Little Red Riding Hood: The Century!

Just wanted to post a quick note about how much fun Shari and I had doing the Little Red Riding Hood century ride. As a mtn biker who doesn't even own a road bike, I found the whole experience delightfully new, fun, and interesting.

One thing that was cool was that I could enjoy the scenery while I was riding, instead of being focused on negotiating technical terrain, and only checking out the view when I stop at the crest of a hill or something. So that was nice.

Another great thing were the people — 3000 other women riders, all of whom were nice, happy, courteous, and fun. I can't believe some of the people who finished an entire century! That's an incredibly long distance, and so many women did it with a smile. Hahaha...

And of course I have to mention the food. Now, mtn bikers, I think, are incapable of ever having an organized ride like this that didn't turn into a race. The closest thing I've seen is the Appetite Seminar (the "Turkey Day Ride") and I'm almost positive the only reason that ride stays casual is that it's specifically NOT organized. There's no way you could have a start time, and not have people pin it, and elbow you out of the way at the starting line. Hahaha... So anyway, with every organized ride basically being a quest to see who is the toughest, you have to bring your own food. Maybe there'll be an aid station where people hand you paper cups of water or Gatorade as you zip past, but most likely you're on your own. If you cramp up, or forget to bring enough food or water, too-bad-so-sad-better-luck-next-time.

Not so at Little Red! Every 10 or so miles was the most elaborate spread I've ever seen. Not only did they have the basics (water, Gatorade stuff, sports gels) but they had fresh fruit, cookies, granola bars, bagels, candy — everything you could possibly imagine and then some! At mile 50 was the "lunch aid station," and seriously, you can't call this an aid station. It was more like a catered resort tent. Sandwiches, drinks, all the stuff from the other aid stations plus a whole lot more.

And all served and maintained by very cute men. :)

Shari taught me all the hand signals that roadies to use (to, like, warn each other when there's something technical coming up, or if they're going to slow down or swerve — I mean, what the heck!) and she basically kicked butt the whole time. I bonked near the end, exhausted, grouchy, and ready to throw my bike into the weeds, sit down, and wait for more hot male attendants to, *ahem* attend to me. But she got me through it. She could have gone much faster (and probably wanted to, as we were so close to finishing) but she was awesome and stuck right with me. We crossed the finish line at the same time, staggered off our bikes, and headed to yet another fantastic food tent, this one stocked with celebratory post-ride items like ice cream and chocolate-dipped strawberries.

We both wore our matching "Super Red" T-shirts on the way home.

Thanks for the fun ride, Shari! I'm looking forward to the next one.