ULCER

The ULCER AKA Utah Lake Century Epic Ride has been going many years in Utah. When I talked Cyndie into riding with me we were sceptical on how many miles we would ride on a hot August day. We signed up for 65, saying if it was too hot we could do 35 miles.

The day dawned bright and clear, with a predicted high of 92 degrees. We met at 6am in the Peterson's parking lot for our drive down to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. Jan had purchased Steve Frantz's spot in the ride the night before, so he had his bike loaded on his car. Just a short 2 weeks after his heart surgery he decided to ride the 35 mile route. I was so proud of him, and I am so excited he can now ride pain free.

Cyndie and I, ready to R I D E.

We took some "before" pictures. 65 miles was going to be a PR for Cyndie and I.

Happy, happy day. Jan will be riding chest pain free.

After checking Jan in we all made our way to the starting line. They start these races in waves of approximately 100 riders so it is safer.

Still smiling after one rest stop.

So I told Cyndie about Evan's challenge to us that he thought if we can ride 50 miles or run 26.2 miles we could ride 100 miles, no problem. I thought with the upcoming races and the predicted 92 degrees she would say "no." But when the arrow came in the road to choose 65 miles or 107, we immediately made the decision to go 107!
Once we made this decision we also made plans for success. Evan had said we would need to keep about a 15 mile an hour bike pace. OK. So Cyndie put herself in charge of this. She reminded me often when I fell below the 15. lol. Then we also decided we would need to "dine and dash" at each rest stop. Ride in and take care of all the necessities: water, ice, food, bathroom, sunblock, bike repair. We really didn't do much resting. Because of this we were passed many times by the same riders. Faster than us yes, but they took longer breaks at the rest stops.

Leaving the Lincoln Beach rest stop.

We saw a lot of beautiful scenery and some boring stuff too. Lake views, residential, freeways, businesses, farms, corn, cows, orchards, highways, horses and small towns. Friendly riders all around us. For the most part considerate drivers passing us. Only a few "jerks". If they have to be mean to bikers their lives must not be too happy. What did we see too much of? Probably road kill. That many miles on your bike you see a lot of it. I wish I had taken more pictures but that would have been a lot of stopping. Cyndie and I can both drink from our water bottles while riding, but we don't do pictures or cell phones.
On the ride we experienced the brisk morning cold, some early morning shade, the hot summer afternoon sun beating down on us hour after hour, the mile after mile of headwinds and the blessed few miles we got of a tailwind. The hotter it got, the more thirsty we were. We sure did need the closer water stops towards the last 50 miles of the ride.
All in all, Cyndie and I were giving each other a high 5 for completing this ride. We were both glad to be finished, but that feeling of having made it 107 miles was awesome.


Some Garmin stats from my ride:

Time:	08:54:41
Distance:	107.14 mi
Elevation Gain:	1,332 ft
Calories:	5,005 C

There were some hills, giving us elevation gain. And check out my calories. Finally, I did an activity where I really earned some dessert.

Moving Time:	07:46:30
Elapsed Time:	08:54:41

Here you can see that our moving time was less than our finish time. So now we have a better picture of how much time we spent at the 8 rest stops.

Max Speed:28.8 mph

Well here is my maximum speed for the ride. Attained I am sure on a downhill. Jan said he clocked a 32 MPH so he beat me on that. I am sure Cyndie did too.

72

00:02:50

1.00

21.1

My fastest mile??? Looks like mile 72 for 2:50. Way to go Marsha.

Here are the times for the Matheson's. They may have finished after us, but they started later than we did and still beat us by 10 minutes. Way to go! 

Evan, Peggy and Katie Matheson.

Thanks Evan for encouraging me to stretch to the next level. There were enough downhills toward the end of the ride that you are forgiven.

776	1627	Evan MATHESON	RIVERTON UT	111 Miles Men	0	08:42:25	05:54:56.000	12.8
776	1628	Peggy MATHESON	RIVERTON UT	111 Miles Women	0	08:42:25	05:54:56.000	12.8
778	1629	Kaitlyn MATHESON	RIVERTON UT	111 Miles Women	0	08:42:26	05:54:57.000	12.8

Peggy, Marsha & Cyndie. ULCER biker chicks.

Cindy and I set a new PR for bike riding, and we have the sore body parts to prove it!

799	1710	Cyndie NELL	WEST JORDAN UT	111 Miles Women	0	08:52:50	06:05:21.000	12.5
800	1686	Marsha MONSON	RIVERTON UT	111 Miles Women	0	08:53:05	06:05:36.000	12.5

And Jan really rocked ULCER! Steve Frantz AKA Jan Monson who purchased his spot the night before, well Jan rode the 35 miles but never reported to the timers his name or change of ride distance. So he finished 21st in the 111 miler!

21

1340

Steve FRANTZ

RIVERTON UT

0

04:41:04

01:41:21.000

23.7