PPPP

Nature calls during long rides.  It's just a fact.  Usually, I'm the only woman or one of a few riding with a bunch of guys.  No one makes a big deal of it, but being female does present a few complications.  Peach Peloton has made me a PPPP expert.

First, I have to consider what to wear on Peach Peloton.  This isn't a fashion statement.  It's a matter of practicality.  The guys can get the job done quickly, but I have to partially undress and re-dress in the winter.  Time is of the essence.  Most cold weather knickers or tights have bib straps.  In the winter I typically wear a base layer with the bib straps over it, a jersey over my bibs, and sometimes a jacket if it's really cold.  That means that when we stop for a pee break, I have to strip off my gloves and one or two layers before I can pull my bib straps down.  Once the deed is done, then I have to get dressed again ASAP.  By the way, I've discovered that a couple of my long-sleeved jerseys have tight arms that are harder to get off.  Therefore, I don't wear these jerseys on Peach Peloton.

When it's time for a pee break, the guys stop, and I ride a little farther until I find a more secluded spot.  I joke to myself that I can't look back, or I'll turn into a pillar of salt like Lot's wife.  So far, so good.

About a month ago, we were only about 10 miles into our Peach Peloton ride when we saw a toilet that someone had left by the side of the road in front of their house.  As we approached, I yelled out, "Pee break!"

When I ride ahead of the guys to find a spot, I favor turnoffs from the main road, like a path or dirt road.  Such turnoffs usually provide easy access as well as ample hiding space.  Yesterday on our grand finale of the Peach Peloton season, the Pine Mountain Challenge, I found the most beautiful pee spot I've ever encountered.  Yes, it was scenic, but more importantly, it was well hidden, it had no briars, and it had a thick layer of soft pine straw.

Penultimate Peach Peloton

I may not have written much lately, but I've ridden a lot.  I've been riding Peach Peloton every Saturday possible since the season started in November.  This past weekend was the penultimate ride for the year.  The weather looked kind of rough on Saturday, and so we switched the ride to yesterday.  I think that was the first time we've had a Peach Peloton on a Sunday.  It was a great ride even if one of the hardest this year.  We rode a century that looped from Bolingbroke to Monticello.

We averaged 12 riders.  Bill turned off early, but shortly thereafter we picked up Jake, who rode from his house.  I also enjoyed riding with a couple of newer guys, James and Luke, and James's girlfriend Elizabeth joined us for the first time, too.  It was great to have some female companionship.  It's also good to have some younger riders to keep this terrific sport going.  These newer Peach Peloton riders are about half the age of the rest of us.

We rode two up for most of the way.  One time I was riding next to James, and I commented that our Peach Peloton rides have been a little slower this year, averaging maybe 18 or 19 mph instead of 20 or 21 mph as in some prior years.  He asked why it's slower now.  I laughed and said that we're all getting older!  There's another reason, too, I think.  With the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling so many races, we don't seem to have the same incentive to train as hard this winter like in past years.

Although most of this year's Peach Peloton rides have been relatively tame, the guys upped the ante yesterday.  The average speed was about 20 mph.  Also, it was the longest ride thus far as we get ready for next week's grand finale, the Pine Mountain Challenge (about 130 miles).

We had one attack zone, which was on home turf: Fellowship Road shortly before the store stop in Monticello.  Robert has been making this year's Peach Peloton attack zones correspond to Strava segments.  This segment on Fellowship Road is about 3.5 miles long - whew!  I was able to keep my QOM on the segment and also got a PR.

I felt pretty good for most of the ride.  Elizabeth and I sat on the back during the two sessions of rotations.  Even sitting on the back was a pretty big effort, but it didn't do me in.

As we rode back toward Macon, we wondered if we would be able to ride through River North subdivision.  It has a guard gate at both of its entrances, one on the east and one on the west.  The west gate always has a guard, but we were hoping that the east gate, from the direction we were approaching, wouldn't have one on the weekend.  We were in luck!  River North is one of the few locations for several miles with a bridge over the Ocmulgee River.  If we hadn't been able to enter River North on the east side, we would have had to ride almost to downtown Macon to cross the river, adding another four or five miles to our route.

The guys hammered through River North.  It has a lot of punchy hills, and Elizabeth and I got dropped.  The guys waited on us a short distance from the other side of River North, and we all continued on.  I didn't hang on much longer, though.  We were only about eight miles from the end, but I was toast.  I watched as the peloton rode farther and farther away.  As many times as that's happened to me, it's still such a sinking feeling.  Oh, well.  All I could do was keep pedaling as best I could.

I had maintained good power throughout the ride - quite an effort for a century.  As I rode the next few miles, I was baffled at how low my power was.  I was having a hard time even getting up to 100 W!  My first thought was that my power meter was broken.  Then I realized the real problem - I was close to bonking.  It's funny how my first impulse is to think it's an equipment error instead of an engine issue (i.e., me).  (For another example, check out my old blog post "Broken Heart Rate Monitor?").

You'd think that I would have figured it out by now that I have to approach nutrition differently on a higher-intensity Peach Peloton century than on a more moderate 200K brevet.  On yesterday's ride I fueled like I do on a 200K, which was inadequate.  At least I'll be more prepared for the Pine Mountain Challenge next week.

When I rolled back into the parking area yesterday, Robert asked Travis to take a picture of the two of us.  Robert had already had a little time to recover.  Therefore, he looks a lot fresher and dewier than I do.