Belgian Waffle Ride

North county San Diego has a lot of competitive (and semi-crazy) cyclists. About 500 of which signed up to race this year's sold-out Belgian Waffle Ride. I say semi-crazy because this ride consists of 130 miles with 10,000ish feet of climbing, and a bunch of off-road dirt sections thrown in. It's San Diego's version of Paris-Roubaix, sans-cobblestones. Complete with King/Queen of the Dirt, Mountains & Sprints thrown in.

I figured two weeks off Ironman Melbourne I'd have no trouble with the distance. I wasn't exactly sure how the climbing and racing effort would go, but I figured I would ride hard until I blew up, then limp home. Thankfully I didn't blow up or limp home.

There were waffles.

Here are the highlights:

• 0 flats
• Massive time lost in the dirt/rocky sections for this triathlete
• Loads of fun chasing, pulling, grabbing a wheel and making new cycling friends
• 2 very worked legs 7.5ish hours after the start
• One pair of very dirty white socks (note: wear black socks next year!)
• Big smiles all day long

I really find I am most happy when I'm sitting on the rivet or doing something incredibly crazy.  I'm not sure if this means there is something wrong with me or if I really just love living life to its fullest. Whatever the case, I think I finished 4th female. But honestly, I'm not sure - timing involved Strava and I was impressed with myself for simply creating a Strava account in order to get an official finishing time...