Well, I did it. I completed a 50-mile bike ride – otherwise known as a half-century. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make the whole 50 miles, but I set that goal and I got there!
This ride was the GroupHealth Inland Empire Century. They had routes for those who wanted to do 25, 50, 75, or 100 miles. When I was riding every weekend last summer, I was doing 25 in about 1.5 hours, so I knew I could do that. I also did 23 miles a few weeks ago here in Seattle. So, I figured I’d shoot for the challenge and go for 50. After all, if I found that I just couldn’t finish, I could always call the help vehicles and get driven back to the start of the ride.
The week before the ride, I still hadn’t decided if I was doing it or not. I’d only done a 23 mile ride, and I had JUST started decreasing the amount I was working out! AND, I hadn’t really been consistent with my cycling at the gym – neither spin class nor my own spinning there. So…I wasn’t all that prepared. But this ride was in the Tri-Cities, and I wasn’t TOTALLY out of shape, so I thought I’d give it a go.
As soon as I signed up, I realized I wasn’t really well-prepared. And I only had a week to prepare. So I decided to do what I could in the week leading up to the ride. I cycled 15 miles (on an indoor spin bike at the gym), did weights, and did a series of core-strengthening moves that I found online specifically for helping cyclists. Then, two days before the ride, still sore from my sudden decision to step my workouts back up, I decided to look online for “how to prepare” tips. Everything I read told me I should actually be taking the week easy, not suddenly going all-out. I figured I was condensing the typically-recommended 12-week training period into, oh, 4 days. BUT, I paid attention to everything that said to rest up the two days before the ride so that the body wasn’t aching at the start! That put a serious kink in my plans (ride 20 miles two days before the ride). But, hey, I figured the people posting those tips had a point…not sense in starting a long ride all sore and achy, right?
All week long, I was nervous.