100 mi ride, 3 mi run. Lanae and I started at 4am from Dunkin Donuts parking lot. Thats’ early, but I was ready with charged lights and food and drink powder stored. I thought we were doing the ride on Sunday, so leading up to Satirday morning I had three spin days Weds, Thu & Friday. That wasn’t going to help… This would be my fifth 100 miler for the cause, I know above all I needed to run after this one. We rode with some indirect breeze up to Sandsprit Rd, stopped for a brief pee break, then kept heading north. Many of our frineds were doing the 5k swim to benefit a fallen soldier, we figured if we timed it correctly maybe we’d see them. Not to be, they rode to the race which started at 9am, we were well past their beach when that unfolded. We did see people setting up the signs and parking area as the sun started to rise. It’s really incredible to be so far along in a ride before the light comes out!
Past the nuke plant and up the A1-A beach road, we were strong and in good spirits. The construction at Ft Pierce Inlet is still happening, so the dinky back road to Cumberland Farms was our best option. We stopped there and refueled.
I definitely felt the benefit of having ice in the bottles, it definetly made a difference as the suna nd heat rose. We headed back into a brisk wind, no relief on the Intracoastal road we chose to ride back on. Cars were out on the road and wet conditions in some spots meant backwash from the tires into our faces. Ugh! We stopped at the Shell Station between the two bridges, I had not worn a headband under my helmet. Mistake! The heat forced warm sweat into my eye sockets – not comfy under any conditions. I dried off the helmet, wiped off my forehead and poached some ice from the machine (It’s right next to the men’s room) before we headed back out. We stopped once more at the golf course in Stuart to get more ice in the bottles – good idea , it perks me up. Miles 60, 70, 80 were fine. Against the wind through Port Salerno and along the exposed RR tracks on Old Dixie was rough. Once back on Gomez Rd and Jupiter Isnad, we were now forced into single file lineup. We had done so well not to draft each other, making sure our 100 mile ride was just that. ON Jupiter Island, maybe at mile 90 or 92, I couldn’t stay on Lanae’s pace of 19-20 mph. My left leg was cramping and energy was in a valley. I slowed and she kept going, my solo wind breaking pace was now 16-17 in the Coral Cove area. Once back overthe two drawbridges, I got more energy and picked up my pace. I rode respectably down the last segments of A1-A towards the Dunkin. Lanae had riden up the bridge and back down, we peeled off very wet cycling stuff and prepped fora run. We ran 3 miles, stopping frequently for water. At Donald Ross Rd, we stopped and I showered, thinking we were done. Nope, Lanae wanted to run abck to the store, so we did. Thinking she wanted to shower, I asked her as I was under the cool water, “Does any of this look good to you?” Apparently this made for some laughs as she thought I meant “me” not the sight of someone cooling off… a good laugh at the end of a challenging workout. We got a drink at Dunkin, then I went home, ate more, showered and continued to the beach with a group of friends.
drun4fun 