A Celebration of Me

Buried admits the New Year's resolutions I made for myself this year was a 'Century Bike Ride' so I was pleasantly surprised when my friend Donielle asked me to join her for the ULCER 2001 (a 107 mile 'race' around Utah Lake).  I was especially excited when I realized the event would be held the week of my birthday, unfortunately, I was was scheduled to work Thursday, Friday, and Sunday so I knew that I would need as much mental toughness for this ride as I would need physical strength.


Team bikers were the first called for the 6:30 am start but Donnielle and I felt we needed every spare minute we could find in order to complete the course by the 5:00 pm deadline so we snuck into the pack as the second wave of riders took off at 6:45 am. 

We averaged just under 18 miles per hour as we pulled into the first rest stop 28 miles into the course, thus far the course was remarkably easy, the day was cool and pleasant, and everything was going as expected and we were having a great time. We were comfortable with our pace and decided to skip the second rest stop at 37 miles (9 miles) and push forward to the third stop at 48 miles (20 miles).

The third rest stop was at Lincoln Beach on Utah Lake.  The boat dock, pavilions, and lush green lawns made for a very picturesque lunch of pasta, fresh fruit, cookies. Perhaps the most thrilling part of lunch was the soda fountain serving all the ice cold Diet Coke you could drink! (I stopped myself at about 4 ounces). Donielle and I made this our primary resting point and after lunch patted ourselves on the back for successfully completing the first 48 miles.


ULCER 2011 pavement markers to keep you on course

 Our next full rest stop was at mile 72 (24 miles) with talk among the riders of a water stop near 65 miles.  I visualized Lincoln Beach on the south west corner of Utah Lake and was anxious to start heading north towards home.  Unfortunately Lincoln Beach in on the east side of the lake so the next 24 miles was biked in a southwest direction over rolling hills and among farmland and orchards.  The winds coming out of the south were hitting us head on and to be quite honest, this was the most difficult part of the ride for me.  I had never been to Genola and I could not see the Wasatch Front Mountains, so my surroundings were unfamilar.  I was fighting nausea as my heart rate hovered around 160 beats per minute and began to doubt that I would finish the race.

We missed the water stop and rode directly into the rest stop at 72 miles-an abondoned gas station in the middle of....I am not real sure where.  By now the temperature was soaring around the 90's, the wind had completely dissapeared, with no trees to provide even a brief amout of shade.  And I could smell a landfill! But I was now heading north with rest stops at 80 miles, 90 miles, 100 miles, and the finish.  Somehow I felt energized. 

I officially finished the race at 6:38 pm (20 minutes before the course closed) with a time of 9:25:51, an overall pace of 11.8 miles per hour.  I finished slightly behind Donniele placing 225 in a field of 234 women bikers. I am not sure when I will have the motivation to do another Century Bike Ride but a 30 or 60 mile race would be a lot of fun.



Hard to believe I had the energy to take a photo after 107 miles