I am functional, but tired.
I arrived home from a very blustery/terrifying journey from Sedona, AZ around 5PM yesterday after riding many miles in Flagstaff, AZ over the weekend in service to my friend and cycling Queen, Heidi Videto, as she set out on a hefty training weekend for the 500 Project, riding 500 miles in 36-hours at the Washington Island Ultra Event in late July. The weekend’s scheduled festivities included a 14-hour ride on Saturday, followed by a 12-hour ride on Sunday, but also included howling winds, dangerous dehydration, raging wildfires, and a dash of running.
I was honored and humbled to be asked to join Heidi in this epic training weekend. Plus, I truly enjoyed the time I spent with my friend and fellow 500 Project crew member, Jess Zaiss, as we drove all over the southwest, pedaled in unison to lend Heidi a draft up and down legendary Lake Mary Road, and plotted and planned on how to help Heidi not only survive the weekend, but more importantly, thrive at the late Summer main event on the island.
In the meantime, following is a more visual leaning story on how we spent our bicycle themed training weekend in Flagstaff.
The gorgeous view from our home base for the weekend, Heidi, her husband, Bruce, and their cat, Gnu's home in Sedona.
I will gladly be pulled back into a variety of Vortex's in Sedona... Not a bad "everyday" view.
Moments before blasting off on our looong ride on Saturday from the dam on Lake Mary Road. Left, Jess, right, Heidi.
We started the clock at 6:20A. It was not warm. Yet...
Taking a quick rest after riding past Morman Lake, about 90min. into Saturday's ride.
The first part of the ride included a loop around Morman Lake, and rock walls that reminded of me of Ireland. This scene was not quite as stunning.
Many of The 500 Project Team members about halfway through Day One. We feel "okay" here. From left: Jess Zaiss, Heidi Videto, Marc Luckey (Heid's personal trainer), and a lengthy redhead from LA.
#DreamTeam
Marc catching our pace line in action. Photo credit: Marc Luckey.
The scenery in Flagstaff is breathtaking, but a dry lakebed is a sad sight to see.
Marc leading Heidi through some valuable stretching in-between miles.
It was wonderful to have Marc check in on us on both days, and it will be clutch to have him (and his husband, Greg) with us on the island.
Just after I passed the 171 mile mark on Saturday on my way to close out 175 miles on the day.
Do I look happy in this photo? I know my lips and nose are crusty and gross, but this is what my version of "happy" looks like.
Nevertheless, I did not beat my longest mileage ride record of 180 miles, but I did pedal the longest ever, 10:30 hours., and considering we were at 7,000ft.+, I am fine with that mark. Also, we were losing daylight, we still had an hour commute back down to Sedona, and my eyes were burning up, so I made a safety call, and ended my ride a little early.
Cue the aforementioned bloodshot and tired eyes of yours truly with Jess (who rode 130+ miles) enjoying the sunset while waiting for Heidi to finish the final minutes of her 14-hour day.
FUN Fact: Jess had not ridden her bike outdoors since rolling into T2 at Ironman St. George in early May, so her grit and ability to roll for over 130 miles at high altitude is jaw-dropping.
Heidi closing in on riding 12:33 hrs., and 201 miles. Photo credit: Jess Zaiss.
Amazing.
Heidi about an hour into her 12-hour day on Sunday.
Since neither Jess or I had ever ridden back to back crazy long days, Sunday was a ? Therefore, both Jess and I leapfrogged Heidi for her first big stretch of the day, then I decided to run for about an hour, (as a geeky marathon runner/fan, I HAD to run on the legendary training ground for MANY elite marathon runners, Lake Mary Road), then I took a nap, (I was running on very little sleep), then Jess and I joined in with Heidi at 10A to ride for as long as we could.
Moments before driving back to Sedona.
At about 12:30P, the combination of hazardous winds, a growing wildfire, (The Pipeline fire), and the knowledge of Heidi's potentially disastrous dehydration, we decided to call the day. It was a heavily weighted decision, but it was the right decision, and thankfully Heidi agreed. She had ridden an impressive 64+ miles already (265 total over the two days), so although she planned to ride more, she still racked up plenty of miles to make the weekend a massive deposit in the bank.
There are about six weeks until we board the ferry for Washington Island....
To be continued....
The song and video choice this week is a throwback that I heard last week that just hit the spot. Enjoy.:)