Tour De Paper Fest

On Saturday I got up early to do the longest ride of my life.  I've done the Tour De Fest once before but only the 40 mile ride.  I also did that ride with a partner.  This time I did the 70 mile route and didn't have a partner.  I could've used one because that was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. 

I did my best to prepare for it.  I went for a very short 10-15 mile ride Friday morning which the guys at Attitude Sports suggested. I drank a lot of water the night before and the morning of and had a decent sized breakfast.  I had a GU Energy before the race and throughout the ride had my Hammer Heed too.

The beginning part of the ride went very well.  I caught up to a group of guys that were out for a ride and tagged along with them before we got to High Cliff State Park.  I knew there was a monster hill so I was worried about that part before the ride started.  However, those trips up the ledge must have paid off because it wasn't too bad.  I actually passed a number of people and my legs felt fine during and after the climb.

The next part of the ride was long and lonely.  I lost the guys that I was with (they went a different route).  Saturday morning was very windy but cool until around noon.  The wind was hard to fight, especially by myself but I managed to keep a descent pace. Paper Fest (the group that put on the ride) had rest stops along the way about 14 miles apart.  Those were nice.  I’d grab some cool water, some fruit or bagels, and most importantly, STRETCHED!

I was feeling good around the 40 mile mark.  There, I found another group that let me tag along with them.  It really helped.  My speeds were much faster with them.  But, after a while it became harder and harder to keep up.  It was around the 50 mile mark when I lost them.  I remember looking down at my Garmin Edge, seeing 50 and thinking, “I can't do this anymore."  I wasn't cramping, I was just dead.  I took it very, very easy for the next couple of miles.  At that point in time I wasn't worried about being fast or technique, I just wanted to finish the last 20 miles.  That was easier said than done because, not only was I dead, but there was a nasty head wind.

Most of the ride I had very little idea of where I was but when I got back to the trail I used to ride all the time and know like the back of my hand, a couple of things came to mind.  One was I'm almost done I'm going to do this.  The other thing was wow, I am going so slowly and my legs won't let me go any faster.  I did make it back safe in about 4 hours and 15 minutes of ride time.  I was exhausted.  Still today I'm having trouble walking around.  The Race the Lake is in less than a month and I have some work to do but I'm very proud of myself for getting the 70 miles done.