This past weekend I spent a good 4.5 hours riding my bike in the middle of nowhere. I signed up for the Spokes n Spurs charity ride which ended up being such a well-organized event.

The day started with me waking up at 6:30am thinking I was going to be super late. The bike ride took place in Liberty Hill, which Google told me was going to take about an hour to drive to. It was going to take longer since I didn't feel like paying any tolls. Since the bike race was supposed to start at 8am, I would only have less than 30 minutes once I arrived to set up my bike and get ready for the ride. Turned out the ride wasn't scheduled to start till 8:30. So I was early and ended up just standing around for the extra 30 minutes I had.

I found the course to be well laid out. Each rest stop was usually right after a hill climb which gave riders a nice break. At the first few rest stations I only stopped for a minute or so, just long enough to refill my water bottles and grab a cookie. I completely skipped the third stop. One of my friends found me after that stop and reminded me that I needed to be sure to stay hydrated and nourished at each stop. Since the next stop was just 9 miles away, I felt like it was no problem. But then fatigue started to set in and I realized that 9 miles on the bike is at least 30 minutes! So after that I made sure to stop for long enough to at least get a breather. Plus, the snacks that the volunteers had prepared were delicious!

Overall, I was pretty slow compared to my friends, but I still felt pretty good at the end of the ride. With 6 miles left to go, I rode aside a guy who told me he started riding about a year and a half ago, and was able to drop 80 pounds! He was still a big guy, but it was still amazing how he had built up the strength and endurance to ride 60+ miles!

I was glad to participate in this event. The support along the route was great. I saw a few people during the race that had to call the SAG wagon to come pick them up. At each turn, there were great volunteers who would direct us as well as encourage us. I'd definitely do it again next year if I had the chance.