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We are never disappointed with the food at Naked Fish. I highly recommend it to anyone-- everything is always fresh, including freshly ground wasabi!
While my life revolves around food, that isn't what this blog is about. Let's get to the ride!
I woke up Sunday morning at 4:30am, my stomach completely in knots. I was so incredibly nervous I thought I was going to puke. The reality that I was completely in over my head was starting to sink in and I was seriously regretting not training at all in August (there are lots of excuses that don't matter). But, I had paid good money to ride, the ride itself would be absolutely beautiful; plus two of our friends that were supposed to ride with us got sick & stayed home, so it was just Kenny and I. I had to suck it up and do what I promised to do; I was going out and giving it hell.
And I did.
We stayed at Hard Rock Hotel, which is where the ride started and ended, and as promised, I brought Tom Baker with us. We set out at 6:45am, completely roadied out with arm and leg warmers, our noses, ears, fingers and toes all frozen within minutes. But, within those minutes, I immediately was less nervous about the ride. We rode down the flat part of South Lake, past the other casinos and Heavenly (our old snowboarding stomping grounds) to Highway 89. We were doing great & making great time, hitting the first big climb (Emerald Bay) about an hour in. The climb was tough, but not too terrible, Kenny and I stopping at the first rest stop to fuel up, shed some layers and grab a few photos.
Tom Baker overlooking Emerald Bay
Kenny & I feeling pretty good
What I was most worried about was the climbs, the first of which was out of the way & I was feeling pretty good. But what had scared me the most was the downhill descents-- I've always struggled with speed and downhills, no matter the sport. But, I'm incredibly happy to say that I psyched myself out for no reason, because I had a BLAST on the downhills. It made the remaining 10 miles a breeze, my top speed 30.6 mph down the hill to the next rest stop in Tahoe City. We met our friend Felix, who drove sag for us and babysat. So, we were able to take a break and see our baby, which was awesome because I was truthfully missing her at that point.
We set out again, this time for Kings Beach. And, this is where things started going awry for me. We rode some rolling hills, nothing too treacherous, but I started feeling clammy and green, especially in my face and quads. Kenny, who was ahead of me, stopped to help someone with a flat back tire, which is where I also stopped and told him how I was feeling. He immediately told me to call Felix and have him pick me up. So trusty ol' Felix picked me up, threw my bike on the car and we headed for Kings Beach, where I would hopefully start riding again. Kenny made amazing time and beat us there, but we decided it would be best for me to sit out the next leg, which was pretty much all uphill climbing to the Spooner Summit.
So, Kenny started out again solo, Felix and I stopping every 5-10 miles to cheer him on. (This is a very important job for the sag wagon.) And, Kenny, like the machine he is, slowly chugged uphill with a slow leak in his back tire (it was slow enough he thought he could make it airing up at each stop). At some point, we all stopped because he inevitably had patch his tube.
Changing his back tube.
The slow leak culprit...
Then he set out uphill again to the first Spooner rest stop, where I attempted (key word) to ride out the rest of the course with him. However, going from sitting to climbing 4 miles uphill was no bueno and soon I was back with Felix in the sag wag. We met Kenny at the very top of Spooner Junction, where I got back in the saddle again.
This time, downhill on Highway 50 with a top speed of 32.4 mph, which was an incredible rush.
And... that was about it for me. I attempted to ride out the final 4 miles, which was just rolling hills back to Hard Rock Hotel. But each tiny climb caused my heart to beat faster and faster, and my chest to tighten more and more. I was having to stop far too often to catch my breath (I couldn't actively recover on the bike) and I was really slowing Kenny down to the point that the ride's sag wagon was out looking for both of our numbers and checking on us periodically to make sure we were not only ok, but also still riding out the rest of the ride.
And not far from here is where I finally called it. I was at the point I could barely breathe and both of us were worried that there was something seriously wrong. So, again, I called trusty ol' Felix to come get me (which he was surprised, thinking I could finish out the final two miles...)
So, we headed straight for finish line at the hotel, where we made it just minutes before Kenny rode in! Sore quads and calves, he beasted the entire 72 miles, 30 of them solo! And, here's most of what I achevied that day (there's about 8 miles of the Spooner Decent not recorded because my watch died):
Ride stats from South Shore to Emerald Bay
Kenny received his medal, and surprisingly, so did I! The sag wagon guys took pity on me and gave me an A for effort. I did accomplish a lot that day, but I truly feel I don't deserve the medal.
The rest of the night was absolutely awful; just a mess of nausea, a mild fever, difficulty breathing, tightness in my chest & all sorts of crap. Thanks to the internet, I self-diagnosed myself with altitude sickness, which I'm still recovering from. I actually have scoffed at altitude sickness many, many times in the past and now Karma has made sure that I will never do that again. (I help Kenny move a mirror yesterday and sadly, was huffing and puffing like I was in Tahoe.)
I definitely got a little cocky about the altitude; having done A LOT endurance events in the past (including a couple half-marathons, relays in both Humbolt & Tahoe, and even Tough Mudder in Tahoe), I thought it was NBD...
Finishing Tough Mudder with the crew in 2013
Each of those events were at least 3 hours in length (some more... some a crazy sleep-less 33 hour adventure in a van with 6 other adults who haven't showered)-- so I am no novice for endurance events. Tough Mudder is about the closest to this ride in terms of difficulty and never once did the altitude affect me. But the key here, I've realized after this humbling experience, is that I was in FAR better shape then and that translates into a much larger lung capacity. So, all in all, I was definitely a little too out of shape to do this. And, both Kenny and I agree that we need to train a lot more for next year's ride (which, yes, we are planning on doing!).
I seriously have no complaints, despite the altitude sickness. It was completely worth it; I truthfully had an amazing time (during the parts that I did ride)! The ride is incredibly supported (we had their team check on us a couple of times throughout the course), plus the course was well marked, there was tons of recovery food & drink at each stop, there were plenty of rest stops, plus vehicles were alert and courteous to riders. So, all in all, the ride was great. I'm really grateful for Kenny, who struggled but really killed it on Sunday. And, I can't forget about Felix, who completely saved my ass multiple times that day. Next year, Felix wants to ride, we want to get a bigger group together to ride with us and I want nothing more than to come back with a vengeance and ride all 72 miles... and CRUSH IT. If anyone is looking for something challenging, fun and gorgeous, this is seriously an amazing ride. (Just make sure you train!)
-Producer Dana