The Fitness Journey of FitGirl-ATX: Urban Assault Ride

We participated in the Urban Assault Ride in Austin this past weekend. It was ALOT of fun and my first time on a road bike in forever. We completed in 4 hours and 15 mins. It was a team based event, in which we had to make it to 8 mandatory checkpoints around downtown Austin and 4 mystery checkpoints. We had to map our own routes, and complete challenges at each checkpoint.

We made it to all 8 of the mandatory checkpoints and 1:4 mystery checkpoints. I actually got a flat tire while we were in route to our final checkpoint, which (of course) was also the farthest away from the starting line! I "broke down" around Dean Keeton and I-35; the race starting point was at Runtex on Riverside. We proceeded to walk and push our bikes for about 10 blocks. We found a nice family at the last checkpoint who loaded our bikes onto their truck and gave us a ride back to the starting point. We also had a swimming challenge in the lake; I did horribly at that one! Swimming in the open water lake really freaked me out, and I couldn't do it!! I tried, though :-) We also were interviewed by KXAN news; we never saw the newscast, so we aren't sure if we made the final cut or not!

I can't wait until next year. I also discovered that the bike I bought didn't really fit me right; it was evident after riding it for so long. So, my mission this week is to get fitted for a proper road bike. I'll go to the kind folks at Bicycle Sport Shop; I rented a road bike from them in early May and rode on the Veloway in Austin. They were the most professional, friendly staff I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. If I'm going to invest in good, quality bike, I'm definitely going to them!

Here are a few pictures from the event...look for the UAR coming to a city near you. There were so many people there, and it was a great event for families too. And there really are bikes, big wheels, beer, and burritos at the finish line!

Me at the beginning of the race....