a Dutch pride festival in Trafalgar Square. Then it was my only hour of “down time” before heading off to meet Val and her work friends for a pub crawl. At the first pub, we ran into other Deloitte people from the Mclean office doing a global assignment, AK, Bill, and Steve. It was really great to see them. I worked with Bill for 3 weeks of my Deloitte career but they were three of the best weeks. They were talking about all the traveling they have been doing and it definitely made me a bit jealous.

The pub crawl lasted the rest of the evening. I headed home a little after 11 because I was joining Val and some more of her friends for a day trip to the Isle of Wight, an island off the Southern Coast of London. Here are some pictures from that trip. It was BEAUTIFUL. We rented bikes and then proceeded to get really lost, biking up a mountain rather than taking the easy route. It would have been fine except Susan’s husband Scott was hauling Alex in a trailer. Our “peaceful” 12 mile ride turned into a panicky sprint to get back to the bike shop before it closed almost 6 hours after we picked up the bike. All in all, it was a fun, but incredibly long day. We left at around 7:30am and got back at 10:30pm.

 On the ferry to the Isle

 Val discovering a bird just pooped on her face and Susan coming to the rescue with a wet wipe - notice the laughter in the background

 Alex after his dad biked through a puddle

 beautiful scenery

random Buckingham palace shot

 

This week I have gone out to two really nice dinners after work, gone to pub trivia with Val and her co-workers (don’t ask how our team did…), and then last night I went to see Wicked. I had never seen it before but I loved it. I have also fit in a couple of early morning runs around Buckingham palace and Hyde park. The weather has been pretty awful and ever changing - rain, drizzle, rain, peak of sunshine, rain, rain, hail, drizzle, sun, downpour, hail, drizzle, sun and a solid 45-55 degrees.

This weekend I think I am doing dinner tonight, the marathon race expo tomorrow morning, a tea in the afternoon, and then will be cheering on Val as she does the London Marathon Sunday morning. I am also hoping to fit in the Tower of London but we will see.

I am definitely enjoying my time here, but I am looking forward to reuniting with my couch, DVR, and family next weekend for a short 2 weeks. Like Dorothy said, there is no place like home.

Note: my training has not fit into my London lifestyle very well, the hotel gym is AWFUL. I have kept up on running but that's about it...oops.