Today, I participated in the Tacoma Wheelmen’s Heritage Century,
a ride through the picturesque Enumclaw valley. Normally, I would have added “in the
shadow of Mt. Rainier”, but since it was overcast, the mountain was hidden.

I had hoped to do the whole century (100 miles), but because I got sick a couple of
times this summer and injured recently, it wasn’t going to happen. I settled for a
shorter version. Overall, a pretty good ride. It was much hillier than I had expected.
Luckily, I’ve been suffering on hills for weeks. At one point, I was following
a guy up a steep hill – so steep that I had to stand up even though I was in my lowest
gear, and during the highest part of the power stroke, my back wheel was spinning
up. I put that in the “not fun” category, because if it slips hard, I’m probably going
down.

When I got to the top, I realized I was following a guy with an artificial leg from
the knee down on the right side. I’m used to being passed, but usually the people
I’m passed by have all their parts. Pretty amazing.

After I finished that section, I caught up with my wife and daughter, who were doing
the 45 mile route with my daughter on her Burley Trailercycle.
I hooked her onto my bike for the next 9 miles, and then when we switched back, I
found a nice slight downhill and cranked it up to 20-23 MPH for a few miles, and then
cruised across the flats to the finish.

Overall, I’m pretty happy. My legs hurt but never got to the cramp stage, I had enough
energy for the whole ride, and my butt didn’t start hurting until I’d been riding
3.5 hours. Next year my target is RSVP.

Vital Stats:

Distance: 63.5 miles
Time: 4:36
Average speed: 13.9 MPH
Pedal Revolutions: 22,100
Horses: 155
Cows: N (where N >> 1000)
Food: 3 Power bar balance (600 calories), 3 fig newtons (165 calories), 2 energy gell
packets (200 calories), 1 1/2 bananas (150 calories), 32 oz gatorade (240 calories).
Total = 1355 calories
Calories used: Approximately 600 cal/hour ~~ 3000 calories used.