Manda's Century: The Heat!

Hello heatwave, thanks for reminding me what "oppressive heat" is.

I set out (late) for my endurance ride after getting out 0 times this week. I took Monday off and went fishing with my Dad and Uncle.

Bobbers away!

And then Tuesday I chopped my hair for Locks for Love. 

Send to Locks for Love

Wednesday I took off because I was tired of all the running around. Thursday I was out with my old co-workers for drinks. By Friday I ran around doing errands I couldn't do during the week. . .which brings me to Saturday.

13 miles short of goal

On Friday, I got another badder to carry in my hydration pack. To give some background, the actual century is well supported, however, my training rides are not. I need to carry everything I have with me since once I am about 10 miles out, there are no facilities/water.

Many bike-shop people tell me about water bottles. I don't want to have water bottles and hot water and cages and all this crap. I am not balanced enough to reach down and grab that water. I like my pack.

Anyhow, they don't make dual hydration packs (that I have found) and the biggest I have seen for sale is 3 liters. I can carry two badders (2 liters each) in my pack. This means I carry about 8lbs of water (maybe about 10-12lbs total on my back) and that sort of made a weird difference. I was thinking about getting a rack for the back of my bike to carry other stuff - water, First Aid, snacks, mace, camera, tire parts, midget. . .

I brought along PopTarts this time and managed to eat about half of one while I was on my ride. It was a little hash and my tummy did hurt. However, once I pulled up by my car, I found that I was far less stupid than normal. They do work. I just need to learn to eat more.

I then noticed my rear gears were not working. I stopped by my bike shop and my buddy fixed up Docle as good as new. It ended up it was just the normal stretching of the cables. I need to take a bike maintenance class soon.

I was 13 miles short of my 55 mile goal, but, I found myself getting the chills in the heat which is not good. I drank  2.5 liters of my 4 liters of water and decided I need to drop in some extra hydration tables. However, on the upside, my average speed was 14mph from 12mph. Nice!

I think I was going faster, I kept my speed around 17mph but I kept Runkeeper going during breaks (it auto stops) to get in more minutes due to this Match the Mayor thing I am doing at work. I will fail at it because the goal is to get everyone to do 30 minutes of activity a day. I do 50 minutes two times a week plus 4 hours on Saturday. So, I am a failure in the program because of my inability to do 30 minutes everyday.


Manda's Century
You can follow my biking adventures by checking out my Manda's Century Ride page. It lists (in convenient bullet form) the lessons I have learned and has links to each of my biking related posts.

Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.