Rode my bike 82 miles today

I rode my bike 82 miles today. That was my longest ride ever. (My prior record was 65 miles).

I only intended to do 70-75 miles today. I’ve been using cue sheets from a local bike club, which are ~40 mile routes. It was a 14 mile ride to get to the starting point of the route. Then I did the route.? That put me at 54 miles.? I was feeling great at that point, so I headed back out in the direction of one of my usual training rides, not realizing how long it would be.
The last 15 miles were grueling. My whole body hurt – butt, neck, toes, knees, back, head, hips, everything! I kept wanting to stop and call my husband to come and pick me up. I resisted the temptation to be weak, and kept going.

It took me 6 hours and I made a pace of 14.4 mph. I had intentionally kept the pace easy and relaxed, and I used granny gear going up hills. That’s a good enough pace to make an ironman bike cutoff time.

The cool thing is that I used to feel that way after a 50 mile ride. The not cool thing is that I wonder if it’s reasonable to spend that much time away from my family. I love biking, but I love my family, too. How could I ever find time to train for an ironman? I know I could do it; I just don’t know if I could justify the time involved.