Iron bike ride and then some

I left for my first 100mi ride this morning (late as usual) and got about 4-5mi way from the house before realizing that I left BOTH my bottles of Perpetuem (about 1500 very necessary calories) at home!!! I had no choice but to turn around, get them and start over. I wanted to ride the whole race course so I couldn't just cut the rest short because it's a loop. So heres what I ended up with:

Ride time: 6:39:56
Distance: 114.7mi
Avg speed: 17.2mph (crap)
Calories burned: 4670
Calories replaced: 2290 (49%)
Fluids replaced: 200oz
Avg HR: 148
Max HR: 169

Scenery from the North Carolina countryside:Cows and horses saying hi to me!Moore's CreekDuplin Wine farmsCrossing some more county lines....on a bike! A year ago I would have thought that was crazy...actually....I still do!On my way back down 421....totally sad about the numbers on that sign..30! Ugh!

This was a brutal ride for me. I've done lots of 60, 70 and 80mi rides. I didn't expect to feel any different until maybe after the 90mi mark...not so. The WHOLE RIDE sucked. I was tired at mile 60 and 70 and 80 and well pretty much all of it. My average speed dwindled between 16-18, no where near where I need it for the race. I can't understand it because I've slacked off for almost 2 weeks now, between being injured and being depressed about being injured. I also started my girly time during the ride so maybe that was it? I don't know. I'm just glad it is over.

I felt like I had a head wind the whole time but when I looked up the weather it showed calm winds in the morning, then a 1-5mph wind E/N/NE (it shifted a lot) during the second half of my ride. So that is head wind for coming back down 421, but its barely anything...1-5? Seriously? I need to do some serious riding in the next 2months.

I noted these times while riding, for reference later:
100mi - 5:46:06
112mi - 6:29:34 (iron distance)
distance covered at 6hr goal time: 104mi

I ended up drinking 6hr worth of Perpetuem and eating 2 Powerbars and 1 Clif Bar. I think I'm going to focus on eating solid foods only in the first 1/3 of the ride and then liquids after that. And some more fast burning carbs to give me a boost in the last 1/3. I read about this in an article in a tri magazine. I'll write more about that later. It's interesting.

After this ride I have decided that I desperately need new head phones and new sunglasses....
Look at those things...I showed them to Mike and he called me "awesome". How many people can wear out head phones? I'm not sure I'm awesome for that, but they have definitely seen better days. I tried to salvage them with electrical tape, but it didn't hold up over 114miles! As for the glasses....$20 at Walmart...they are scratched all to hell, they are HUGE on me as you can see, and they slip off my face . I hate them! I'm going to suck it up and spend some money pretty soon I think!!