100 mile ride recap

Happy Independence Day everyone!  Woo Hoo!  I actually am working today, but sneaking in a picnic.  Long post ahead, fyi.

So, the 100-mile ride yesterday.  Surprised?  So were we!  The plan was for 85 miles.  We started the day with a good brekkie.  I had banana custard oats topped with some extra almond butter and fluff.  I wanted to boost the calories a little bit.

Plus 2 cups of cafe au lait!  We then headed out at about 9 am.  We headed south this time on a nice bike lane for the first 25 miles.  Saw an Osprey, too – how cool!

They put a nest box on the top of telephone pole, and it got put to use!  Yay for being green :mrgreen:

After 15 miles, we took our first snack stop:

There was a lot of food consumed on this ride, I will say….

More long road.  It was nice and quiet today, too.  Must be the holiday weekend.  This is looking behind me, not ahead.

We were feeling pretty good, but I was starting to get hungry around mile 30.  We knew it would be a while before we hit lunch, so we stopped and had more food.

I love pears during biking.  I always get a boost from them and say I am powered by pear!  Ate this while waiting for a train to pass.

Never had that happen before!

I was really fatigued around mile 38 or so.  I actually was wondering about how to get through the rest of the day at this point.  40-ish miles tends to be some kind of sticking point for me.  It also was longer than we normally go without a larger meal.  This wasn’t totally planned to go this far without lunch, but there was no place to eat!

We finally arrived at Clifton Park at mile 42 and hangry for lunch.  We just happened to pass an Indian restaurant featuring a lunch buffet.  Perfect!  I knew I could eat just as much as I wanted without worrying about how big a portion was.

My plate:

I had another plate like this and a bit of rice pudding.  I tried to have mostly carbs and avoid anything greasy or oily.  So good!  I wish this place were closer to home.  (Mom, you need to come to this buffet).

After lunch and a carb fill up, we picked up a few snacks at the grocery store.  We forgot to get coconut water (booo!) and this store didn’t have any, so we got some vitamin water.  Not bad, but not my coconut water.  We headed through some nice towns and on some bike path for another 20 miles to Saratoga.  We knew we wanted to hit the Cupcake Lab again, so that is where we stopped.  With a giant iced coffee!

This was at mile 63.  I inhaled that coffee.  Amazing how much liquid you consume on these long rides, and yet no potty needs!  The nice people at this cafe filled up my water bottle with filtered water, too.  I look surprisingly fresh here after 60+ miles….

While eating the cupcakes, we started making noises about going for the whole 100 miles during this ride.  We were 20 miles from home, so that would have been about 85 anyway.  This ride had hills, but not as many as some of our previous rides, so we were feeling really good.  Plus the nice wide bike lanes we rode and the ones we knew coming up were very relaxing to be on.  We decided to assess a bit later.

Top of a big hill (again looking back).  Our stops started to become more frequent just to get a little more fuel:

By this point, I really wanted to go all 100 miles.  I had my 2nd wind at this point, I was feeling good.  Not to mention the thought of going out and doing this *again* with more miles was enough to make me want to keep going.

John wanted something a little more substantial to eat, so we hit up Mr. Bills (drive-in type place) around mile 85 or so.  He had shrimp and fries, but that was so unappealing to me at this point.   I had my 2nd pear of the day (pear power!) and nibbled on some of his fries for the salt factor.  We solidified our decision to do the whole ride here:

Note the late setting sun.  We were a little worried about running out of daylight, so no dawdling now!

We pressed on and I started singing and generally really enjoying myself.  Was that delirium? I don’t know….

Here is a little video from the path

You can’t hear me very well, but I was babbling on about being tired and seeing through time.  The odometer was reading 7 hours and 15 minutes and the distance was 89 miles.  So close at this point!  We’ll just ignore the safety factor of biking and taking a simultaneous video….

We finally rolled to home taking a few loops to get to 100 miles.

John super happy!

Ride stats:

Distance:  100.2 miles

Time:  8 hours and 9 minutes of ride time (not including stops)

Speed:  12.4 mph

Calories burned:  2975 – Holy frijole!

Assessment:  This was hard, but funny that the 70 mile ride we did a couple weeks ago seemed harder for some reason.  We had perfect conditions today and going that extra bit just made sense to us.  I am so proud of both of us.  Amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it!

Would I do it again?  Maybe.  I certainly could.  However, it just takes up so much time.  8 hours of riding plus stops and we were gone for about 12 hours.  Can’t do much else on a day like that.  It will be nice to settle down to lesser distance rides.  I think 40 to 50 miles is enough for me.

Oh, we walked and had some ice cream at 10 pm last night LOL!  My legs are a little tired today, but really not bad at all,  although  my butt hurts today :mrgreen:

37 thoughts on “100 mile ride recap”

  6. Shelley B

    Lori and John, you guys are true road warriors – congratulations on the 100 mile bike ride!!! And how cool was it that when you decided to continue on toward 100, the fist bump shows your glove saying “Go” – what a fun couple you two are!
    .-= Shelley B´s last blog ..Fourth of July Fun Run Recap- =-.

  13. Jody - Fit at 52

    OK, you are officially AWESOME as if you were not before! 🙂 I would not even attempt in my wildest nightmares!!! HA! BUT, those cupcakes looked YUMMY!

    Congrats Lori…. I am in awe!
    .-= Jody – Fit at 52´s last blog ..Happy July 4th- =-.

  18. She-Fit

    Oh wow! Way to go Lori. I would love to ride a bike that long, I just don’t think I could ever do that. I’m so impressed

  19. Fran

    You both are great! I’m so impressed that you rode 100 miles and it seemed like a fun day too. Big applause for you both!

  20. debby

    I want a cupcake, but not sure I’m willing to ride 100 miles for one LOL!

    Love to read your ride re-caps. Amazing you could be so tired after 38 miles but then continue on to 100! Congratulations to you and John.
    .-= debby´s last blog ..Goodbye- for Reals- =-.

  21. Catherine

    Amazing job! I love your picture-filled posts. That Indian buffet looked deelish, as did your cupcakes and coffee! You and your hubby are such an inspiration 🙂

  23. Bernadette

    Holy Frijole is right batman!!
    That is AWESOME with AWESOME SAUCE!!!!

    I struggle at the 40 mile point usually and if I can push past that start struggling again at around mile 70… so far 73 is my farthest. I’m impressed and am so jealous of that beautiful bike trail you have!! LOVE THAT!!

  27. Jan

    Lori – I tried to find coconut water today. I only saw one particular brand and it seemed loaded with extra sugar. What brand do you use and does it contain anything other than coconut water?
    Thanks 🙂

  30. Kelly

    Congrats, Lori! That is such a wonderful accomplishment, 100 miles is a long car ride for me! I can’t imagine biking it, so it’s really great to see these pictures and live vicariously through your story. You definitely inspired me to exercise tonight…not for 12 hours but at least I’ll be doing something! I haven’t heard much about coconut water, I’ll have to check that out.

  33. christine

    what is that on your bike that tracks the miles for you? my Dad just started biking and would love a product like that! thanks 🙂

    1. Lori

      It is a Schwinn bike computer. You kind find them pretty much in any store (even target or Kmart). Around $10 – $25 depending on how many bells and whistles you want.

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