100 miles done!  What a glorious day.  Things got started on Friday with a bib pick up at the middle school in Hanover where the event is staged.  Pick up started at noon and the temp was about 92 degrees.  There were quite a lot of people there already and I’m glad that I went early.  I went home and spent the time cooling off and getting our pasta dinner ready.  Tried to get to sleep early, but that was a lost cause because of nerves and excitement.

 

 

 

 

 

The day dawned early for us (3:30 for me, 4:00 for Ben) and we started pedaling at 5:00.  I earned a VIP parking spot right across the street from the start which made it easy to hop on the bikes and go.  We watched the sunrise and the temp was cool.  Ben said it was cold and that his teeth were chattering, but I think that he was just afraid of my biking prowess. No critters to report, other than a wild chipmunk, a wild crow, and some wild cyclists.

 

The temp continued cool as we rode up up up and over Mount Cube and then down into our first SAG stop of the day at mile 40ish.

Continued on into Pike and Haverhill and were past by a gaggle of riders drafting each other.  I turned to Ben and asked if we had missed the party and he said “That’s how you Prouty at 20 MPH.”  I responded “This is how you Prouty at 14 MPH” and continued on our merry way.  Hitting mile 50 was a turning point as neither of us had rode further than that ever so we were entering unknown physical territory.

 

 

Mile 60 continued onward into Woodsville and then crossing the river into Wells River, VT.  Around Mile 70 I started to bonk and things got quiet.  We had a headwind (we always seem to have a headwind no matter what direction we go in) and the sun started peeking out from the clouds so it started to get hot. The road conditions were pretty bad, with big cracks and holes in the road.   Even Ben said he felt grumpy and didn’t know why.  (Reference reasons why listed above.)

 

 

 

My weak attempt to form 5 and 2 to mark the passing of 70 miles.  Let the bonking commence.  I had brought Advil with me but it fell out somewhere and the aid stations only had Tylenol, which I am allergic to.  But we soldiered onward into Newbury and Bradford.  Stopped at a SAG stop to refuel and there was a great band playing.  At this point, we had started joining up with the 50 milers who were crossing over from Piermont, NH.  It was great to start riding with more and more people, which helped with motivation as we all slogged on, homeward bound.

 

 

Back into Fairlee, VT and then over the river into Orford and the homestretch.  Somewhere around mile 80 I think I told Ben one of my favorite running quotes: “When you have nothing left to burn you have to set yourself on fire.”  He was like “Oh yeah?”  And that pretty much fizzled out.  The time had come to crank it out and hold on for dear life.

 

My hands-free 90 miles!  The last 10 miles or so include some long uphills and then a huge downhill that felt wonderful to get out of the saddle and cruise down towards the final hill.  The last challenge is the Chieftan Hill (which I named after the motel located halfway up).  There was a steel drum band playing us up and over and Ben and I regrouped and rode in together.

 

 

It felt great to finish and to top it off, we ran into my two friends who had walked the 5k course in memory of my friend’s husband.  Got to hang out and pig out on good food and music.  I tried to get Ben to dance but he said it was too hot and sticky.  I think he is afraid of my mad dance moves.  Either that, or he was too sore and tired and used that as a cover up.  NOT that I blame him.  We hit the couches pretty quickly after getting home and didn’t move for awhile.  A delicious dinner from our local coffee truck of fish tacos and bubbly capped the day off.  Other than some hamstring soreness and some pretty sweet chaffing, I feel great, as does Ben.

This is a wonderful event and we plan to ride again next year.  The event so far has raised $2,284,824 towards cancer research and treatment and those whom I rode in honor and memory of were never far from my mind during the ride.  Thank you all again for your help and support and don’t worry, you’ll be hearing from my again next winter when it all starts again!

Love, Amy