Green Valley!
After failing to make it Green Valley about a week ago due to truly cruel winds, I tried it again… this time – success!
Getting out there was extremely easy, which made me feel good since it wasn’t too long ago that I would have thought those 30 miles alone were an accomplishment. I ate a chicken sandwich and some fries and had a liter of Gatorade at Carl’s Jr. and after a brief rest turned back up the road towards Tucson. I expected to feel slow having stopped and eaten, and indeed I felt pretty terrible for about the first 15 miles.
Exactly what happened I don’t really know. I considered that it might have been dehydration, but couldn’t be sure. I drank 1L of water before leaving and had 1.5L along the way to GV, sweating freely the entire time. On the way back I didn’t sweat so much despite obvious exertion which concerned me – but I couldn’t tell if it was dehydration or the fact that the humidity was in the single digits and the wind had picked up quite a bit. In any case, I consumed massive amounts of water and sports drink and continued on… at about mile 45 things picked up randomly and I felt pretty good for the remainder of the ride.
When I had finally made it back to my apartment, my cycle computer read 59.5 miles… a few laps around my complex solved that problem to make the number a better milestone. Hey, riding is riding!
Distance: 60.0 miles
Time: 4:16:48
Avg. Speed: 14.0 mph