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2. Breathless Agony
3. Heartbreak Hundred which I did the Double Century

So first I will talk about Breathless Agony. 114 miles and 12,000 feet. Of which 11,000 feet in 73 miles. We climb to a max altitude of 8,443 up to Onyx Summit. I had a a great day on the bike. My goal 5:45 and top 30. I did even better than I expected. In training I had done the course in 5:51 so I thought 5:45 was doable. I finished in 5:40 and 21st place overall and 7th out of 144 in 40-49 age group.

Next was the Heartbreak Double Century 202 Miles and 17,000 feet. I had a bad day on the bike. It was my worse race day on the bike this year. I went out with the lead group and suffered quite a bit. By mile 25 I was dropped and 6 riders went away. It continued to get hot during the day and I knew I was heading for a meltdown eventually. It happened sometime before the lunch stop. I was overheating and feeling miserable.
Mile 104. 6 –At the lunch stop I soaked my head twice once when I got in and once before I left.

I stopped consuming calories after my first century. I then started drinking sodas. I had a Mountain Dew at lunch.
Mile 119–Vanilla Cola at the base of the Heartbreak climb.
Mile 126.7 –1 bottle of water
Mile -171.4– I had 1/2 an Orange Sunkist (knock-off).

The last 30 miles I hooked up with another rider who helped me get through the next 14 miles and then I helped him get to the finish. I was not feeling good all day and lost valuable time climbing Old Ridge Route –two years in a row I have faded there.
My goal was sub 14 hours I finished 13:28 for 5th place. I’m quite happy with the end result but the process to get there was one of the most challenging days on the bike in recent memory.