I DID IT!

Our day started at Katy High School at 5:15am Saturday morning. It was raining, and it wasn't looking like it was going to be a good day. We got on the road at 7am and miraculously the rain lightened up, and by the time we hit the 2nd rest stop (we skipped the first), it was totally warm and we were all peeling off our raincoats (those things don't breath!). The ride was gorgeous with fields of wild flowers all over the place and constant rolling hills (about 15 miles into our ride!) The best was riding through small towns. In Fayetteville, a lot of the people were out with bubble machines and speakers with music playing just cheering us on! We passed a guy with a ginormous Lassie looking dog and huge speakers on the edge of a field rocking music and cheering all the riders. It was people like that all along the way that kept it fun. Others left signs along the road to cheer certain riders that were hilarious!
I rode with the best group for the first half of both days! This is Saihbon, Kim, and Rob. We kept a nice pace, and took long breaks and chatted the entire time! It was way fun! I lost them about 20 miles out the first day thanks to a hill that I had to power up (I would power up the hill, and they would pass me on the down hill--it was a pattern that we kept nicely), but this last time I totally lost them. Later I found out that Kim got taken down in an accident, not once, but TWICE! Poor thing. I felt horrible. The last 20 miles I tried to push it, and I was doing okay until 3 miles out. I just lost all umph and I pulled over to drink some Gatorade thinking maybe I just needed some energy. I hopped back on and not 10 feet later I look down and notice a flat tire. Wow, that's what my problem was! Some nice St. Arnold's guys pulled over and changed it for me (I had no idea how to do it, and I'm really good at looking pathetic), and I finished my ride into La Grange!
La Grange is definitely interesting. There's lots of tents, lots of cots, and l ots of mud! I jumped on a bus to a local school to shower, and then we were basically camping. It was fun wandering around because I ran into a lot of my spin people! I tracked down my friend Liz, and her team lucked out because of the rain that was coming, they got to be moved out of a tent and into a building! Live bands were playing in a couple of spots, and there were lots of stands and bike shops available for help. Each teams tent had lots of food and people were everywhere! Our tent held about 40 cots and we were all snugged in there to sleep. The rain poured Saturday night, and none of us knew what to expect for Sundays ride.
This is a brother-sister duo on our Wellfit team. They were CRAZY but funny to hang out with in La Grange. Brittany is a fellow LA Fitness spin instructor, and so we met a lot of interesting people during our wanderings!
Lining up Sunday morning was brutal. A lot of our team had gotten massages the night before, but we were all sore, tired, and beat from sleeping on cots. The Caprock team wore our jerseys and it was really easy to see our team from the other groups!
I was trying to get a view of the incredible line-up just to leave that morning. We lined up at 7am and didn't get out of La Grange until 8am.
Here's day one's finishing line, and day two's start. See the sad dark sky. Yeah, we were waiting for rain, which thankfully really didn't come. We got a little, but nothing bad. Talk about lucking out weather wise! We had a slight tailwind Saturday, and a headwind and a little rain on Sunday. I totally believed we were blessed!
Leaving La Grange, we had two options, take the express or take the challenge. We opted for the challenge, but before entering the park with the killer hills, took a detour that bypassed it. We still had stellar hills, just not as intense ones! This was a good choice for me, because I am positive my knees would have fallen off, and I couldn't get my gears to work properly so I would had to fight it more than needed to make it up the hills. I couldn't believe how many hills there were on this ride. Austin is like the San Fransisco of Texas in more ways than one! But getting there is a constant rolling. Going downhill was fun and exhilarating, but going up was another story! I think I hit my own personal wall about 50 times on day two. I have never been so miserable in my life and debated constantly when to just give up! The rest stops I would feel okay, and I did finally discover the med tents and the icyhot like stuff to stick on my knees that helped with the pain.
These were the 3 guys that saved me from the lunch stop on! I met up with them where the paths merged from the park and the expressway, and ended up riding with them for the last half of the 2nd day. I don't think I could have done it without them! We rode in a pace line, and my goal was to keep up with them for 3 miles. Thirty-five miles later, we are rolling into Austin! They tried to keep me in the middle to block the head wind, and wouldn't let me fall behind. There was a crash right behind me and the guy behind me rode over a guy, and still we kept together! I'm a huge fan of riding in a group! I know I slowed them down, but was so thankful having people constantly pushing me even when I thought I couldn't go on. Rolling into Austin was one of the sweetest things ever! People were cheering and groups were cheering and it was a huge accomplishment just to roll through that finish line!
Me and the capital building. I think my knees, shoulders, and butt hate me, but I did it! I went farther than I ever imagined I could, and I don't know how soon I want to be jumping on my bike again, but I loved it and just want to get better!

End Stats:
Day One:
81 miles
3500 calories
7hr 30min total journey time
14.5 average speed

Day Two:
70 miles
3000 calories
7 hours total time
13.8 average speed

Next time . . . I need to do more hill training, and more longer rides. My longest ride was 50 miles before this weekend. Those additional 30 miles is all mental! I want to quicken my pace, and figure out my gears so my knees don't take the brunt. Yeah, I think I'll do it again!