Saturdays Ride

So this last Saturday we set out on our training ride. Our goal was lots of miles and as flat as possible. We started out with a group of 5, it was so nice to ride with a bigger group. We headed out Badger and looped around to Benton City. We came up Jacobs Road, whitch runs parallel to the freeway back to Dallas Road and came into Richland down Keene. Hansen's headed home at that point, Cory had to get to work, so Jacob, I and our friend Billy hopped on the Bike path and sailed through Richland, over the bridge to Pasco, flew down to the cable bridge and here's where we messed up. I wanted to ride back down the Kennewick side of the River, remember... lots of miles, as flat as possible??? Well Jacob thought we could do more miles if we headed out to Finley and wound around to the new highway, down State Patrol and back home 27th... So we headed out Chemical to Finley, past the schools and smack into a DETOUR sign. The road was all torn up but there was a nice smooth paved path off to the side. We also at this time ran into a group of about 25 other cyclists. We see the path and decice its not too bad, we can get through it to the other side. Only a couple blocks. The next road has DETOUR signs so we stop and contemplate our plight. We either go back over the 2 blocks of construction, or we go out and up one of the hill climbs the guys like to do. Now the road ends at the top, but Jacob is pretty sure it meets up with another road at the end of another climb they like to do and he wants to be "adventurous!" (his words).

So we climb, and climb... it wasn't super steep but it went on for like 15-20 miles... Not to mention we have already done 50 miles. So as we are getting to the top, the big group of cyclists is heading down. I'm thinking, why are they all coming down if the road goes through? Jacob says, "thats what you do, go up then down." Ok I say... Really I am starting to feel familar feeling reminiscent of our last ride where we went out to the windmills and ended up on a gravel road for 5 miles and had to get a ride... blah blah (it was the worst ride ever, it was 2 years ago when we were training for the STP before.)

Back to my current story. So we are at the top of this climb and thinking that the other road is just around the corner. So we start riding in the gravel. Not fun on a road bike. Let me tell you! 5 miles go by, half riding, walking our bikes up the hills because its just too gravelly. We are out in the middle of nowhere. I don't even know where we were. I didn't know you could go where we were. (Apparently you shouldn't on road bikes) By the way, if you've never worn rode bike shoes, they have these clips on the bottom so your feet are attatched to the pedal. Well, they are not easy to walk in on flat ground, so you can imagine what they are like on a gravel road, up hill, pushing your bike! They SUCKED!!!! Finally after 6 miles of this road and seeing no end in sight or no paved roads I turned to Jacob and said, "Call my mom to come get me, I am done!" It was all I could do to not sit down in the gravel and cry! (That is really hard for me to admit. I pride myself on being strong and pushing through anything, but I was done!) So he grabs his phone... No Signal! Of course not! We are out in BFE!!! So we keep on walking. Finally he gets a signal and calls for help. We keep walking and, oh by the way, by this point two trucks have flown by us as we are walking our bikes up a gravel hill and didn't stop. Which I couldn't believe. Note to self and all others... If you ever see road bikers walking their bikes, stop and see if they need help. Especially if you are on a gravel road that never ends...

So a 3rd truck starts approaching and if I had to I was going to take off my clothes and flag him down. Luckily he stopped when I waved at him. I slyly asked, "How far till we hit pavement?" He replies, "Oh a couple of miles. Have you been on this road before?" Seriously? Do I look like I'm having fun and would choose to be on this road if I'd had any idea what it was? But I sweetly reply, "No, we are lost!" "Well," he says, "once you turn the corner you have a big hill coming up, after that one more big hill, then you turn the corner and the road starts." Hmmmm, I am thinking, is he going to offer us a ride or do I have to beg? Apparently I have to beg... So I do, and he gives us a ride to the road. We hit pavement, hop out of the truck and back on our bikes. All 3 of us were like, "AHHH!" it felt so good to be on solid ground... which you can imagine how awful the gravel was if it felt that good to get on our bike seats after 70 miles of riding. :)

So its like another 12-15 miles home and I tell Jacob to call my mom, I would just ride home. They were already on their way though and so I decided to just ride until we ran into them and then I would get in the car and let the guys ride home. A few miles later, here they came. Oh! What a happy sight. I was so glad to get in the car. I struggled with not wanting to feel like a quitter, but I kept reminding myself, that my goal was 70... it had been 75 and with the gravel and all, it had been quite a ride!

So there is my loooonnnggg story. The moral of this particular story is this... Never ride a road bike to Finley! It is just not good! And, at the first sign of DETOURS, Road Construction, or Gravel... TURN AROUND!!!

This Saturday.... 100 miles.... FLATS!!!

P.S. Jacob and Billy just informed me that they both saw cyotes while we were out wandering in BFE! I'm so glad I didn't see them! I would have really freaked out!