Dog Daze Century ride

I got my swim in on Thursday and an hour on the Eliptical on Friday. My knee wasn't 100%, but I decided to do the Dog Daze century today (Saturday). I figured I could always head back early if I felt like I was doing more harm than good.

My daughter left for college this morning, so I decided to skip the masters swim and see her off, then head over to the Century ride. The starting point is about 5 1/2 miles from my house, so I figured I would end up doing the full Ironman distance if my knee held out for the entire ride.

The plan was to ride with the WC Bike Club at 8am, but after a group photo, it looked like the A group was going to take a while to get organized, so I just headed out on my own at 8:05, figuring they would catch up at some point and I could draft a while - they never did (probably because I took very few rest stops, which is a hard thing to do with a large group). The people I passed in the first 30 miles must have started before the recommended 8am start time because I flew past them pretty quickly and didn't seem to run into someone that I could ride with.

The weather was just about right, cool in the AM, warming as the day passed. No sunscreen on my arms resulted in a bit of a sunburn by the end of the ride. I wasn't particularly smart about refilling my water at the first 2 aid stations, and got a bit dehydrated in the first half of the ride. The midway point is at the same place as the start, with a morning loop and an afternoon loop. I finished the morning loop by 10:40, and after rehydrating at a water fountain, was ready to tackle the second loop.

The miles came and went a bit more slowly on the second loop. I rode fairly conservatively, trying to be mindful of my knee. I notices some some bad riding habits I have formed when I get tired that puts a lot of strain on my knees and I caught myself several times.

I rode this course with a friend of mine (Chris Bartges) a few years ago - it was my first Century. It seemed so much harder back then and I remember thinking that I could never do an Ironman, because there is no way I could run a marathon after riding over 100 miles! hmm.

Well I finished at about 1:30, feeling pretty good, and stopped for lunch with Frank Dulin, one of the founders of the WC bike club - nice guy - I haven't had a chance to talk with him before.