The Last Long Ride!

So, today was a strange day all together. I got up a touch before 5, drank my coffee, ate and started getting ready for my ride. It's gonna be hot today...don't forget your money...don't forget you fuel...don't forget sunscreen...don't forget your helmet or shoes or CO2 or the pump or endurolytes or sunglasses or chamois butter or your cell phone...you get the point - there is SO much to think about when heading out for a 6+ hour ride.
Yes, this is stupid, I should've had all this done last night, but I was tired and just wanted to relax and go to bed. Lame!
I wanted to start around 6, to try to get ahead of the heat a bit, and so it doesn't feel like all I do today is ride. So, I'm in the car about 1/2way to my starting place and - I FORGOT MY GARMIN! Do I want to turn around? I have a pretty good idea on the mileage of this route? Should I go get it? Yes, it's dumb to do this long of a ride without a computer on your bike. Ok, I'm turning around, heading back to the house for the Garmin. So much for starting around 6 a.m.!
I get home to discover that I also haven't charged the battery on my Garmin. Another great reason to do all of this the night before!!! Oh well, it has a few bars, maybe it'll last! I also grabbed my cycling gloves while I was home...might want those since it'll be a very sweaty day with the humidity! Oh yes, and let's get the heartrate strap too, you dork! You need to be better prepared for this stuff, Dawn! (yes, I was yelling at myself a bit). So, I was back in the car and heading down the road again. It took a while to get the bike all loaded up, even when I got to my starting place (a school parking lot). I was pumping up my tires, and having a little trouble with the rear one. I adjusted the valvestem a few different times, but I was having trouble getting air into it. Well, I guess I leaned into it a little too much, 'cause I caught the skin on my quad in the pump as I pushed it down. Sure, that hurt a lot. And, I had a big, red & purple rising welt on my leg. Good times. Let's do more stupid things today.
I did have a gal drive up and ask if I was meeting Julie for a ride. I don't think so...she said I should join them (looked like they were meeting in a parking lot across the street), but I don't think they would've wanted me to tag along. They were on leisure bikes, so I don't think it would've worked with pace. Good for them, though, it's great to see other people out enjoying the bike early on a Sat. morning!
Finally, I head out. It's gonna be a long day, but I am very optimistic about getting the ride done. I want it to be a good ride. I really do. My legs and back were feeling sore Thurs and yesterday, so as I started riding, the legs didn't necessarily feel fresh, but they were ok. It was a perfect morning, actually, a bit muggy, but fairly cool and I had cloud cover, so that was great. I brought my iPod along today, which I don't normally do, but I thought I might need the extra motivation - besides, if it's windy, it helps to disguise the wind and trick you a bit! I only wore one ear bud - so I could still hear cars approaching. Who am I kidding? I can't typically hear the cars anyway when I'm riding with the Carbones! Those babies are loud and make the coolest whooshing sound.
I made my way through Platte Woods - NUTS - I forgot to start my timer on the computer! I had reset it, but forgot I needed to push "start"...URGH - and out to Interurban. I felt like I was holding a good pace, and I was feeling good. Every 15 min I would take a drink of perpetuum and water...every hour, the endurolytes and racecaps. I knew very early into today's ride that I would need to stay on top of the fluids and endurolytes...I sweat, but today I had sweat just dripping off the front of my helmet. I don't typically notice this. And, it wasn't even an hour into the ride...so, I better watch this.
I felt good as I passed through Camden Point and headed on to Dearborn. I stopped in Dearborn for water. That's it...just water. I was quickly off and heading to Platte City. This is strange; the wind IS NOT beating me senseless today! What's up with that? It's actually pretty moderate. Oh, I'm getting rained on a little - where did that come from? Sure hope it doesn’t get any worse. Is that rain, or is it my sweat? 
I stopped at another gas station in Platte City – this time, in addition to water, I drank some Coke as well. I don’t even like Coke normally, but it tastes SOOOOO good when you’re hot and in need of sugar. Mmmmm.
I made it around that loop and back to Interurban. I was still feeling good and was a little more than ½ way done. The cloud cover had disappeared, and now it was just sun, heat and humidity! (I’m thrilled not to add “wind” to that mix!) I was feeling the hills a little more this time around, but still not too bad. I stopped in Dearborn for more water, and put some ice in my Perpetuum. I failed to mention that on my first loop, I somehow avoided the dog that always chases me – I saw him outside with the owner, but his back was turned, so I tried to quietly make my way up the hill without being noticed. It worked the first time, but no such luck my second time around. It’s crazy, but that boy spotted me a long way off, and started making his way through a field to get to me. So, he chased me all the way up the hill – a couple times venturing a little closer to my front wheel than I prefer. I was pretty pleased at how calm I remained…finally, he gave up.
Once I hit Interurban, I knew it wasn’t too far back to the parking lot. That would put me pretty close (if not over 100 miles) and I would need to make up the rest by heading out Congress or Barry or something like that. I really needed more water, but all of my water opportunities were gone. I considered asking some folks on the golf course if they had any extra, but I couldn’t be bothered…it’s only a few more miles now. At mile 100, I pulled into a QT right around the corner from where I parked. I got water, Coke and some crackers – I was taking endurolytes, but I felt like I needed more salt. Anyway, I sat there for a few minutes, trying to cool down a bit. I got back on my bike and headed up Congress…I can’t believe it – mile 101 my Garmin’s battery died! BUMMER! So, I had to kind of guess at my remaining mileage, but I’m sure I was pretty close.
Finally…close to 7 hours later, I’m back at the car! That’s like a work day, people! I headed straight home, sat in a 10-minute ice bath (oooo-eeeee), showered, ate and layed down. Aaaaahhhh, it feels good to be done!
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This evening, I'm laying on the couch and Tucker is on the floor next to the couch. We've been playing with his tennis ball ring (note it in the photo). I hear him chewing on something rubbery and assume it's this ring. I literally lay there for maybe 20 minutes or so. He gets up and was standing by the couch, so I sat up a little to pet him - WHAT?!?! What is this mess? What have you been doing?! Tucker - that's a bad boy!!! He totally chewed up my flip flop while I was RIGHT there. Duh! Anyway, the photo is pretty funny, as there is a bone AND his toy right there...yet he choosed the flip flop. The other picture is him feeling very remorseful laying on his bed (yeah, right!).
More good news - getting ready to head to bed and I find - none other than a TICK on my abdomen. Nice. Thankfully, it was a tiny one and I was able to pull it out (hopefully without further incident). Yes, this has been a strange day!