Udder Century Ride - Union, IL
Twyla Becker
PC Tri Program Participant - 2005
Triathlon Training Program Participant - 2006
This was my first Century Ride and it was a great experience! I fueled a lot and drank more Gatorade on Sunday than I probably had all year.
It was a great day for a ride until the storm hit; I was wondering at times how safe we were from the lightning (not that there was anything we could do about it, as we were in the middle of a whole lot of farm). Regardless, we made it to the shelter with just before the downpour hit.
Around mile 70, I hit the beginnings of a wall. It was cold, we were wet, and I was really wondering how I was going to make it to the end. Another rider told me to fall in behind her and she helped to pull me up the hill, which was great. Lisa and Selina were waiting at the top and I managed to fall in with them; five minutes later, we noticed I had a flat tire. I felt much better after the tire was fixed (thanks Selina!) and felt good the rest of the ride. I was glad that Selina and Lisa had stuck with me - it would have been a lonely ride without them.
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Selina Carpenter
Triumph Program Participant - 2004, 2005
Triathlon Training Program Participant - 2006, 2007
Super Summer Speed Program Participant - 2006, 2007
Off Season Conditioning Group - 2006
Swim Club - 2006, 2007
Cardio Plans and Personal Training
One of my goals this year was to do a Century Ride, and now I can say, "UDDER DONE!"
The day started out beautifully, but just into mile 6, my rear tire went flat. I must thank all of the eight other TFP members who stayed with me to get me back on the road. We all knew what to do; we just didn't anticipate some of the obstacles we encountered, like having a tube with a short stem that is hard to use with a pump. The SAG volunteers were there with an adaptor, and they did try to help... but they barely knew how to use it.
We finally get back on the road after about 30 minutes. Then for the next 30 miles, I find myself facing various issues, such as a falling aero drink container, clinking noises, and hissing noises. I thought to myself, "How am I supposed to do 100 miles today?" To add insult to injury, Mother Nature decides to challenge us. It was sunny and beautiful until mile 55 or so, but then the dark clouds come rolling in, along with hard winds, and finally, cold, cold rain. The wind was so strong, I thought my tires would pull out from under me. I had to lean into the wind for fear of falling over. We made to the next rest stop just before the downpour.
Once the rain stopped, we were back in the saddle again.
We were doing fine until Twyla gets a flat at mile 70. Well, feeling like a pro now, I changed the tube and got the tire going. A nice rider stopped by to help with the finishing touches. We changed this tire in half the time it took for mine.
Afterwards, the sun came out again, giving us a happy ending!
So I leave you with my learning experiences:
- Get the right tube for your rims with a long enough stem!
- Make sure you know what kind of CO2 cartridge you have (threaded or not).
- if you have enough room on the bike, bring clothing for sudden storms.
- Never leave your wing man.
- Always bring extra cream on long rides (I will let you figure that out!).
- Fuel, fuel, fuel!
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Lisa McCauley
Triathlon Training Program Participant - 2006, 2007
Super Summer Speed Program Participant - 2006, 2007
Pre-Season Perfection Program Participant - 2007
Off Season Conditioning Group - 2005, 2006
Cardio Plans and Personal Training
Let me start by saying that I love riding my bike and riding long distances is what I like best, so it was natural for me to want to do century rides - my Dad did them all the time while I was young and has given me a goal to try to beat his best time of 5 hrs in a century. I'm not quite there yet, but am working on it. Udder 2006 was my first century ride; I did it in 6 hrs of riding time and was pleased with that. However, this year, I wanted to improve by about 10%, so I was shooting for about 5 hrs and 40 minutes. Of course, Matt did my training plan and to be honest I was a little nervous that I didn't have enough long rides in before the event. However, the coach usually knows best and said, "Don't worry, you'll be fine. You trained for that 6 hr spinathon all winter. You have a great base built up." He was right, I was more than ready for the ride, even without getting a 75 mile ride in before the event. And to be honest, fuel is what matters most for completing a century well, as long as you have a decent endurance base built up. If you do not fuel right, it will be a very LONG and painful day.
The day started out with a bunch of TFPers meeting at the Libertyville Sports Complex to ride out together. We met at 5:30am so that we could be on the road by the 7am start time. We actually started closer to 7:20am. Twyla, Selina and I took off together because we knew we had a long day ahead of us. I got a little ahead by latching onto a group of guys that invited me to draft with them, but I assumed Twyla and Selina were right behind me. Then my phone rings, and it is Selina with a flat tire. I turned around to help her and then the rest of the TFP crew came upon us and also stopped to help. We joked about "how many triathletes does it take to fix a flat??" because it did take quite a long time to fix that tire. There were numerous problems encountered and I think we waited about 20 minutes before it was fixed!
