A bunch of people from work went to the high ropes course at CSU. It was a great time (I've always want to play on one of those courses), but I hurt my back. :( Normally I would have rested and it would be no big deal, but having a lower back injury makes it difficult to transfer power to your legs. I made a chiropractor appointment for later that day to try to get better as quickly as possible. It was quite helpful and I spent the rest of the next couple days icing and stretching.
Saturday Christine and I got up bright and early at 5AM for the 2.5 hour trip to Hugo (go to the middle of nowhere and take a left). I thought I did a pretty good job of getting everything together, but I forgot one key ingredient: Accelerade. After experimenting with several different drinks, Accelerade is my endurance drink of choice. I can't believe I forgot Accelerade. Not like I would need any endurance on a 60 mile race. Doh! I filled up one of my bottles with Gatorade instead, but it pales in comparison.
So I started the race with a sore back and Gatorade. And if that wasn't enough, about 5 miles into the race I took a sip from my water bottle and choked. On water. I suck. I pulled off the road and hopped off my bike, because I was literally gasping for air. It was horrible. Once I was able to breath again I had the unenviable task of chasing down the pack. It really kicked my butt and I stayed at the end back of the pack while I nursed my new found side cramp. That ended up really sucking, because once we got to some hills I had to sprint around all the people that were getting dropped. I ended up really blowing up by doing that and got immediately dropped.
Christine also rode in this race, and it was another milestone in her cycling career. The 63 miles race was the longest distance she's ever ridden, and it's also a metric century! She struggled, but even though the support vehicles offered to give her a ride to the finish she still rode the whole thing herself.
