Udder Century (50 Mile Distance) Ride Report
I rode 50 miles on the Udder Century Ride on Sunday and didn’t see any cows except this one!
Ha ha, when I said, “We haven’t seen any real cows yet,” he said, “What?! You don’t think I’m real?!?!”
But I did see plenty of horses, um, a few dead animals (what was with the large fish on the side of the road?!) and miles after miles of gorgeous country scenery that made me wish I had a GoPro to take photos!
The Udder Century is the McHenry County Bicycle Club’s annual supported 32, 50, 62, 75 or 100 mile bike ride through the backroads of Illinois (and if you do the 100, Wisconsin). Dawn, a member of my multisport club, told me about the ride, and with my itch to get on my bike, low registration price ($25 when I signed up), and day of availability, I was in!
I didn’t know what to expect. How many cyclists would there be? Would we be out there all alone? Would the course signage be clear? Would there be vegan friendly food at the rest stops?
Short answers – many, ha ha NO, YES, and yes!
We arrived at the site to see waves of cyclists going out, which got me feeling pretty pumped (we later learned there were over 1,300 cyclists!).
We quickly got ready (switching to cycling shoes, putting air in our tires, loading up our jersey pockets), got our wristbands, hit up the bathroom… and hit the road just after 8:00 am!
After, a “we’re doing this!” selfie, of course! Hee hee.
I thought it was interesting that there was a window for start times – between 6:30 am – 10:00 am (by 8:00 am if you were riding 100). The wave starts makes sense for road safety. But I have never done an event like that and appreciated the flexibility!
It was partly cloudy when we started, but not too hot – 68°. I knew it was going to get in to the high 80s, and appreciated that we started earlier. I had (still have) a nasty cold, and felt kind of miserable. You know that gross sweat you get on your face/body when you have a cold? And how warm weather makes it worse? Well, add layers of sunscreen to that to stop your skin from breathing and imagine how awesome you’d feel. Ha! So the less time in the sun/high temperatures, the better.
The first thirty miles were fantastic. We were maintaining around a 15 mph pace (which was our goal) and feeling good. We stopped at the first rest stop at mile 18, and we both agreed that the fresh cut oranges were amazingly refreshing. I was also digging the lemonade!
I was in search for ibuprofen – I had a low-grade headache and every bump in the road (there were few – the roads were very nice to ride on) made me cringe. I figured they wouldn’t be allowed to give it out (they weren’t), but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Lesson learned – bring drugs next time!
We kept riding north – the course was a big rectangle, starting in the southeast corner and going clockwise – and stopped at the second rest stop, at mile 30.
I was kind of dreading what was coming when we left that rest stop – riding south. The entire time, we could feel a wind coming from the south. And I knew we mostly had to go that way to get back.
And it was just as awful as we imagined. Ha ha.
Of course, the wind speed was only in the high teens, with who knows what gusts. But you really feel that on your bike. We tried riding in a line to block the wind. That helped. We shifted way down in our gears to feel like we were at least moving our legs. That helped too. But it left me mentally exhausted. I mean, even going on downhills, I was still only hitting 13 mph! Come on! It felt like we were getting no where.
Luckily, the hills were not that bad!
There were volunteers handing out water around mile 40, which I used as an excuse to stop to fill up my water bottles (man, I drank so much water!) and to take my left shoe off. My toes and forefoot felt numb. I expected to see blood when I took my shoe off, but nada. I completely loosened the straps on my shoe, and that helped big time. Probably not the safest way to ride with my clip-ins, but whatever!
I was completely happy to see a huge downhill right after that, and just fly down, mostly coasting. Um. I learned that I coast A LOT on this ride (on straight-aways, too). Probably not a good thing.
I noticed after the hill that the ground was wet. Hmm. That had me feeling cautious, as I was with a group riding in the rain last year when someone had a major wipe-out that left them injured. Soon after that, rain starting coming down HARD. We slowed down, but the rain immediately made the sunscreen on my face run in to my eyes. So while it only rained from miles 45-46.5, I was blind in my right eye for most of the rest of the ride.
The good thing about the rain is that it made it feel cooler. It was 84° by the time we finished! And although that wind was annoying, it was keeping us cooler.
“We finished!” selfie.
We pulled in to the final destination close to 12:30. The riding portion of the trip took us 3:38:31, but our overall time with stops was 4:25:11. We were pleased with our average speed of 14 mph! And really pleased with the event overall. It was so well organized, with fantastic signage – I didn’t have to get out the cue sheet, once! I felt safe the whole time, and really enjoyed talking with Dawn for the first 30 miles (until it was too windy after to hear one another!).
I was really impressed with the post ride buffet salad and pasta, too! Even though this cold has killed my appetite (and messed up my taste buds) it was great to have a warm meal waiting for us at the finish! And it was fun talking to a few random people and seeing whether or not they rode through the rain. Since there were different loops to get different mileage in (and the different start times), some people missed it.
