Monday, June 16, 2008

I did it...



4 cities..... 54 kilometres..... 3hours, 51 minutes.... and several pounds of mud... I finished the 10th annual Great Lake to Lake race!

The mountain-biking race was definitely the most physically-challenging thing I have ever done. This was no leisure ride or street race.... it was all rough-terrain, off-road, mud-up-to-your-eyeballs technical riding between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. More than 100 people did not finish the race due to bike breakdowns, dehydration, cramping, and in some cases, broken bones.

Around the 30 km mark, my left quadriceps seized up, and I had to take nearly a half-hour to get it loosened up again before continuing.... and I definitely was in rough shape after that, moving along much slower than I had previously.

I also ran out of water with about 10 km left -- but persevered to the end. It was a great feeling to finish.

Here is a pic of me at the start... just ignore the spandex shorts :-) I was so muddy at the end of the race, you wouldn't have recognized me.

All in all, a great Father's Day.

11 comments:

Bravie said...

YAY!!! for you. That is awesome and I am super proud of you. Good job, Meemo. *smooch*

MM said...

Wow! Look at you! *wolf-whistles*

Congrats, Meemo. That is awesome.

kevingrout said...

Thanks guys... I have to say it was quite the sense of accomplishment to come across the finish line and know that I had done it.

Whether I'll ever do it again? ..... we'll see :-)

Swami said...

Mmmmmmmmmmm... spandex.

Congratulations on doing so well in the race, Meemo! I had no idea it was all off-road. Wow!

frodis said...

Congratulations, Meemo! That's quite an accomplishment! You look very fetching in your helmet.

kevingrout said...

Swami: that was a big misconception about the race for a lot of peeps... thinking that it was all road and paved trail riding. In reality, there was only about 5 km of that... the rest was serious off-roading.

Frodis: I was aiming for the height of fashion with my ensemble. I should point out my Fantastic Four cycling jersey lol. I'm not a comic book geek by any stretch, but it was on ebay for cheap, and I was buying on a budget lol

kim (weltek) said...

Congratulations! That is quite a feat! Huge!

I admire your athleticism and perserverance. *smooch*

Puffy said...

Wow, simply wow! By the way, I'm wearing the same outfit right now.

Mom2BJM(Amy) said...

*lol at Puffy* !!

Good for you Meemo!

Anonymous said...

Why on earth would we ignore the spandex.

Great Job Meemo!

lights said...

Congrats Meemo!!! I'm so impressed. My marathon friend has been encouraging my desire to start jogging lately. You look so much better in spandex than I do though. *grin*