I was looking forward to riding RBA Alan's 200k this year- I missed it last year due to work and started the series with the 300k. This year I've already completed a full series and an additional 600K, so I'm in pretty good "early season" form. I'm still trying to figure out what this "season" is that everybody talks about... ;)
One of my big goals this year is to enjoy the ride more- I spent most of last year suffering at the back of pacelines trying to hang on and eventually getting dropped, destined to ride solo from then on because the group had built up such a lead. My plan for this 200K was to ride in the front group until they started their hammerfest up the hills, then stick with the more reasonable paced riders. But that was not to be. A check of Weather Underground told me that we'd be fighting some wind out of the west on our route to Siler City- the hourly forecast showed it building in the morning to about a 15mph headwind by 11am, then into 20+mph in the afternoon. I modified my plan and decided it would be in my best interests to stick with the strongest riders until the turnaround, then ride the tailwinds back home.
The morning was cool- just below 40 degrees when we started, yet it was supposed to be in the 60's later in the day. I fitted my VO Campagne handlebar bag to my front rack but it was mostly empty, ready to receive my shed layers as the day warmed up. I stayed near the front on the way out of Morrisville- I'd been gapped off by the traffic lights in town on one of the brevets last year and I've learned my lesson. Once we were out on country roads I pulled out my camera and shot the obligatory group video.
This would be the first 200k for Bryan H. (fast Bryan.) He spent most of the morning talking with Geof, and I was sure they were hatching some sort of strategery... I had a chance to chat with Martin and John P. before we got to the hill on Jack Bennett Rd. that usually causes all sorts of splits in the pack. Surprisingly I went up Jack Bennett really well, and was still with the front group after the summit. I spent a little time talking with Fast Bryan and trying to convince him that I'd get dropped at some point, but he just didn't believe me.
I can't remember what caused the first real split, but I was in the 2nd group on the road and for some reason I decided to try to close the gap. Fast Bryan came with me, then passed me, but I just couldn't hold his wheel. Eventually I was swallowed by the group behind and everything came back together, so I'd burned some matchsticks uselessly. You'd think I'd know better by now...
A bit later there was another split on Lindley Mill Rd. as we were approaching a left turn, due west on Greensboro Chapel Hill Rd. I knew we'd be turning into a full-on headwind so once again I tried to close that gap, but a car pulled out from a driveway and got between my little group and the front runners. At the left turn stop sign the front group got through while we had to negotiate around the driver who had suddenly become timid and wouldn't go through the intersection. The combo of headwinds and the big rollers into Snow Camp meant that we wouldn't close the gap, so Geof, Fast Bryan, and myself rolled into the control just a bit behind the leaders.
I got the card signed and a Mountain Dew, and as I was shedding the first layers of the day I saw Tim rolling out solo. I said something to Geof, and he was back on his shiny new bike and on the road lickety-split. I chugged the rest of the Dew and took off after him, but now I was out there solo and trying to catch up. Bryan caught me and I hung onto his wheel as long as I could (man that guy is fast!) but soon I had to bridge the gap myself, and not nearly as effortlessly as it looked like Fast Bryan had! Eventually Geof, Bryan, and I were caught by some others from behind who had left Snow Camp shortly after us, but we never caught Tim.
This group was strong, the headwinds were picking up, and I was starting to run into my first real trouble of the day. Every time we'd hit an uphill roller the rest of the group would hammer and I couldn't keep up their pace. At the top I'd be faced with closing a gap in a headwind. At first the gaps were small, but this is a problem which compounds itself- the effort I put out on the uphills wasn't enough and the gaps would get a bit bigger each time. The effort I put out on the flats and downhills to bridge the gaps kept me from recovering and being able to keep up on the next hill. On one uphill just a few miles from Siler City my legs started to cramp. I'd been going too hard and now I had to gear down and spin and watch the group go. John O. passed me and I told him I was cramping- he offered to wait for me but I told him no- I really didn't know if I could spin through it or if I'd soon be writhing on the side of the road!
Turns out I was able to spin it out, and as I rolled into Siler City I saw that there had been another group that left Snow Camp first that Tim was chasing- now they were on the return trip and he was still on the chase. Joel was waiting in Siler with a fantastic spread of snacks and liquids, and I had every intention of making a long stop but a little voice in the back of my head kept suggesting that maybe I'd be able to keep up now that we'd have some help from the wind. I got back on the bike just in time to roll out with the same group that had dropped me on the way in.
