I just remembered that I signed up to do this bike ride over Christmas break if any of the other girls in the club would like to do it with me.
2nd Annual Girls Gone Riding All-Women Bike Ride
Date
Saturday, February 20, 2010 @ 7:00 AM local time
Address
Gilbert, AZJoe's Farm Grill, Higley and Ray roads
Fees
$40
Brief Description
Choose a casual 15-mile route, 30-mile route or do your first metric century at this all-women, fully-supported ride.
That was my plan. I just registered at active.com. I am sure if you searched for it in the search bar you could find it. I think it is going to be a lot of fun and good training for the duathlon!
I just got an update and the price is staying at $25 instead of increasing to $40. You can pay on the day of the ride and there will be breakfast (bagels or something). The routes are actually 15, 35 or 65 miles. There is one rest stop on the 35 and three on the 65 with snacks available. Lunch will be provided by Joe's Farm Grill afterwards. This is a way better deal than I originally thought!
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/az/gilbert/914126581787161590
woah that IS a good deal. joe's farm grill is goooooood too. i'm *probably* in haha
I just wanted to give a report on how the ride went. Friday night Nicole, Amanda and I got to Happy Valley and ate at Red Robin. We ended up staying the night at a friend of my family's house near the Deer Valley Airport. Early that morning we got up and drove to Joe's Farm Grill. There were a about 40 people doing the three different rides I would say so it was kind of small. There was a mechanic doing checkups on everyone's bikes before the ride and bagels and fruit were available.
The day started out so beautiful: sunny and calm. I found two women who were riding ahead of me and they seemed like they were going at a good pace to try and catch. I was pretending they were the Tricats for next weekend. I had another rider behind me who was trying to catch me, and I ended up riding side-by-side for the second half of the ride. I felt really good on the bike and was able to pass a number of people at the beginning and stayed in front of them. The wind ended up picking up for the last 1/4 of my ride and it was so strong it was blowing me sideways on the road. No matter which direction I was going, it felt like it was blowing towards my front. As I was pulling back into Joe's Farm Grill it started to sprinkle and then began to rain soon after.
I decided to wait a little while for Amanda and Nicole, who had gotten a late start and were getting their bikes checked when I started. Then I got in my car and went to make sure everything was OK and they weren't stuck in the rain somewhere. It turns out Nicole had gotten a flat but she was just getting back on her bike when I pulled up and said she wanted to finish. While we waited for her, Amanda and I had the free lunch (hot dogs and a bag of chips) that was provided. It was the first time I had biked over 30 miles. I think it was approximately 33 miles and I finished in about 2 hours and 10 minutes. I was so glad I went, the women were so nice and fun to talk to. I think I may do it again next year.
