I had been looking forward to this ride since late January. A friend of mine and I missed the Jan ride and wanted to organize another one so we could get the miles in. Leading up to this ride, I had my situation with my teeth happen (earlier blog) where I actually postponed taking care of the situation until after the Nogales ride so I could not only do this ride but log some miles in the 2 weeks prior.
In fact after the attack of the allergies, I regrouped, rode in the Bike to Work event and headed out on a 45 mile group ride the next day. I had done this particular group ride before so I was comfortable I could participate and return safely. Well, the ride took a detour due to road construction and became a high intensity hill climb, hill after hill after hill. I was having trouble keeping up and mid way through my GCM said my BS was dropping and under 100 but my glucometer said 177. So I ate a little more and finished my Perpetuem drink and headed back. I thought I was in good shape. Then we had a long hill climb on the way back which I think took it all out of me. By the time we hit my turn off to head back home, which was about 4 - 5 miles away, I lost my legs. There was nothing I could do. I was doing the motion but couldn't go any faster. I felt like I was on a crawl. When I got home my BS were below 65 and I was seeing black and white dots, it was all I could do to sit down. My husband who was on the ride with me, quickly made the TT1 bonk proof shake which has over 100 grams of carbs, not counting some of the additional stuff we added. I showered and laid down. I was out for a few hours. When I woke up my BS were just tipping 75.
I have never bonked before but this told me I needed to take the Nogales ride very seriously. In fact I was glad when my husband offered to SAG for us during the 70 miles.
The night before the ride to Nogales I headed to Performance, I was determined to find the highest carb goo or chewies I could find. I was going to ride the whole 70 miles without any mishaps.
The day of the ride started early, up at 5 am, ate my regular breakfast of 3 rice pancakes and a scoop of peanut butter, dosed 3 units instead of 4 and loaded up the car. I had prepared bags the night before with 2 bottles of perpetuem, juice, and coconut water. These puppies were fully loaded.
My husband also made us both PB and banana with honey sandwiches and I packed up the gels and Sharkies. We headed to meet the gang at the Manning House. There were 10 of us and we loaded up and headed South.
We arrived at Mariposa Road and stopped at the Wendy's there. Got our bikes out, filled up any last minute water bottles, took pictures and headed out. It was clear at the draw the leads were traveling quite a bit faster then I had in mind. A few of us hung back at our comfort pace but we were quickly brought back together as we were going to head on the freeway for a short jaunt. I have to say the freeway was a fast and smooth ride. We had a lot of room and I did not worry about cars much. Wish we could have done the whole ride there but I know it is not the safest way to ride. We continued North to our first stop, but I couldn't find my husband. A quick call and he turned around and met us 10 minutes later. I panicked a bit as he had our food and I knew I had to eat within the first 30 miles of the ride in order to use the nutrition for the last half of the ride. If I can keep my BS above 150, I know I am in good shape. I was around 160 so I ate 1/2 of my sandwich and drank a lot of my Perptuem bottle and then exchanged it for a refresh in the car. I wanted my BS to trend up but it was trending downward which meant I had to take in more then I would use before the next rest stop ~15 miles up the road. It worked and I kept my sugars a little high during the ride because I didn't want to worry about it.
The only issue I had during this ride was around mile marker 50 - 55, my neck hurt, my back was beginning to spasm and my knees were going as well. Tabot, my husband, was off to the side of the road a head which was perfect timing ( he took this picture as we arrived). We all stopped for a quick refresh. I was able to down a very cold G2 and some ibuprofen. I felt much better and it was just what I needed to finish the ride, although it did feel very long and there were times I felt like I wanted to jump into one of the SAG vehicles, but we finished. We finished 72 miles in less then 4 hours, including two sag stops.
We celebrated at the Manning House ( see pic) for a great spread of burritos, fresh fruit and drink. We had great company and a great ride. I love days like this. Can't wait for more...
