Rollin to Colon Recap

It was a VERY busy weekend at our house! Friday after work I walked the dogs to get Erik's car from the shop and did a bunch of food prep. Brian's parents came over for a lovely Father's Day picnic and then Brian and I got groceries and went to bed early. Saturday morning I did the Quarter Century Gravel Ride for ALS. I'm not going to lie - I HATE wind training so I generally avoid it. Saturday when we got ready the wind was out of the south at 24 mph with 60 mph gusts. There were a few times I thought my bike and I were going to eat gravel. I pushed all the way to the turnaround (12.5 miles in 1 hour 30 minutes) and then raced back in under 40 minutes. We had a yummy pulled pork lunch and LOTS of water and spent the rest of the day getting Brian ready for camp. Sunday morning Brian got ready to go and I headed to Valley, Nebraska - about an hour from home - for the Rollin to Colon ride. I was registered for 20 but was seriously considering dropping to the 10 mile ride. When I got to the start there were TONS of people and donuts - so I decided I was all in for the 20! The first 5 miles were nice and flat, and gorgeous. The first hill getting into the 20 was a KILLER. The serious cyclists ahead of me were struggling - I dropped into low gear and crawled all the way to the top. After that I had a short flat stretch to catch my breath and then it was 4 miles of non-stop hills - and I wouldn't call them "rolling". About a mile from the turnaround I had to convince myself that it would be easier on the way back, that I had come too far to stop, and if I turned around early everyone would see me. The last hill stole my breath, and I was passed by more than one person, but I made it to the top for a banana and a granola bar and a Dixie cup of Gatorade before jumping on my bike to get back. The ride out took an hour and the ride back was done in 40 minutes - so the downhill’s were AMAZING on the way back. After stowing my bike and gear I got lunch from Firehouse subs and drove back to Lincoln. I killed three water bottles and half a soda on the way back. Since I was still plenty sweaty I delivered the neighborhood newsletters, walked the dogs to pay the cable bill and then spent the rest of the day getting ready for dinner, cleaning house and watching television.