Finally, we were on the road again - we'd only gone about 9 miles at that point! I wanted to average just under 18 for the ride so I knew it would be important for me to start out somewhat faster so I could build up a cushion in case things went wrong later. We pulled into the first rest stop at mile 20 or so with an average of 19.1 - things were looking good!!
I have a VERY sensitive stomach so I have to be very careful of what I eat and drink and you can't carry all the fuel you need on a road bike, so I had to rely on the aid stations. Matt has taught me a ton about fueling and I had worked with Enza too a few weeks before and I knew that I needed to get in at least 60g. of carbs per hour if I was going to do what I wanted to do. So, at each aid station I ate 2 sugar cookies (the blandest thing I could find) and a piece of orange. I also had gels every 45 min to an hr - (I thought I never wanted to see another gel pack after that day!) and drank a 24 oz. bottle of my carb-drink every hour. From mile 20 to mile 40, Natalie cruised ahead trying to maintain a certain HR level and so Tim and I just stayed focused on catching her. Tim caught her, I never did. I didn't want to push too hard because I knew I had 60 miles to go, but by keeping them in my sights we rolled into the 2nd aid station with an average of 19.2, so I was really feeling great about the day.
The only bad thing about the 2nd aid station was that we had to leave all the 62 milers at that point because they headed off another direction. Now, Twyla, Selina and I were on our own for the last 62 miles (this course is actually 102 miles!!). We headed out and were extremely fortunate to find an Ironman group to latch onto. We drafted with them for the next 20 miles and it was a great help to us, because this is when we had to outrun the thunderstorm that the SAG wagons kept warning us about! There was lightning in the sky and horrendous winds that made it feel like you were Dorothy trying to outrun a tornado. We were scared but knew we had no choice but to just keep riding and stay latched onto the IM group. We all rolled into the 60 mile rest stop literally a minute before the downpour began and we were still holding a 19.1 mph average. We had to wait there about a half hour for the storm to clear. Unfortunately for us the IM crew was not ready to leave, so we were on our own. We headed back out into a light rain and winds. We got about 10 miles when we noticed Twyla was pretty far back; she thought she was bonking, but it turned out she had a flat! So, off to the side of the road again at mile 70! Changing the tire was much easier this time, thanks to Selina and Twyla's new riding friend, Kiran, who was nice enough to stop and help. At mile 80, we hit our last aid station and this is where my trouble began. They were out of sugar cookies, and I was too afraid to eat any of the other stuff at the aid station for fear of a stomach upset. So, I convinced myself I'd be fine with just an orange and more Gatorade.
Well, at mile 88 that proved to be a mistake. All of a sudden, I felt like my legs could not pedal anymore. I looked down to see that I was going 10 mph on a flat road - BONK! I had never felt it before but now I know exactly what bonking feels like. Usually I can eat on the fly while riding, take gels, whatever. Not this time. I literally had to stop my bike, pull over and eat before I could move anymore. Twyla and Selina had gotten pretty far ahead of me at that point, and I just hoped they'd notice so I wouldn't have to ride the last 12 miles alone. Luckily, our new friend Kiran passed me at that point and asked if I was ok. I asked him to tell them that I would get going again once I had eaten a little. Luckily for me, I had brought Fig Newtons in my pocket and still had one more gel and some e-caps. I ate 2 Fig Newtons, another gel, took 2 e-caps, waited about 5 minutes, and then got moving again. Luckily it didn't take long for the stuff to take effect and we were back on. Boy, was I glad we built up a cushion with our pace because I lost a lot in that time. We went from 19 mph to 18.5 in that time. But, I was still ok with that since my goal was 17.8.
Finally, after several big hills (and I told everyone the course was flat - it must be like having a baby, once you've done it, you forget all the bad parts so you don't mind doing it again!) we finally hit the finish!! 5 hrs and 30 minutes of riding time and over 4000 calories burned!! And the best part was we felt great - last year when I finished I felt like I'd been hit by a truck, this year, Selina and I actually felt we might be able to run if we absolutely had to! Many IM people train at this event so you see a lot of runners go out after the ride. We weren't ready to do that this year, but felt it was actually possible. I also recovered really well this year and was up doing weights with Matt the next morning!
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