Another Wilson 100 Ride.....

Only half of Team Chi-Chis rode the Wilson 100 today, the half that rides the same bicycle. But we wore our Team Chi-Chis jerseys, and we got a gazillion compliments on them, so the team spirit was there. Katydid and I rode the 65-mile route, mainly because we rode the 54-mile route last year and we wanted to do something different. And less wimpy. But not the 100.

Then I looked at my blog from last year, and we rode the 65-mile route then too. How soon we forget these things.



I looked back at the post I rode after last year's ride, and it is eerie how similar they are. Today was overcast and sort of drizzly most of the day, but the rain wasn't enough to be annoying. It didn't even require wiping off the mirror. But it did mean that I could ride without my sunglasses, which leave indentations on the sides of my nose and become quite aggravating by the end of the day. When we were at the last rest stop, the rain started pouring down, and we thought, "Uh oh, just like last year...." Last year we eventually had to stop and seek shelter because of thunder and lightning. But today the rain stopped pretty quickly, and we never actually rode in much rain. My feet got wet but we didn't have that stinging experience of riding in a hard rain.

The downside of riding on a cool day is that it's easy to forget to drink enough water. The heat isn't draining you like it does on a sunny day, but you're still losing fluids through perspiration and wind. I heard many, many people talking today about their leg muscles cramping, even the die-hard century riders who finish in the same length of time it takes us to ride 65. My legs felt just a tiny bit like they wanted to cramp, and they were KILLING me during the post-ride meal. (Not a good day to forget to take my potassium. Along with all my other medicine. Duh.)

But I came home and had French onion soup for dinner in an attempt to replace the sodium lost during the ride, and my legs feel better. They still hurt like hell, especially in the knee region, but at least they don't feel like they are going to cramp.

An early bedtime is definitely in store for tonight. The only bad part about a Sunday ride is I don't get enough recuperation time before starting a new school week. Oh well....