ULCER 2006

Well, yesterday was the big ULCER ride. I've been looking forward to this ride for about a year. It was by far my longest ride ever and to put it mildly, IT WAS LONG. I picked up my packet a couple of days early and saw many of the other people that I would be riding with. For the most part, as it turned out, they were mostly posers.

I tried to get a a good night's rest so that I could get up by 6 and be there before 7. The ride started and finished at American Fork High School. Of course, it took me a few minutes and a call to 411 to get the address (even though I've been there a dozen times for Jr. Jazz games). I must have been a bit nervous.

As I was getting ready I ran in to a good friend, Jeff Thomas. He's been riding for a number of years. He introduced me to a bunch of his friends and invited me to ride with them. Cool.

I loaded up with Gatorade, a few gel packets, and energy bars and I was off. Since this wasn't really a race, you could start at your pleasure. We started about 7:30. It was pretty cool. There were hundreds of riders. For the first 50 miles or so, I don't believe I got passed. Jeff and his group were really cool and helped me with all of the proper etiquette. I followed closely in a paceline for the first time. I was amazed at the difference. We stopped at the 25 mile station and I had a banana, refilled my bottles with Gatorade, and was able to take a much needed pee.

I wasn't paying attention and lost the group after that first stop and tried to catch up. I ended up being only a few minutes behind them as I arrived at the second stop at the half way point. The major bummer about the entire ride was that my wireless bike computer was NOT working. I screwed around with it at the second stop and finally game up. Oh well. On to the next stop. I ended up stopping only about 8 miles ahead. I phoned Marcella and let her know how it was going. I told her that I would call her in Springville (with only 25 miles to go).

Well, I never ended up stopping. I followed a couple of different groups and ended up going the remaining 40+ miles without a stop. I did fine until about mile 85 or so. I didn't have any problems the first half but I'll tell you, 104 miles is a long way. At the start of the race, my friend Jeff and the other guys were talking about the LOTOJA ride. That is a 206 mile race from Logan to Jackson. I thought "Hey, that would be fun". But after finishing yesterday's ride, I'll have to do a bunch more riding before attempting something like that.

Anyhow, I thought it was quite the accomplishment. 100+ miles in about 5.5 hours. I didn't actually time it and I'm not sure if you're suppose to include rest stops and such. Back at the high school, I drank a bunch of Gatorade, had a sandwich, fruit, and a bunch of popsicles.

I went home and tried to nap but really didn't. I was tired, a bit sunburned but pretty dang happy to be done. I'm pretty sure that I'll do the ride next year and hopefully do a bit better.

I took my bike into the shop a few days ago for a tune up. They also suggested that I have a new chain put on. I really noticed the difference and the bike couldn't have performed much better. I wonder if I'll ever get a nice/lighter bike. I really like the one I have. I guess if I really want to be competitive and race, I'll have to consider getting a better bike. For now, I'm pretty happy.

Today I woke up, a bit sore on the bum but feeling pretty good. I have to take Jake to the Oval at 6:00 am tomorrow for a hockey/TV thing. I'm not sure what kind of training I should be doing this week but I should do a bit of running and biking to get ready for my first tri on Saturday. The main thing is I need to make sure that I get plenty of rest.

With that, I'm going to bed.