Since the Lake Stevens race I haven’t trained much, I’ve swam a few times, did a 70 mile bike ride & went on vacation for a week…
Saturday I had the opportunity to join a group that’s training for Ironman Canada for 100+ ride. This was my first oppertunity to cross the century mark on a bicycle. Its quite a milestone & one I was looking forward to. My only hesitation was for the three days I had been back from Mexico I was fighting a cold & non-stop stomach cramps. Nothing like a challenge right?
At 5:45 am I met Jessica & Erica in the hood. (23rd & Yestler) From there we headed to UW to meet up with Jerry who was providing the directions for the ride. I knew we were heading east & at some point would see North Bend. The route was great, other than a couple stretches there wasn’t much traffic & good road surfaces. We went through Woodenville, Redmond, Fall City, Snoqualmie, North Bend, Bellevue, & Mercer Island. The entire ride we only stopped for one 15 minute break.
This was an honest century…it included some pretty good hills. My Garmin put the ascent at over 4500 ft. The two biggest hills were going up Snoqualmie Falls as well as going over Tolt Hill.
I felt strong till about the 85 mile mark, at that point I started to feel the affects of vacation & fighting off the cold. (Luckily the stomach cramps held off till after the ride) The final mileage was 107.10 & I was beat.
Here’s a screen shot of the route & elevation profile. (Click for larger view)
If you want more detailed directions for this route post a comment & I can send you the Google Earth file.
