Century Bike Ride, Check!

Yes, we love our oranges

See, I told you it was foggy.

Cheryl and my mentor Sue.

Lot’s of updates, lot’s going on!!

I guess the biggest piece of news is that we completed the Solvang Century on Saturday March 8!!!

I had been coming down with a flu/cold and after feeling miserable both Tues. and Wed. decided to take Thurs. off from work to really get well rested and be in the best possible condition for Sat.’s ride. I woke up über early on Friday to drive down to Santa Barbra to meet up with Kathryn and Jenny for lunch. I don’t think I’ve done this drive many times since my time at Cal Poly, and it felt a little odd. It was a beautiful day, the drive went smoothly (other than my mini scare of running out of gas- woopsy), and I was in Goleta before I knew it. Swung by Jenny’s place to pick her up and then headed downtown to meet Kathryn on her lunch break. It was so great to see them both, and I enjoyed my fish tacos outside the patio of this little restaurant. It must have been at least 72 or 75 degrees, and everyone was in shorts/skirts. Can’t beat that!

I hopped back on the freeway to do the 35 min. drive back up to Solvang after dropping Jenny back off, and pulled into the parking lot of our hotel and 3:00 on the dot. Talk about time management skills! We all did our little last minute bike check since there would be no time the following morning, ate dinner, packed up our gear, and were in bed by 9 PM.

Saturday morning, I was up at 5:00 AM, ran across the street to hit up Mc D’s for my egg McMuffin (the closet thing to my pre-morning ride). It was goooooooood. Believe me, it’s not easy to eat 800 calories in the morning. You’d think it wouldn’t be a problem, but who wants to eat that much when you’re still half asleep? We headed out on the road just after 6 along rolling fields through the fog. It was kind of magical actually, not quite daylight with dew drips of condensation forming on the visor of my helmet. I definitely enjoyed it while it lasted knowing it would be hot later on the day.

The first 20 miles were a breeze and we were in and out of the first rest stop before I knew it. In the second 20 mile set (that’s how we broke it down so it wouldn’t seem so daunting) we had an awesome descent, and I broke my top speed record, hitting 42 miles/hour!! It was fantastic. The weather was just starting to warm up (I think it was around 9 AM). It was an odd feeling b/c usually when I’m anywhere over 30 mph it feels pretty fast. This time, I felt like I was in a little bubble and was surprised to read my odometer and see 42 mph.

One thing that I learned during my training is that I need to keep eating food on the bike and drinking lots of fluids- more than you’d think actually. Any beginnings of a headache indicate that I’m lacking food/water or both, so I was really sure to keep hydrated. I filled up my liter camel back at each rest stop as well as a 20 oz. Water bottle with sports drink, and wouldn’t you know it I not only hit up the port-o-potties at every stop, but also ended up dropping trou along the route as well. Luckily my coach is not bashful either, so at least I wasn’t the only one. Shammy butter became my best friend, and for those of you who haven’t made its acquaintance, I will just leave it at that.

Really the entire experience was great. Team Estrogen stayed together; I don’t think I could have done it without them. We all rode strong, and Monica and I even had a moment of delirium during a particularly treacherous climb. All in all we were out there for a little over 8 hours with about 7+ on the bike, 103 miles and over 5,000 feet of climbing. Needless to say it felt GREAT to finish the ride! We arrived back into the town of Solvang, picked up our little medals and immediately ordered a beer (o; We hung out with all the other cyclists as they came in- and those who’d finished way before us who were already there. The only thing that was a little rough was that we still had another 4 mile ride back to the hotel from the finish line. So we hopped back on our bikes and rolled out.

I took the best bubble bath of my liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiife back at the hotel. Never felt so good. It was really nice to get warmed up too since it’d been a bit chilly on the ride back. Then it was off to our celebratory dinner followed by some serious dance moves out on the ballroom floor. I can’t believe we had the energy to party like it was 1999 after a century ride.

I slept in on Sunday and was on my way back home around 11 Am, rolled into Menlo Park for lunch with Jodie around 1:30, and then headed over to Jed and Holly’s for a Mexican BBQ dinner. Tequila/lime/butter prawn fajitas- yuuuuuum.

Really, other than completing the bike ride the only other big news is that I GOT A NEW JOB! I am very excited. It happened rather quickly and a little randomly. Last summer I temped at a private equity firm (KKR) in Menlo Park. I really enjoyed the job and loved the people there. Turns out they had an opening doing administrative work. They contacted me, I went in for 2 interviews, and start in 2 weeks (Monday March 31)! I am really looking forward to it even though I will miss the guys at Go West Tours tremendously.

I tested out the ride from home to the office over the weekend. It’s 15 miles exactly (each way) and takes about an hour. I am going to try to ride my bike to work 2-3 times/week. It’ll save me the $4 bridge toll, incorporate an automatic work out, and be eco-friendly. Can’t beat that.

I guess that’s it. I swear my life is more interesting than this (at least I hope). I just can’t think of anything else to write- oh the pressure! Whenever Jodie decides to hook me up with pics, I’ll post some from out night out at the Matrix.