It’s a few weeks after the fact because I don’t always have time to get on the forum and post, but I want to take a minute to share an achievement that The Sufferfest/SYSTM helped me accomplish.
Back on October 23 I rode in the Glassner Autumn Challenge (GAC) in Montgomery, AL. We started and ended at the Alabama State University football stadium and rode on mainly county roads south of Montgomery. It is a wonderfully organized annual event hosted by the Montgomery Bike Club and the Alabama chapter of the Major Taylor Association with multiple distances—126 miles being the longest. So, I signed up for that.
My previous longest outdoor ride had been 103 miles in just under six hours (not blistering by any stretch, but at almost 50 years old I’ll take it). Indoors my Knighthood ride was a little over 8 hours and covered 140-something virtual miles, but that was still a long time in the saddle. It was that Knighthood ride that played a huge role in motivating me to keep going during the GAC 126 miles. And I did it in 7 hours and 54 minutes. Again, not blistering, but I was tickled pink with it. And I felt pretty good afterwards. Sure, I was certainly tired, but not totally destroyed. My goals were to finish and not be last. Check and check!
So, my success story ends with me giving God the glory first of all for allowing me to have the ability and health to do such things. And I want to definitely give some credit to Wahoo SYSTM (The Sufferfest; sorry, it will always be that in my mind) for being such a great training tool. SYSTM has definitely helped me to become stronger and tougher mentally and physically.
