Someone else told me that everyone says “never again” in the middle of a long ride, then changes their minds after finishing. I guess that puts me right in with everyone else then. I don’t know what might be next since I want to just relax and ride with my husband for a while, but there might be something. I’m currently taking suggestions. 
Thanks for all of the kudos ladies.
Thank you for sharing your ride with us. What a fantastic accomplishment! You should feel pretty invincible!
@stacypro you mentioned RAMROD is on your bucket list. If you are seriously interested let me know. I may know someone who has a “bypass” entry, but would need to know in the next few days.
The lottery opens March 1st. This year is a focus to get more women to do RAMROD. Last year 16% were women. A facebook page was started here. There are 2 ways to get in - volunteer the year before or enter the lottery. A few tickets are put on eBay as well. I am working with @Coach_Theia to train for this ride. Tina
Um…wow. I need to think about that for a day or two but that is a very appealing offer. I’ve looked into it enough that I do know about the lottery/volunteer thing. It is definitely a bucket list ride for me, but from Phoenix it would also be a major trip either driving or flying and then figuring out where to stay. July is a great time to NOT be in Phoenix though. 
I have a friend who did RAMROD last year and said it was a fantastic ride and totally worth it. How much does the entry fee end up being? I couldn’t find that info on the website. I’m sort of 
right now.
It appears RAMROD prices are posted now. Price looks like $130.00. Here are some things to consider. Weather can not be predicted, but here are two risks to know about. Risk of forest fire smoke. I would not do the ride if smoke. The last few years have been ok, but no guarantee this year will be ok. The other is heat. The basalt rocks on Cayuse Pass makes for a hot late afternoon climb (90 degrees+) for riders like me (13.6 mph average). Lots of ice is provided before the climb. Fast riders hit the climb earlier in the day. One year long long ago it snowed a little I am told.
Price is definitely not bad for a ride of that magnitude.
How far in advance do they make decisions about smoke/weather and postponing or rescheduling the ride? If I do this I will likely be flying in just for the ride so anything like that would throw a major wrench in my plans.
I’m not used to smoke but I am pretty used to riding and climbing in the heat. 
Wow!
If I’m interested in the bypass entry is there a date that you need to know by? I’m seriously considering it and would say I’m 50/50 right now. If the opportunity has already passed, that is ok too, just let me know.
@stacypro I do not know how far ahead they would post a cancellation. I think a decision would come down to safety and aware that people come from 26 states. If you look at the RAMROD ride history, the year-by-year log talks about one year being bad and that was snow! It is my personal choice not to ride if smoke quality is red or worse. I road RAMROD in 2016 and 2017 and weather was fantastic. Triple Bypass was cancelled in 2017 due to forest fires.
If you can fly via Southwest, you can cancel up to 10 minutes before the flight and you can use the money credited up to a year later. I know because we just went through it at Christmastime, when my son was physically ill a few hours before our vacation was to start, and we just used the credit for Spring Break.
-Angie
@stacypro Why don’t you ask Theia to send me your email address. I can get you connected to the person who has a bypass. I think there is more time to decide. Tina
Today I did just over 100 miles, and this is what I packed in my jersey pockets:
The plastic bags had Skratch for hydration. I also had the new Skratch fuel (liquid nutrition) in my bottle for the first hour with about 250 calories). I consumed everything in the picture except the salt tabs and one bag of gummies. I had one bottle of Skratch per hour. I felt great the whole time. It was a hot summer day, and when I came home, I noticed a lot of salt marks (from sweat) in my kit, as you can see below:
That means that I was losing a lot of sodium in my sweat. To avoid this (and avoid getting dehydrated), I should have eaten the salt tablets I had with me. I got lucky that I felt fine, but it wasn’t a hard ride or pace. Otherwise, I could have felt differently.
My kits look the same way post race or long workout in the heat. I’ve taken to carrying and using the salt tabs.
I’ve used infinit custom to address this and it wasn’t too bad. But it can be a bit pricy and you have to commit to the quantity. So the tabs and either Nuun or Tailwind are what I now use (Nuun just doesn’t have enough calories). I’ve also been known to mix Nuun with Gatorade to boost the calorie content.
Ok. So according to this, I did not and do not eat enough when riding. Today I did 60 miles. And I had a waffle, banana, and some sunflower butter. And two gf bites and two dates. Oh man. I did have untapped in my bottle. 
Agree @gosimrr. I would have eaten all that you ate in the first 90 min or so. It’s hard to eat when you aren’t hungry- but we have to just make a plan and literally force it down!!
I have been working on this and its made a HUGE difference for me!
This is an area I struggle with as well. I think I spent most of my life dehydrated and have been doing much better with fluid intake except during the ride. What, when, and how much to eat is still an unsolved puzzle for me.
@Coach_Theia the first 90 minutes? Yikes. Ok. So today, again 63 miles. Protein shake to start the day with oat milk and banana. 2 gf bites, 2 dates, 4 bottles of untapped. A strawberry lemonade (you haven’t lived if you haven’t had one), 1/2 a protein bar, iced coffee, and 1/2 a waffle with sunflower butter and banana. I hope that was better. Maybe?
