Century #2 down!

I have now ridden over 120 miles on the windy/winding roads of Marin and Sonoma in the last two weeks. The Holstein 100 was on Saturday, and, while not as hard as the Marin Century, it was still a booty-kicker. Mike, Leslie and I were joined by Mike's coworker Daniel, who told us after the ride that he was wearing a spandex onesie. This pretty much made everything worth it. A key point: all three of my co-cyclists are way faster than me, which made me alternately motivated and full of rage.
Please note the unintentional perfection of the bookended Brecki hairdos.

The course was 67 miles of gorgeous rolling hills - until the last 20 miles, when there were two major climbs. Numero uno was the backside of the first big climb of the Marin Century; going down it then, I had ridden the brakes so hard my hands had cramped, so you can imagine how much fun it was to ride up this time. The last hill was supposed to be the worst, but I was so freaked out by then that anything short of an Alp was a piece o pie. Not to say my thighs weren't screaming the whole time, but I managed to not pass out, which is my main objective on most climbs.This is me at the top. I was Very Happy. I realize is doesn't look like that major of a hill, but perspective can be a dirty liar. From here the road went down down down, then hit the 1 along the coast for a few miles. This would have been a pleasant cap to the ride, except that my bike had started to fall apart by then. My bar tape came off (yay numb right hand), my gears were clicking, my derailer was whining, and with only a few miles left I got stuck in a high gear. Conveniently, I also had the Pixies stuck in my head, which really helped me power through.

After the ride, we went to Scrambly's for some beers (and oysters, in my case). Hartz and Claire came and met us after doing the full 100 miles! Cheers to them, crazy bastardesses that they are.Unsurprisingly, Mike and I passed the F out Saturday night, and took it easy on Sunday. We had brunch with Yuri (!!!) who is home from France for a bit, then had a Critically-Acclaimed-athon, in which we watched episodes of Mad Men, Friday Night Lights, The Wire, and 30 Rock. We have the frenzied activity/gluttonous sloth thing down, man.