Saturday Scott and I did the Heber Valley Century. It was my first 100 mile bike ride and it was HARD.

Earlier in the summer, when I got my road bike, I saw this century ride and I wanted to do it. I didn’t think we would be able to do it because some of our friends were getting married that day. Last week I looked at the schedule again, and figured out that we just might be able to fit it in. The ride started at 8:00am and the wedding was at 5:30pm in Milcreek Canyon. I figured we could go planning on doing the century, and if there wasn’t enough time we could just do the 65 mile ride. We ended up doing the 100 mile ride and we just barely made it!

The weather was beautiful. It was a gorgeous fall day. The leaves and the scenery were amazing. The course was nice, but it was hard. Scott has done 4 other centuries this summer, and he said this was the hardest course of all of them. There were a few big climbs and a lot of little rolling hills. I felt great until we got to mile 59. From mile 59 to 70 I really struggled. I felt exhausted and the course was very hilly through Wanship. Those 11 miles seemed to take forever. I kept telling myself that once I saw the mileage turn to 75 I would be home free.

And it really was true. The last 25 miles went by pretty quickly, even though there was one of the biggest climbs at about mile 85. I just put it in my granny gear and kept pedaling. It was a long steep hill, but I felt great. I knew once I got to the top it was all downhill back to the finish.

I was really proud of myself for doing it and completing the ride. Scott was an awesome partner. He waited for me and let me draft when I was tired. I had such a great time just being out there with him. It was really neat that we were able to do it together. I am looking forward to doing some more centuries next summer!