100 miles!

I finished my first century ride today! It's a big deal, the first day that you finish a 100-mile ride! The ride was actually supposed to be 92 miles, but directions were a little unclear, and some wrong turns took us from 92 miles up to 107 miles. We left Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill at 8am and pulled into our destination at Winston-Salem at 7:30pm.

It was a pretty incredible ride. It was a rainy day, and despite my 'waterproof' raincoat, I still seemed to get pretty darn wet. The key was to keep moving, and never take a break for more than 5 minutes. As for breaks, there were many pitstops along the way; I had to go to the bathroom at least 5 times while on the ride. I guess the high level of urination was either due to the lack of sweating or just constantly hearing the sound of water.

I had the privilege of riding with the other Lost Children of the day. It was a wonderful group of about 5 girls that stuck together for a good part of the way. There were a lot of points, particularly in the last 20 miles when each one of us wanted to give up, particularly because of an upcoming, formidable looking hill. Or when we were on the hill, trying to get our legs to keep going. Or getting lost/detoured again due to faulty directions. At some point you realize you just have to keep going because the thought of finally pulling into that parking lot of your cheering teammate is just so promising. It was a ride full of physical and mental challenges to overcome, and I'm so impressed that we were able to just keep on going and make it to our destination.

Woohoo! Go Meredith, Melanie, Liz, Emily B., and Risa! (Pictures and perhaps more details to come, pending some good rest.) Read more on this awesome day by Eric, who wrote our group journal today. http://www.bikeandbuild.org/cms/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,215/