My plan is really getting intense these days and this weekend included a 7 hour bike ride. I'm not sure where my coach expected me to do it, but since I was going to be headed to Lake Geneva with friends this weekend, I got the crazy idea that I would ride my bike there.
I took the day off of work on Friday since the weather over the weekend was going to be tentative again. On Thursday, I spent a good amount of time on the Internet mapping out a route from my apartment to Corey's house in Fontana, WI. It was going to be somewhere between 80-90 miles and I assumed I'd hit the 7 hour mark.
I was also concerned about having SAG support... My mom said she'd meet me with water at the Wauconda Village Hall which would be around mile 37-39 and hour 3-4. I wasn't exactly sure because the route from the city to the suburbs was the most difficult with morning traffic and traffic lights. I also worked to get two official bike path/trails included (Des Plaines and Prospect Heights) in the route and wasn't sure how they'd play into it.
I left home around 7am or just before and arrived at check point #1 at about 10:15am. I went from the Lakefront to Howard to Milwaukee to the Des Plaines River Trail. Around the curve at Howard, I had a minor detour because it didn't look like you could go over the highway and got alternate directions from a del lower biker/commuter.
This trail was flooded where I could continue north so I went west on Lake/Euclid and connected back to the Prospect Trail.
The trails had a lot of cover with the trees and they were dark and damp. I did see a few joggers and bikers along the way. It was also flooded in a couple areas and twice I had to carry the bike over two fallen trees and one set of train tracks. I didn't feel super comfortable just because it was pretty empty and only one path- and I didn't know where I was going- so I didn't feel entirely safe since I was solo.
Then my mom was close to Wauconda and had agreed to meet me at my first check point at 10:15am. Michael was supposed to be there with all my support stuff (extra clothes, food water, sunscreen) but he ran out of gas, left late and hit traffic. Thankfully my mom made it!! I went to the toilet, cleaned up, filled up my water bottles, and cleaned off my bike (it was a mess from the water and stuff in the forest preserve).
Then I headed out towards 176 and Crystal Lake. It was on 176 where I had a close encounter with a Hummer 3 and one lane with road construction and I almost went off the road, but otherwise I didn't have too many issues. Michael made it to meet up with me around mile 46. I literally saw him pass me in the street in my own car and was screaming (not surprisingly he was totally clueless to this!). I had to call him while riding to tell him to pull over.
When we met up, I changed out of my soaking wet socks and changed tri shorts (thank god!) The seams were totally digging into my business and I also put more lube on my booty.
We set a meet up place for about 10-12 miles ahead and I estimated it'd take between 35-50 minutes and we met at S Rose Farm Road which was in the area where the roads cleared up. Blog shout out to the guy in the red truck that hung out his window at mile 53 and yelled, "keep doing whatever you're doing, honey because its working!" I need that push heading into a lot of very solitary time.
We met up again another 10 miles away at the Johnson/Hebron intersection and finally again, Michael drove ahead and when I caught up with him, I waved him on the keep going.
When I knew I was about 9-15 miles away from the lake house was when I hit 7 hours. Instead of jut finishing up, I decided to keep riding. I figured that another hour was probably okay since I hadn't been much in zone 4 (what the plan called for) and I really wanted to ride door-to-door.
When I got to the directional for Lake Geneva or Walworth, I was super excited. A cop drove by and gave me a huge shout out- I found out later he had asked Michael (parked) if he needed anything and MB told him what I was doing). The last 2 miles were rolling hills and then I was home free!
When I got to Corey & Tim's place, Michael gave me a high five and then I changed to my running shoes and headed out for a 25 minute "run" which was really a trot more than anything. Tim wasn't at the house when I finished so we went directly to Gordys for some food!!!
By the time we got back, Time and Mike hug out while I took a long, cold shower and cleaned up.
It was a great day and a big accomplishment for me!! Actual ride time was 6:49 and i didnt even hit zone 4- this makes me happy!
Statistics and facts to follow in another post!
Obstacle #1 on the Des Plaines River Trail
Obstacle #2 on the Des Plaines River path. Until another biker showed up, I was seriously confused. You have to carry your bike up and over an ACTIVE train track. It doesn't seem safe.
