At mile 80, the course took a right turn, and the biggest climb of the route stretched out ahead. While it wasn’t a colossal, nasty gap like those back home in Vermont, it was an intimidating grade to make a hard turn into. Some people talk about getting so angry that they punch a wall. I can’t relate to that specific urge, but I imagine how I feel when a climb is about to start is nearly the same. Honestly, I was so ready to rip it, and even though it meant nothing in the race… it felt great to be in that shape during the longest ride of my life so far.
The Gran Fondo Florida is part of the USA Cycling Gran Fondo series. This series of races doesn’t count an athlete’s overall time on the course for competition, but rather specific, short segments within the race. For the 100-mile race (my first century!), there were four timed segments between 3 and 5 miles, which were aggregated toward the total competition time. Racers could draft as much as they wanted. Time trial bikes were permitted. The start was timed in waves, and it was mixed amongst all categories. The Gran Fondo Florida was not your typical road bicycle race, but it was a great way for me to get experience riding in pace lines with varied groups.
The first group I synced up with in a pace line was a bunch of dudes. Don’t be surprised by that; the field of 254 athletes signed up for the 100-mile distance consisted of a whopping 28 women. Going into the race, I was nervous about doing my first century ride. In the month before the race, I hadn’t been quite as consistent getting on my trainer in the basement because it was March and I was sick of winter cycle training… Although I’d been doing work on other cardio equipment (SkiErg, RowErg, and running) and setting personal records in lifting, I was nervous about riding for 5-6 hours. Plus, I’d put on 10 pounds from all the strength training, and I didn’t have any personal evidence about how that muscle would pay off in an outdoor cycling setting.
So when I fell into my first paceline, and we were cruising at around 18 mph for the first 15 miles, I was focused on keeping my heart rate under 150 bpm. It was a long race. Oh, and did I mention that I needed to finish under 6 hours (i.e., at least a 17 mph average), or my husband was going to roll up in the rental car to drive us to the airport so we could make our flight home?
Anyway, I cruised in this paceline with these bros for about 15 miles, then they fell off when the road conditions got bad. I kept with one guy who turned out to be my pace buddy for most of the race. At first, I was convinced he’d drop me at a timed segment since he was some young badass cycler, but it turns out we were evenly matched. I started to think that maybe I was some young badass cycler, too.
My confidence kept building throughout the race. I was fueled by the aid stations and Husband Ryan bringing me avocados and sweet potatoes at mile 50. 5-star review for his road support!! Honestly, he was everywhere to cheer me on and offer me snacks.
I found another pace group to play with just before the third timed segment, and there were three women in it! We were hanging tight, but when a hill came, I got impatient and led a little breakaway. Then there was another hill at the end of the timed segment, and I stood to annihilate it. The new Trek Project One I’m on is so responsive, and climbing with it was a dream. I HAD SO MUCH FUN!
What more can I tell you…? At the end of the race, I felt like I could’ve blasted another twenty miles. I skipped the final aid station without a second thought. Feeling how powerful I’ve become while riding my bike outside in the sunshine was one of the most fortifying joys I’ve ever experienced.
The race was a confidence builder, and I’m grateful for the support I had to make that happen. Especially to Husband Ryan and Darren at the Vermont Bicycle Shop. Darren packed my bike up for us to fly to Florida, Ryan assembled it there, drove around the entire course, disassembled and packed my bike back up, and patiently waited in very long lines at both airports (he even stood up to a snobby customer for an airport employee at one point). I am incredibly lucky. Thank you both!
Lastly, I came in 13th out of the 28 women in the field and 115th out of 254 total athletes. My average pace was 21.6 mph and 19.4 mph over the timed segments and overall course, respectively. That was a fast first century by my standards! And a lot was learned along the way.