Memorial Day Weekend Cycling Action - Wilderness Road Ride

This is a big weekend for cyclists in the area with the Wilderness Road Ride (WRR) yesterday (options thru 78 mi) and the daunting Mountains of Misery (MoM; century or double metric century) today.  [More about these races in last year's write-up]

Tanya, Chris, and Me

I have been eagerly anticipating the WRR since doing it last year. The trickiest part turned out to be the logistics for my kids, with dear husband and mother-in-law both gone (Mexico and Russia of all places). Thankfully I worked out extended sleepovers for both kids and had the morning clear for the ride.

I rode the 58 mile option with friends Tanya and Chris, but with a small detour and a victory lap we bumped that to 60. (I'd never ridden 60 miles before and wasn't about to stop at 59.6.)

Despite a sizeable oatmeal breakfast and a Gatorade pre-ride, literally 12 minutes in (I looked at my watch) I was already famished!  Along the way I had the Larabar, Fruit and Nut Cliff bar, and a water bottle full of Perpetuem that I had on board....plus PB&J sandwiches, fig newtons, bananas, etc. from three aid stations. The last 6 miles or so all we talked about was food and cravings! I got home and had a huge chicken, avocado, spinach, salsa and tortilla salad.  If that's what it takes to get get me through 60 miles, I don't know what I'll do at this fall's half iron-distance race. I'll probably need to strap a picnic basket to my bike.

It was one of those rides where everything works out near perfectly - weather, timing, and fabulous companion riders.  It's great to be with a group where no one is over-pressured or under-challenged and we all finished safely and feeling pretty fired up about biking.

Happy Memorial Day weekend all! 
Humble thanks to all who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country free.