Bull Run - Ride

I stole this course from my coach last year, we all cursed his name during and post ride....today I was cursing myself

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/or/troutdale/502746585756
Nice little hilly ride, if you check out the elevation gain you can see over 4,000 ft in climbing in 50 miles. Rollers would be sugar coating these hills. We'd descend 5-10 min, then climb another 10-20, descend 5, climb 10-15, and every hill we'd go down we'd have to come back up on the way back.

Paul, Don, Joe and I started out as a group....about 10 minutes in I was dropped. I was pushing 200 watts and couldn't keep that kind of wattage in pace line when I knew the amount of climbing that was ahead of me, so graciously I fell off and rode Cadence alone. 7 or so miles in I see Kyle and Alana who were going to meet up with us for a shorter ride. I told them I'd catch up with boys and we'd wait..... unfortunately that took too long. Hill after hill after hill, it felt like they never ended. On one long stretch I was passed by a whole Velo team...lol, I guess if I ever need a date I should just go on a ride alone, those boys where not shy! There was one very long and steep descent that felt like it took forever around mile 15 or so. I so can not wait to get a bike that fits me, my descending is just horrific. I tense up so much from the lack of stability it really makes my upper body hurt. I love this, as soon as I finish this descent you have to slow way the frick down to make a sharp turn around the bridge only to come head on with a steep climb. Several times I did not shift in time, ouch! Close to the turnaround point I got off my bike and started to strip. It was 45-50 degrees, uber sunny and we were climbing. I had been wearing my Sugoi RS shorts (the white ones, my favorite!), Louis Garneau Oslo Tights....sooo warm, but too warm. A Craft short sleeve base layer and my badass Gore Amazon Thermal Jersey. First off came the tights....then the jersey to get the base layer off. The base layer got stuck on my helmet...(I couldn't remove my helmet because I had a blinky light stuck to my braid and helmet, logistics, I know. )so here I am on the side of the road, tights dropped around my ankles, flashing everyone in my sports bra and my shirt stuck on my head. One car honked, another stopped and asked if I was ok. Hehe, I'm sure I was quite the sight to see. Anywho, I managed to get the base layer off and was comfortable with just the jersey and shorts. I was able to store everything in my trusty camelback...which might I add gets very heavy climbing hills with 90 oz of water. I'm a sweater, I must bike prepared! As I'm about to get back on Cadence I hear people talking, thinking it was Kyle and Alana I go down to check it out. Nope, it's Joe, Don and Paul, they had gotten lost. We rode out a few more miles and then turned around and made our way back. The climbs felt more fierce then I remember descending. Once I hit the bridge I stopped to GU up again. My tummy had started to growl, I knew I was in a caloric deficit and I was F%^#ed for the rest of the ride. I took the hills as gently as I could riding in the saddle. I hit a few lows but then had a few highs....those came from have some great riding partners. 8 miles to go and almost everyone was having some kind of issue, muscle failure, dehydration, caloric deficient, we were all a mess, one massive hot mess BUT we all had smiles on our faces and it was a beautiful day....so I really don't see any bad, just trials and tribulations...life happens, doing it (life) with a smile is all that matters. I lost the boys again on the descent back, some nasty crosswind was blowing me into traffic so I kept slow, once it was gone the last GU I had taken was fully activated and allowed me to roll into the finish strong and feeling pretty damn good.

Post ride we recovered at Edgefield McMennamins for beer (ok hard cider for me, who are we kidding anyway?) and lots and I do mean LOTS of food. A big thanks for everyone that came out to endure the hellacious hills so early in the season.

Thanks for carpooling and the extra GU Don
Thanks Paul for the offer to draft
Thanks Joe for coming out to endure the LSD torture. You looked strong, hopefully we didn't scare you away :)
Alana you're a badass friend. Thanks so much taking care of the post ride recovery and for making me laugh so hard I thought I was going to puke. Only you can give me enough energy to exchange piggyback rides!