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Blanket's haul

In preparation for the upcoming 6-hour race at Blanket's Creek, I decided to see if I could actually ride a bike for 6 hours since my previous longest was about 4 hours. I left my house at 3:30 and arrived back home around 9:15. I estimate there was about 20-30 minutes of stop time. Since I don't have a bike computer, I think my mileage was about 36-40 miles not including the 2.1 mile trip from my house to the trail and back , which was road riding.
I went on 2-hour rides on the singlespeed the 2 days prior so I wasn't exactly fresh heading out there. Today I went on my geared bike and I'm glad I did. For the first 3 hours or so I rode in the first ring at about half or 2/3 my normal speed. This took A LOT of patience as I generally like to sprint. Plowing through 2 South Loops was grueling. Met up with Steve Whittier on Dwelling which was a nice break from the grind.
Nutrition for the day was good with eating 200 calories about every 45 minutes. Clif Shot Bloks Margarita, Hammer Gels, Perpetuem, raisins, granola were all good choices.
Could've used more water and one more bottle of Endurolytes. Feet were starting to burn so I put on an extra pair of socks and was really pleased that my feet did well for the duration.
As the evening set in, the breeze of the night air was indescribably sweet out on the trail after a hard day in the sun. After I left Blanket's parking lot, I saw off in the distance over Lake Allatoona, belated fireworks.

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