Pedal Los Pueblos Reflections

packing up to head out

Packed up on Friday to head up to Pojaque, NM which is where the home base for each day of the MS ride was located.  The elevation is higher than it is for us at home.  We're at about a mile above sea level and the start location was closer to 7800 mi above sea level. I was nervous about the elevation as well as the hills more so than the distance that we planned to ride.

Day 1 in team jerseys

It's a fully supported charity ride for MS.  There are rest stops roughly every 10 miles. The first day had distance options of 36, 58, 88, and 100.  The second day had distance options of 40 and 58.  Last year, Husband did 58+40.  This year, I joined him for the ride and insisted on the shortest distances, 36+40.  He's quite a trooper and was fine planning to ride shorter and slower so that we could ride together.  We we part of a corporate team, with me clearly being the least fit on the team, so we didn't ride with the other folks.  But our small team of 14 riders raised almost $8000 for MS and it was pretty cool to be a part of a team rather than an individual rider.  Plus our team jerseys rocked!I was pretty happy to see the finish line on day 1 feeling good.  The weather forecast for that day seemed iffy: it was grey clouds overhead when we started and chance of thundershowers.  Instead, we actually had a nice ride day.  The clouds were welcome to keep the relentless high altitude sun off our skin and the temps comfortable.  All in all, it was a nice day to ride.

Finish line on day 1

We actually booked a 50 minute soak and 90 minute massage Saturday afternoon at a spa up in the Sangre de Cristo mountains.  That was a really nice treat and it did wonders to loosen everything up and prepare us for day 2.

Ready for Day 2

The majority of our company team wore last year's team jerseys for day 2, but I didn't ride last year and didn't have one.  Husband opted for his tier 2 fundraising jersey from last year and I wore one with orange for MS.  This made it hard for us to be identified from a team perspective, but since we weren't really riding with the others, it didn't seem like it mattered too much.  Plus a lot of repeat riders that had earned the fundraising jersey had chosen to wear it that day, so Husband fit in with that theme.

Made it to rest stop 1!!

I felt amazingly good on day 2 and was hopeful for a good outcome!The skies were clear for day 2, so it was cooler in the morning and the sun was back to it's relentless self.

earned my medal

Husband had told me the night before to just focus on getting to the first rest stop.  The first segment was the most challenging of the day and after that it would be relatively easy.  He wasn't kidding! That first segment was tough!  But I made it. It was also extremely scenic.  Lots of opportunities to stop and take a photo, but I was afraid I'd have a hard time getting going again if we stopped, so we just took it in as we observed it.

About midway through the ride, of of my colleagues joined us as his wife had opted for the longer route.  It was nice to have company and new conversation to finish off the ride.

All-in-all it was a good weekend.  I was also happy to see that I had raised a total of $505 for MS, which is what the weekend was really all about.  And I proved that you can just be a middle aged woman with an exercise habit and still complete an event like this.  Win-win!