It was fun to try this and I’d totally love to do an organized ride, again. You feel safer, in large numbers, and it’s nice to ride out in the country and not have as many stops due to traffic! And it’s so odd, but this was the first time I ever felt safe leaving my bike away from me, unattended (at the beginning and end, and at the rest stops). I’ve been wondering about that, with RAGBRAI. It’s set up with five stops on our 67.5 mile ride, and I keep thinking, “Where will I leave my bike when I stop to partake in all the (food) festivities?” Maybe I will feel this comfortable then (maybe not).
Of course, I did learn a few things, as I am a major biking n00b. I am pretty sure I have awful form. I think I need to get my bike adjusted again, because I am hunching my shoulders. And like I said, I coast a lot. I should have more of an even cadence. The good things I learned – I am not sore at all (even in my shoulders!) and my body never felt tired during the ride. My bike is really comfortable, so I am happy about that! Now I am even more stoked for RAGBRAI! 54 days!
Themocracy
yay! I’m so glad this went so well (especially knowing how icky you’d been feeling). I’m wondering if your form is as awful as you think – I’d imagine if it was terrible you’d be feeling sore after 50 miles, but then again, what do I know about cycling!
Thanks! 🙂 And I wonder, too. I tried to be more conscious of keeping my shoulders down. I think I just need a slight adjustment and I’ll be set! 🙂
LMK if you ever want to mountain bike on DPRT with me! You can use my bike and I’ll use Steven’s 🙂
How fun!!! I love bike events- Venus de Miles in Lake Forest is so much fun!
That looks like so much fun! I have enough trouble motivating myself to get my bike out of my garage, I can’t imagine a long ride like that.
This sounded so much fun! Sorry you weren’t feeling well and with a raging headache. Those are the worst 🙁 so awesome they had vegan snacks at the rest stops. I need a road bike so I can join you on one of these adventures!!!
Is your bike a mountain bike or a hybrid?
Sounds like a great ride for you! I finally started doing organized rides this year and LOVE them! They are so much fun and, like you said, really low-key in comparison to races (at least the people that I’m riding with are low-key). Personally, I’ll take hills any day over a headwind – great job staying positive and enjoying the experience!
Yes! The people were very low-key! One guy we kept passing back and forth had head phones on and was rocking out on his bike. That made me laugh. There were people with uber expensive bikes, and some clubs there, but everyone was nice 🙂
And yeah, I think I would take the hills too. Although… our “hills,” not yours. Hee hee.
P.S. The post I wrote today is about an article that mentions Vineman!
Wow-you are a rockstar. Fun, fun events every weekend that range from running half marathons all the time to riding 50 miles? I want to be your new exercise buddy! Too bad I live so far away….
I’ll come out there with you! I think your terrain might be more interesting 🙂
wow you did awesome!
Yeah- I am so glad you enjoyed the ride. Especially since it was hot and you were sick. Do you find it easier to bike in the heat than run? I do. This makes me want to go to a big group ride!
Oh yeah, totally easier to bike than run in the heat. I just need some sleeveless jerseys now (although I am concerned about not protecting my shoulders).
I hope you find a group ride!
Lesson: Always bring drugs ;)J/K.
Congrats on the ride! It looks like a lot of fun. And, I agree – orange slices are the best. I couldn’t get enough after the Athens half.
Woo hoo! <3 biking. looks like you're putting that pretty yellow bike to good use!
It was great running into you!
That sounds like such a great event and I love that it’s so low cost! Although, I’ve never really ridden in the rain so I don’t know how I feel about that part 🙂
Sounds like a pretty great day, over all! Congrats!
I’m going to do this next year! I grew up out there. My cousin rode in the 32 miler and she said it was great.
Cool! Do you think you will do it with your cousin next year?
IDK. I like to ride fast, so I may start with her, meet her at the finish line. Is that wrong?
Not if you discuss it before hand and are both cool with it! 🙂 I bet lots of people use that plan!
That’s awesome! Congrats on the ride! I definitely need to be re-fitted on my bike. A lot of what you said sounds really familiar! I will be checking out this ride and may have to ride it in the future. I’ve been riding on vacation this week. It is so beautiful down here in North Carolina, but the wind has been insane. Apparently, today is National Running Day, so I may need to go run on the beach even though I am not much of a runner.
Aww, how fun to ride somewhere new… even if it’s crazy windy!
It is National Running Day. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to run on this day, cause it always falls on my busiest day of the week! LOL! Hope you get one in… if you want.
I hope you are feeling better!!
Thanks, I am finally starting to!
What fun! And I’m really impressed you were able to maintain such a good speed, especially with the difficult last part of the ride.
I’m also such a biking n00b. The barrier to entry is just so much bigger than running, and there are so many things that make a difference. I cringe to think about how jacked up my form is…