Eat a Peach Bike Challenge

On Saturday I rode the "Eat a Peach Bike Challenge." My friend, Mandy, suggested it. The challenge had several different ride courses you could do and the goal of the challenge was simply to finish. It wasn't a race. Mandy did the 67-mile course and I did the 40-mile course. Before this I think the furthest I had ever ridden was about 27 miles.

The ride was in Westminster, MD, only 30 minutes from Laura & Clark's place, so I stayed with them the night before the ride. Because Mandy and I did different routes, I mostly rode by myself. I got a little lost at one point due to inadequate road signage and added an extra two miles or so onto my ride, so I guess my longest ride to date is now about 42 miles.

The website described the ride as "rolling hills" but "brutal hill after brutal hill" would have been a much more accurate description. Somehow it felt like I spent much more of the ride going uphill than downhill. I don't know how that works. And some of the hills were very, very steep. I don't know what I would have done without my granny gear on my bike. I was able to ride up some of the hills, in granny gear and zig-zagging across the road, inching my way up as nearly everyone else was walking their bike up the hill, but there were two hills that did me in.

About halfway through the course I was coming down a small hill, so I was in a hard gear. The road ahead was hidden by trees and as I stopped at a stop sign and turned the corner I was surprised to find a very steep uphill. I tried down-shifting, but wasn't fast enough and my legs weren't strong enough to just power through it, resulting in my crashing to the ground with my feet still clipped in the pedals. My no-falling streak has ended. I got up, walked my bike up the hill, got back on and kept riding, but my knees have been very tender to the touch ever since. Hopefully no permanent damage done, but I won't be kneeling anytime soon.

Then at the end of the ride, with only about 2 miles to go, I came out of the trees, stopped at a stoplight with about 8 other riders and found myself exclaiming "look at that hill!" as I stared wide-eyed at the road ahead. It was almost straight up and went as high as a 20-story building. Riding up a hill with your shoes clipped in the pedals is always a risky affair because you can't change your mind mid-hill. You have to keep pedaling no matter how much your legs are killing you. Otherwise, in the millisecond it takes to pause and unclip your shoe, you'll fall. I tried riding this hill, but about 1/3 of the way up I managed to unclip my feet from the pedals and get off my bike without falling and I took my place in the line of people walking their bike up the hill.

By the end of the ride my legs were definitely burning, but I was proud of myself for finishing the distance and riding it well. I rode about 42 miles in 3 hrs 20 minutes, which is about 12.5 miles per hour. I usually average 15 mph, but with those hills I was very happy with my time.

The ride was organized in conjunction with the farmer's market and annual peach festival. Laura & Clark & the girls came to see me finish. We got peach sundaes and the girls got free bike helmets. I bought a half peck of peaches so I can make a peach pie later this week. Later in the evening the girls were eager to ride bikes with their new helmets and since I had my bike with me, I took advantage of the opportunity to join them for some bike riding.