The U.L.C.E.R

Last Saturday my friend Melissa, her husband Dave, and me braved the 111 mile U.L.C.E.R (Utah Lake Century Epic Ride). The weather was awesome for August, we had cloudy skies and the highs were in the low 70's, it would have been completely perfect if it wasn't for the headwind we encountered on the last 40 miles.

The day started out perfect, we started the ride at 8 am, though I would have preferred to start earlier, but the extra sleep was probably something I needed. About 11 miles into the ride Melissa and I noticed a couple with their bikes and as we rode past they asked us something...we couldn't understand exactly what they said, I'm sure it was because of the speed in which we were riding, so we decided since I had made eye contact we should be nice and turn around, it turns out their co2 cartridge wasn't working so they needed to use our tire pump. A few minutes later Dave noticed that we weren't behind him anymore and came back to see what we were doing, he told us in the future when someone asks for our help, it would be best to either ignore them or pretend we don't speak English. We had a lot of good laughs on the ride thanks to Dave. He kept trying to draft off trucks and even once tried to grab hold of a truck towing a boat, but sadly he couldn't pull it off the way Micheal J. Fox can.

We had our first stop at about mile 25, and we all felt really great. Soon after we went into Provo, and made our way back over the freeway, it felt strange to be riding on my bike next to the freeway and see the sign that said Springville 1 Mile. We had lunch about mile 50 next to Utah Lake and stocked up on snacks. Up until this point the weather was beautiful with partly cloudy skies and light wind. Once we got back on our bikes, we had another 20 miles to go before our next stop. For some reason, I have a really hard time getting back into things after lunch, I had the same problem when Melissa and I rode the Little Red. So when I saw the sign that said food/water stop 1/2 mile, I almost cried, and that should tell you something right there, I was so mentally beat I really thought about stopping, because 70 miles is the farthest I had ever gone. Plus, it didn't help that the guy and the stop told us that the next 40 miles are going to be harder than the first 70. What happened to the volunteers giving us encouraging words??? But after a nice break and a protein bar, we were prepared enough to get back on the road.

Coming around the Lake on the West side we were facing the wind, and that was the hardest I've ever pushed on a bike in my life. I was able to make it because Dave let me draft off of him the entire way. Melissa is so tough, she led the entire way, so I was able to draft. At mile 87 we had a small stop and I was so tired, it was then I noticed several people loading up their bikes and quitting, and these were people that appeared to be in "good shape". I couldn't believe it, but thanks to the people that quit, I was inspired to keep going.

After we reached mile 70 there were stops about every 10 miles, and that was a good thing with all the wind. By the time we reached mile 100 I just had this feeling that I knew I could finish. My knees had started hurting my hands ached and I couldn't feel my butt anymore, but I was so proud of myself for going 100 miles, I knew I wouldn't stop until I had finished the entire ride. It helped too that my family came to cheer me on. I can't even tell you how great it felt to know that so many people were cheering for us. And when I saw that finish line I knew I had accomplished something that I never would have dared try. If it wasn't for Melissa pushing me to do more and actually signing me up for the ride, I don't know if I would have been able to do it.

Here we are all done feeling really proud and looking pretty good after being on our bikes for 111 miles. Looking back on the ride, I can actually say that I had a great time. It was hard, but I'm doing it again next year.