80 Miles: Tour de Westside May 23, 2010

I’m almost there!  Only two more weeks until the big Tahoe ride.  It’s really hard to believe that what I’ve been training for is right around the corner.

This week’s practice was the longest training ride we’ll do before the Tahoe ride on June 6th.  We rode 80 miles from Playa del Rey to Palos Verdes, then Playa del Rey to Brentwood and back.  This was a loooong ride.  And, my favorite part, there was a lot of wind.  Man!  Wind really is a killer on a bike.

We started in Playa del Rey and headed towards Palos Verdes.  We combined Tim’s group and my group this week because there were only 5 of us.  It was a lot of fun to ride with the fast group again and to get to spend the whole day with Tim.  As we headed out, we went 4 miles and I got a flat tire.  What a great way to start the day!  Louis, one of our mentors, quickly changed the tire for me, making sure I was paying close attention so that I could do it myself one day.

After changing my flat, we were on the road again.  I kept thinking about the Tour de California I’ve been watching the last few days.  The professionals make cycling look easy.  They climb huge hills with such ease.  I am not a professional.  And that was painfully obvious for me this Saturday.  Mentally,  I tried to stay very focused and very positive.  Around mile 43 I was pretty beat.  The wind had taken a lot out of me, and our pace was a little faster than I like.  Of course, I still had 37 miles to go and a nice 5.2 mile climb up Mandeville.  I find that there’s usually a 15 mile window of self doubt during my long rides.  But, once those 15 miles are done, I get my second wind and feel great.  As we headed towards Mandeville Canyon, I was slightly nervous because I had never done this climb before.  My team had all told me what a gnarly climb it was.  Ignorance was bliss for me though.  If you don’t know what you’re up against, it’s hard to feel too worried.

My first impression of Mandeville was great!  The homes along the road are absolutely gorgeous.  They were a nice distraction for me.  At this point my bike computer had stopped working (darn bike computer), so I had no idea how far I had gone or how much more climbing I had left to do.  Again…ignorance was bliss.  In fact, I wouldn’t let Tim or my teammate Megan tell me how much further I had to go.  They eventually told me I was almost to the top and I started charging a little harder.  Mandeville ends with a seriously steep incline (a wall).  For a second I thought I might have to get off my bike and walk to the top.  But then I saw some of my teammates who had already made it to the top and they were cheering me on.  I had to keep going.  And I did.  I made it to the top!  What a great feeling that was.  Closely followed by the joy I felt as I got to fly back down the hill.  I’m getting more comfortable riding downhill.

The last 14 miles were uneventful, except for the scary trip down Ocean in Santa Monica.  Lots of tourists in rental cars who don’t know where there going and don’t seem to notice cyclists at all. 

As we came back towards where we had parked our cars at 7:15 in the morning, we were all equally excited to be finished.  We did 80 stinkin miles!  Next week we drop back to 35 miles to give our bodies a break before the big ride.  Almost there!

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