I don't hate myself...promise

I know it sounds a little weird to state, "I don't hate myself," but over a course of several hard bike races I think people are starting to think I do. Really I like me!
Last Saturday I rode in the 25th Anniversary ULCER (Utah Lake Century Epic Ride). The race is 111 miles long and runs from Thanksgiving Point through Provo, down to Goshen (I didn't know about this town either) and around the west side of Utah Lake all the way back to Thanksgiving Point. I rode last year and was happy to say it was my first ever Century ride (century = 100, just if you were wondering). This year my goal was to complete 2 century rides. First was the MS bike tour and second the ULCER.
So Saturday I joined 1500 other riders at the ULCER. It was a great day of biking. I rode the first 40 miles or so with a group of friends and we set a nice pace. The weather was both good and bad. It was a nice 70 degrees most of the day and cloud cover kept us cool. But soon after lunch we started getting into some heavy wind and by the 70 mile mark we had head wind all the way back to Thanksgiving Point. Head wind is probably a bikers worse enemy. Next cars (particularly over sized trucks driven by stupid men who are out to kill bikers) and then gravel (skinny tires and rocks bad combo). Head wind can really impact your speed as it did for us on Saturday. My pace dropped drastically and I tired quickly fighting against the wind. BUT...I did it. Thanks to my friend JD who rode that last 40 miles with me, even though he was a much stronger rider and could have dropped me at anytime, we crossed the finish line.
Sorry there are no pictures this time. I didn't drag my mom out of bed at 5:30AM to follow me around the entire day (which I may or may not have done last year). But my mom and brother Matt were awesome enough to drop in on me around the 80 mile mark to give me a cheer. And my sweet dad was there at the finish line. I also woke up to a note from my roommates giving me words of encouragement. It was great to have the support of my family and friends.
So as you can see from my track record, 60 miles (lrrh), 100 miles (ms) and now 111 miles (ulcer) and add in there 2 tris, it is easy to get the wrong impression. But I promise, I like me!