Notes
Whirlwind trip that started Friday and ended last night at midnight. I had points accrued with Hampton Inn, cheap airline fare with SW gift cards, and a day off from work. K was gracious and watched the doggos for a day so I could have my little training experience wherein I could ride a real bike, outdoors away from snow and ice, and hopefully have a bit of fun.
Palm Springs, CA seemed like it would be a warm and sunny place, and it was. Too much so. There was a heat wave firmly in place in SoCal and Palm Springs, being in the desert was seeing 90s. When I landed Friday, I knew that I would have my work cut out for me on Saturday, as we are deeply entrenched in Winter in Colorado. My heat acclimation is for 30 degrees.
I flew into San Diego because it was cheaper and because I wanted to drive and see the area. Boy this zone has really grown out Eastward. There are a ton of new housing developments around Hemet, where my hotel was located. Of course, it is typical CA housing, small lots, cookie cutter, likely expensive for what you get. I wonder who is moving in here? Perhaps it is more affordable than the coastal areas. Palm Springs itself looks like a retirement community. It is crazily expensive, with hotels going for 300 bucks a night. Hence, I stayed out in Hemet. The terrain around Palm Springs is slightly hilly, with pretty rocks which form a scraggly stone scape which looks like it could come tumbling down at any moment. There are a lot of palm trees. The sun is fierce and it is extremely dry.
The roads were packed with people. It reminded me of FL during Winter, snowbird season.
When I got to the hotel it was early, so I couldn't check in yet. I drove over to the expo to pick up my t-shirt and helmet sticker, the only thing which identified that I was on the ride. The expo was a bit disorganized, with a small town vibe. We waited in a long line in 90+ heat to pick up our shirts. Then, it was an hour drive back to the hotel. I spent the evening putting my bike together, hydrating and eating Chipotle. K said the dogs were doing ok so my mind was eased.
Saturday, I woke up without an alarm, ready for action. I thought about dropping down to the 50 miler because my timeline said it would super tight to get the ride in, pack my bike, drive 2 hrs back to the airport and come home. There was a serious danger of missing the flight! But I had come all of this way and frankly was ready to ride, to push myself, to learn and grow as a cyclist.
I have been training on my bike trainer pretty consistently (albeit without many long rides), so was hoping to make a PR attempt at the 100 mile distance. This unfortunately was not to be, as the weather did not cooperate. Nevertheless, I would give it my best shot.
The ride was interesting. I would say that the first 52 miles were pretty awesome. We had some small climbs that ended up amounting to 3100' so it was not hilly at all. Then we had long flatish stretches where people were pacelining. Yup. I actually was in good enough shape to join some of these long lines which was pretty advantageous because we had quite a bit of wind. I admit it. I drafted shamelessly off of some bigger dudes. But it was really great bombing down the hills, riding in packs at great speed. I was feeling good and the energy was palpable. This is what cycling is really supposed to be like and what sometimes makes it better than running.
The hills were pretty much over at the halfway mark, and I made my first aid stop and break. Up to that point I had been hydrating pretty well with electrolyte drink, but could tell things were just on the verge of unravelling. We had started 30 minutes late because they felt like "wave" starts would help distance the riders. So instead of beginning at 630am, many didn't get out until 7am. This would have been fine on a cooler day, but yesterday that extra 30 minutes meant an extra 30 minutes to get HOT.
I made the aid stop short to keep my timeline, and refilled my bottle with gatorade, ate some peanut M&Ms. Around 70 miles I suddenly found myself unable to keep up with the pacelines. Uh-oh. I started to get strange, phantom twitches in my muscles. It wasn't long until I was cramping. At one point I had to stop, and dismount to clear a calf cramp. Clearly, dehydration had set in a bit.
Other riders were suffering. A guy came by me mumbling "do you know where the next aid station is?" He was almost out of water. 75 miles came and went and somehow a bunch of us completely missed the aid station. By now I was out of water, slowing down and wondering how I would finish. The sun was beating down, my lips were dry and I was working way too hard. At 80 miles I knew the situation was critical and was looking for a convenience store. Hallelujah I saw a Starbucks. Desperate, I walked in and asked the barista for a Venti ice water, and she gave it to me free of charge. My Savior. I was able to collect myself and forge onward to the next aid station, where I made a short stop to drink more gatorade and eat an orange slice.
The last 10 miles toddled through town and were easy going with lots of stoplights, which was fine by me because at this point I was toast. Put a fork in me. Done done done. A final trip under the finish arch and that was it. The local middle school bands were out playing which was such a nice hometown touch. They handed me a medal and a bottle of water.
I immediately hobbled to the car where I knew that I needed to get a move on to make my flight. The GPS said it was a 2hr15min drive to the San Diego airport. Great. I broke a few speed records and had to make a discreet wet wipe, bike disassemble/repackage stop behind some sort of Urgent Care center in a parking lot. Yeah, I felt pretty gross, but cleaned up more at the airport. Thankfully, the flight went smoothly, the flight was pretty empty, and we made it back quickly to Denver airport. I was parked in section EE which I swear was an entire mile to schlep my bike bag. Weather was a crisp 26 degrees with just a slight bit of snow and ice on the ground.
All in all it was a good ride, and would be a fantastic and fast Century if not too hot.