Solstice Century Ride

I did it! I can now check off the Century ride from my list. Woohoo. :-)



This ride has been on my list of endurance goals for years, but has eluded me. I've been in shape to do it before, but I've never managed to get it done. I'm so happy to have found the time and energy to make this happen. In reality, it's taken me several years to build up the cycling base to pull it off. While training for ORAMM in 2011, I spent a considerable about of time on my road bike. It was during that time where my vision for my century ride came to me. I knew it would be possible to leave from my front door and head south into the southern part of NC and across the border in the Lancaster area of SC. Last year, when I did the Morrison Metric at the YMCA, I figured out how to link my local ride into that ride which would put me at the century mark. On Friday, June 21st, the longest day of the year, I decided to put my plan to the test.

Building up to the big ride, I did a 56 and 82 mile ride. The 56 miler was rather painful and my 82 miler ended prematurely due to the fact that I ran out of water. My 82 miler was actually supposed to be my 100 miler, but it was Father's Day and I ran out of water. I decided to call in the family to rescue me instead of suffering the last 18 miles.

Foolishly Optimistic

I've been contemplating the race season for the entire month of January. Before that, I had aspirations of really hitting the off season with aerobic bike workouts and some cross training. I even purchased Insanity off Craigslist after navigating the FREAKSHOW that is Craigslist. I injured myself doing Insanity and fell into the abyss. I've been slowly coming out, but it's been a slow process for whatever reason. I have turned a corner.

I have been on a crazy optimistic mental journey recently. There have been three races on my bucket list for the last several years. They all have something different to offer and all of them are HARD in their own unique way. Here's the insanity I'm planning for myself.

April 6th, 2013

September 1st, 2013

November 3rd, 2013              

In November I registered for 6 Hours of Warrior Creek. This was a race I wanted to do before, but it always sells out ridiculously fast. It's like the old days of trying to get concert tickets (I haven't done that in forever) or registering for classes. If you want to get in, you've got to be on the ball. So, I woke up early and got a slot. The race sold out in 36 minutes. I'm not sure I have enough time to get in shape to do this race, but I'm going to try. I've also never rode on any of the trails up in Wilkesboro, so that should be fun.

Warrior Creek Race Circuit

The Shenandoah 100 always intimidated me, but after two ORAMM finishes under my belt, I have no more excuses. It's now or never. This morning I woke up with a vision. I did not plan on doing this race until this morning. I was on the fence about a 3rd ORAMM, but it sold out fast and quickly became a non-option. This will be my first century ride and I'll be doing it on my mountain bike. Hopefully I can crank out a couple of centuries on my road bike in preparation for this race.

The Swank 65 is another race in Pisgah that I've been wanting to do for the past three years. It's late in the season and is also very popular. Every year I think I want to do it, it's sold out. So, like Warrior Creek, I registered as soon as it opened.

What am I thinking? How am I going to prepare for this. One thing that is going to help is the KICKR. I have never ordered something as an "early adopter. That is until now. For this trainer, I just couldn't wait, so I'm one of the lucky first 255 people to get one. It's currently on a boat from Taiwan to the the west coast. From there it will travel on a truck to Atlanta where the nice folks from Wahoo Fitness will ship it to me. There sending weekly status updates to all of us that reserved one. This trainer will sync to an iPhone/iPad and can automatically adjust the power curve manually or based on Strava segments or training plans you program. Basically I'll be able to simulate any ride on this device. I can't wait to try it. More on this thing later.