Seventy-seven y’all

Last week was a rough one, for sure. In the midst of the stress, I forgot to share a pretty fun milestone. I rode to Mississippi and back — 77 miles y’all! It’s the farthest I’ve ridden to date, and I still smile when I think about it. I previewed the ride here, part of the annual Handy Fest in Florence, Ala. My friends and I planned to ride 73 miles, which would route us through the Natchez Trace to Mississippi and back.

Turns out, it was 77 miles instead. One would think four miles at that distance is not a big deal, but when I hit mile 70 on my bike I was pretty much done. At least mentally, I was done. Had a SAG (support and gear) vehicle passed me 10 miles out, I would’ve taken a ride to the finish line. By the time one did pass, I was about 2-3 miles from being done so I kept going. The ride included two ridiculously long climbs, and I made it up both without stopping. I paused at the bottom of the first climb because my blood sugar was sitting at 160 mg/dL with a downward arrow on my CGM. I drank half a bottle of Gatorade and ate some Gu chomps. At the top of the climb, I was 180 with a steady arrow.

It wasn’t blistering hot, nor did the forecasted rain ever show up. The sun stayed hidden most of the day, and it was absolute gorgeous riding weather. The Trace is so incredibly beautiful and crossing the bridge just outside of Florence was one of my favorite parts of the ride. My only complaint for the day was the lack of rider support. There wasn’t a time limit so as a slower rider, I had no support the last half of the ride. There was a stretch of about 18-19 miles coming back from Mississippi where no one passed me associated with the ride. No other cyclists, no rest stops and no SAG vehicles. There were also a handful of riders behind me at the 70-mile turnaround point. Other than the lack of support, it was a great ride.

I finished in about 7.5 hours, which averages me about 10 mph with stops. According to my bike computer, my pace was 13.1 mph after stops. I’m comfortable with that. My JDRF Nashville goal is a comfortable metric century (62 miles), and after 77 along the Trace I’m feeling much better about the goal. Now, if I can just get a few more hills under my belt I’ll be in good shape. More to come on those climbing adventures later.

Want to help me train? You can support my JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes here.