this is the ride that three years ago Biking Buddy Bob said would confirm one's readiness for lotoja: if one could survive this ride, one could survive lotoja.
so this will be my fourth time riding this route, and as of this very moment, I have no stress about it at all.
I can do this, I will survive it, I am likely to hate parts of it, and I will be so greatly relieved when it's over that I will cruise forward to lotoja with a happy camper attitude.
it's really not that bad of a ride. it's just long, somewhere around 125 miles. this will actually be the shortest version of it I've done, as last year Biking Buddy Bill wanted to add another climb in there and we added a few miles, and the other two years it was longer due to my uncertainty about where exactly huntsville town proper was.
huntsville is the end point on the way out, the place we turn around and start the trek back home. huntsville is a beautiful place, but unfortunately, this Death Ride has colored, permanently, my perception of huntsville.
today I've been hydrating, and as I type I'm eating a bowl of pasta (ravioli, yum). I have a glass of water + electrolytes by my elbow, so that I don't flush my system by drinking too much water.
tomorrow I'll get up and eat oatmeal, drink a cup of coffee, and pack my pockets full of goodies for the road which will include at least one banana.
and then I am going to set off for my Darn Good Death Ride.
I plan to have a great day.
hope you do, too.
let me date myself by now saying,
catch you on the flip side.
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