At least once a year the White Rim in a Day is either ridden on a fatty or on the single speed bike. This time around it was on the single speed with some AZT weight added to it. I knew I wouldn't be particularly 100% as on Monday night I came down with a stomach bug and losing two days at work. So, I had a few days to replenish and get out and ride 100 miles.
The group start wasn't quite a group start. The plan was to have Shawn and Terry meet Paul and I at the top of Mineral Bottom. While on the drive to Mineral Bottom we saw Kiviok out riding the opposite direction trying to sneak in his own ride and we convinced him to ride with us. We were all ready and as we rolled out Shawn and Terry rolled up and we just stated we would soft pedal up the road. Well, they finally caught up to us at mile 40. LOL. Shawn was messing with his AZT meal prep trial and error and the others rolled out as I waited for Shawn. We rode together until mile 75 or so and than I became rather tired and started losing energy. The stomach bug episode was catching up with me. I pedaled my own pace not wanting to bonk hard and I started to cramp a bit in my inner thighs. It was going to be a hard 20 some miles to finish by myself. I wasn't in the mood to spin after Shawn and the other boys had pedaled away earlier with no regrouping to be done on this day.
I saw Kiviok and Shawn on Hardscrabble a few switchbacks up and I resolved myself to just ride my own ride at this point. Shawn was crushing the climbs on his 32x19 setup with full AZT gear on the bike. I was content with my 32x20 gearing. I caught up with Kiviok at the bottom of the Mineral Bottom climb. I had already thought to myself that I was going to be walking much of it. Well, I ended up walking the whole climb. I didn't have much energy left in the tank. Still a good day to be out on the bike. 100 miles done.
The rest of the weekend I spent completing a 10 mile run with my new Altra Olympus running shoes and took the fat bike on Mag 7 and rode the trail system reverse order. Some good climbing on Bull Run in that direction.
16 days until the AZT. I hope I'm ready.
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