2009 Santa Fe Century

Sunday May 16th 2009 I rode in the Santa Fe Century. This was the first year I'd riden in this event. This century is always the same weekend as one of my favorite triathlons, The Buffman & Squeaky Olympic distance triathlon. I'd competed in the Buffman every year since 2005. I originally didn't think I'd be able to ride in this years century either. I didn't have the $25 for the entry fee. The leader of my triathlon club found out about my lack of funds & offered to pay my way into the century for me. But I didn't want any one else to have to pick up my slack due to my lack of funds, especially a friend.

The day before the ride I drove to where the registration was & offered to trade a pair of Nike cycling shoes I had been meaning to sell on ebay for the registration fee. The first person I asked agreed, so I was able to ride on Sunday after all.

The century started at St. Vincent's hospital in Santa Fe. I rode the first 10 miles solo. The 10 mile mark is approximately 150 yards from my house, so I stopped & refilled my bottles, kissed the wife & headed out again.

I jumped into a peloton led my Outlaws Tim C. & Brian P. just outside of the NM state penitentiary & rode with them all the way into Madrid. This was my first time riding in a peloton larger than a few people. I must say being in the middle of that peloton was one of the most exciting things I'd been apart of in a long time. It felt like a living breathing animal! I rode a total of 15 miles with this group. We averaged over 26 miles an hour. That felt amazing because the entire ride in the peloton my HR never got out of zone 2 yet we were going very fast indeed.

Madrid was the first pit stop. I refilled my bottles & rode the rest of the ride as a triathlete would, that is completely on my own. No drafting.

The first 35 miles of this ride was very very mountainous. Heart Break hill is the last hill of the extremely difficult first 35 miles. After Heart Break Hill the rest of the ride is slight rolling hills or flats with a slight downhill. On Heart Break Hill at least 95 percent of the riders get off their bike and walk. Heart Break Hill is about a mile long & maxes out at a 12 percent grade. Very tough hill! I rode up it the entire way, but suffered for it;)

After heart break hill it was down hill until Cadar Grove, at which point the ride was flat. I rode my bike to church every Sunday morning this route. Right after Cedar Grove is where I'd stop for church, the Santa Fe century turned East from my church & rode out through Gallisteo & Stanley.

I 'd never ridden in this direction before. Not a lot out that way but many miles of dirt, dead brown grass, alfalfa farms, & mobile homes. I started to feel fatigued once I hit Gallisteo which was probably the 80 mile mark. Thankfully the rest of the ride had a tail wind & there wasn't anything entirely challenging to ride up. All in all I'd say I have kept up much more of my Ironman endurance than I thought I had. Still got it in these old legs after all;)

Ending mileage was 103 miles. Total time in the saddle 7hrs 9 minutes. I earned 58 weight watcher points which I ate ALL of that night. The extra eating was almost as much fun as the ride was!