Bear Mtn.

So this is how Saturday and the great Big Bear Mtn and I fared (my apologies as it's a bit long):

Turns out I had to change my distance :(. I really did WANT to do the 75 but as I started I was the turtle as usual and I didn't have my legs. I wasn't feeling all that great/strong. It never helps when you start out going up and kinda continue that way for about 5-10 miles. lol So as I'm riding I'm talking to myself saying "what was I THINKING?" No way am I gonna do 75. Maybe I can add a little extra at the end (one of my coaches suggested this for anyone who wanted to do more than 54)."

You see the thing was I really did feel stronger this year and I thought the best way to show that would be in doing the longer distance. However, I can change course/goals if I think I won't be able to do it. I mean the point is we always want to finish strong right? So my new goal was to do the 54 and feel better and hopefully do it in less time than I did the year before (last year was 57 miles).

I didn't feel like I had my bike legs til I was at mile 20. My BG was between 250 and 280 the whole time. It was sooo frustrating. I think my mistake was that I wasn't correcting enough and I never gave myself enough coverage for the food I was eating. I'm realizing when my numbers start off good the rest of the ride is ok and the when they're climbing well it's not just not just my legs doing the climbing. The heat/humidity I'm realizing is also a huge factor (not sure why I never thought that before) so that was icing on the cake.

One of my coaches was also trying to teach me about shifting my gears properly. I was struggling with that. I mean I've been riding for 4 years now and only LAST WEEK did I find the perfect gear to ride in when on a flat. As the day is moving on I'm feeling much better on the bike and I fkeep going. I found my groove! It was awesome. The hardest part of the ride (despite all the climbs throughout) is the last 4.5 miles. I found a description of it: "about 650 vertical feet in 2 miles, for an average grade around 6%, with one short section around 10%. Or if you start from Route 9W (we did) down by the Hudson River, the total is about 1250 vertical feet in 4.5 miles, average grade around 5%."

So it was hard. lol but you know what? I've realized the longer the distance the better I get cuz I was the turtle throughout and guess who got to the top of Perkins first? I did!!! lol I know it was just with my teammates and not a race but I was slow, strong and steady so I was happy. Best thing was that I found the right gear on the climb too! So I made my goal and I beat my time from the year before by roughly 30 min and I definitely felt like I could keep going. Challenging but great day. Next year I will do the 75...til then I'll do what my coach says and "ride more".