Nothing Special to Report

I was only able to finish 200K of riding on Saturday at the first annual Dairyland Dare. I was on pace to finish 266K, but my left knee (probably actually my LCL right above the knee) was telling me to stop. I had a great time, though, and rode with a friend Dino (Bikini Model) for awhile. Dino finished all 300K--he's a total monster! Especially since he did the ride on his tri bike! The course was hard, and in retrospect, I should have put in a lot more bike miles 2 weeks before this event to be fully prepared for over 200K. On the bright side, though, the miles I did last week will show up in my fitness this weekend.

I also spent a lot of time riding with 2 gentlemen from the Madison area, Dennis and Bob. They helped push me along with conversation and encouragement. I hope I run into them again someday. You meet some of the nicest people during these events! Dennis and Bob ended up finishing 266K. I was on the edge of continuing when the 3 of us stopped at an aid station, but what sealed the deal for me was that we would have to climb this one hill again.

The climb is called Shop Hill, that was a 25% grade for a bit, but mostly 20%, and the entire climb was about 1 mile. I thought I was going to die going up it, but I made it. It is a little unnerving when you can see the tilt of the road and vegetation on the side. This climb dropped off on the right into some valley, and there was someone down there playing music. When we reached the top, literally we were almost touching some clouds!

The ride went through beautiful countryside--we saw the Wisconsin River, went right by Taliesin and near House on the Rock, and countless farms. I was a little angry when I felt my knee bothering me, but in retrospect, I'm good with what I did. I rode 200K with 15,000 feet of climbing in 9 hours. Not bad. That is faster than I've ever done Horribly Hilly 200K, which only climbs 10,000 feet in the same distance. And the great part is that I didn't feel as bad afterwards as HHH 200K. I mean, I didn't feel like I was going to die, and I was walking normally. I am still a bit tired today, but I already swam and think I can run today. And since I didn't ride for 13 hours, I think that I am going to ride 100 miles on Sunday. I am sure my legs will be up to it, as I am doing another 200K ride (much flatter!!!!) the week after. So my record stands at 200K of riding in one day, although extremely hilly. Maybe at the Bike Psychos 200K I will ride some extra just to get to 130 miles or something silly.

I am very happy with my fitness level at this point. I am still going to keep up the riding and see if I can get those 1,000 miles in for August. Why? Why not.