This past weekend I completed my second century, or 100 mile, bike ride.

It was the Cycle Salt Lake Century and I did it with Scott and my friend Lindsey. This was a much easier course than the last century I did. However, the last one I did was in the fall. I was in much better shape for that one because I had an entire summer of biking behind me.

This course was essentially flat. We started out at the State Fairgrounds and went up towards Kaysville and out to Antelope Island. I felt great on this ride–until about mile 65. I literally kept thinking that the ride was going great and I wasn’t even tired at all. I felt like I could keep riding all day. Then we started heading out on the causeway towards Antelope Island. The wind picked up a bit and I noticed I was a bit tired. I dropped back behind Scott and Lindsey a little bit, and then I was in trouble. They didn’t notice that I had dropped back so I ended up riding alone in the wind. It really took a lot out of me. Add to that the horrible bugs and I was really struggling. The bugs were swarming. They were hitting me in the face, going up my nose, and crawling around in my hair. I definitely ate a few. Yuck!

From there until lunch at about mile 80 was really hard for me. My quads were really cramping up and my legs just felt so tired. Scott and Lindsey were great. They slowed down to ride at my pace and let me draft for a bit. I had a good rest at lunch. We made one more stop after that, and I seemed to get my second wind. The last 20 or so miles ended up being easier and as I got closer and closer to the finish I got more and more energy.

I had the best popsicle and Diet Pepsi at the finish! We all just sat in the tent for a few minutes and relaxed and then headed to Settebello for the best pizza in Utah.

It was a lot of fun and I was really proud of myself!