I kept up over about 2 or 3 rollers, then the cramps came back. Once again I spun a low gear through the pain and the cramps subsided. I was able to ease my way back up to a reasonable speed, but I'd lost Geof and Bryan until Snow Camp. After the control I lost them again, but got caught up by another group and we were making good time. As we approached a left turn on Hwy 87 I saw Geof and Bryan stopped at the old gas station. I pulled off, but I should've just kept going. My little group went on down the road and I tried to catch them but just didn't have the gas to do it. Bryan passed me and caught the group, then Geof passed and caught them too. Soon I could see the pair of them out in front of the group and pulling away! Somewhere in here I noticed that I'd lost one of my gel flasks. I found out later that it had bounced out of my bag on a rough stretch and later was smashed by a car. What a waste of Hammer Apple Cinnamon... The handy pockets that face back toward the rider on the VO bag are just not big enough to buckle closed with a gel flask inside.
I was still thinking that I could possibly catch when I heard someone behind me call my name. I think it was Jerry- at least I could tell he was back there because his Cinnamon Girl is easy to spot. We were approaching Frosty's, and I thought perhaps one of them had picked up my flask. I stopped and waited for them, but no flask- they were just inviting me to join them for a rest stop at Frosty's! Funny how things work on a brevet. I was too dumb to know that the last thing I needed was to keep digging deep in my "suitcase of courage" (read with Phil Liggett accent) to try to catch up with the next group up the road. Far better to take a short break and ride with the next group! The only problem was that my legs started threatening to stiffen up while I was sitting inside Frosty's, so I got up to walk around a bit and get ready to go. Back on the road my new group included Jerry, Chris Camm, Tom F, Ricochet Robert, John O. and a few others. I took the opportunity to shoot another video.
We were getting some really intense wind now, and not always tailwinds! The predictions of 20+mph winds gusting even higher apparently had come true. Anytime the wind direction turned into a tailwind I took advantage of it and built up as much speed as I could. Eventually I had built up a little gap on my companions. Robert came across the gap and since I had some company I just kept doing my thing, tucking into the aero position when the wind was in my face and sitting up when it was at my back, letting my body act as a sail. Having the opportunity to set my own pace really let me get into the rhythm and I felt really good on this last leg of the ride. Robert kept telling me that he was out of gas, but he didn't appear to have any trouble keeping up...
Just as we were getting into Morrisville, Robert and I were caught by Chris and Jerry and the four of us rode in to Alan's house together for a time of 7:55. I was beat, but pretty satisfied with the ride overall. Still trying to put these lessons into practice: I should conserve more energy early on, perhaps I would have had enough to stick with my group those last few miles into Siler. And I should never stop with the really fast guys for a nature break, I don't have the speed to keep up with them!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Bicycle for Life 600K Brevet 3/19/11
Why would I put myself through another 600K when I've already completed the SR series? Good question. Seemed like a good idea at the time...
A few of the 59 riders at the start.
59 riders lined up at the Super 8 in Lumberton for another fun-filled set of brevets. 200K, 300K, 400K, and 600K riders all started at once and I became part of the large front group that formed. The speed was really picking up, but I was feeling good and took a couple of my trademark short-pulls on the front. About 20 miles in we made a right turn onto Gum Spring Rd. and found road construction barriers blocking the route! No worries, we could see the barriers on the other side of the torn up road, so we all did a short cyclocross impression. That caused a bit of a split in the pack, but it mostly got back together until Ammon, where the 200K and 300K riders had a control stop while the rest of us rolled on.
I took another pull up front, and my plan was to pull for 1 mile, then get my point & shoot camera out to do another video as I fell back to the comfort of the draft. I was still at 0.8 miles and down in my aerodynamic tuck when I had to dodge left to avoid a hole. I was moving back to the right, but the rider behind me had jumped into the gap and was accelerating, so my pull was over! I sat up and tried to get my camera out quickly. Well, I screwed up and fumbled the camera and it went skittering down the road at 18-20mph! I pulled off to the left and turned around to see the last folks in line dodging my camera as it lay on its back in the middle of the road. After recovering it I just stashed it in the bag and got to work catching back on.
A shot of the peleton shortly before I fumbled my camera
At the first control in Roseboro there was the usual race to be first in line to get the card signed and the line for the restroom. I've become more efficient at the controls, so I was able to get my checklist done and still have a minute to check out the damage to my camera. It's mostly cosmetic, but the corner by the battery door has a big gash and the camera won't turn on. I opened the battery compartment and little bits of broken plastic fell out. The shock had broken the plastic catch that holds the battery in place. I grabbed a bit of discarded cue sheet, folded it up to about the right size and wedged it in place. The camera worked! Still, I didn't take it out for the rest of the ride.
Folks started leaving the control so I got back on the bike and headed out. As always the stop caused splits in the pack, and I was now in the 2nd group on the road. We were trucking along at a good pace though, and it seemed like we were slowly closing the gap to the smaller front group. My turn to pull came up and I put my head down and pushed about 21-22mph. Guess that wasn't enough because Tom F. came flying by me and I had to decide whether to go or not. There wasn't anybody on his wheel, so I pushed even harder and got on his wheel. In my mirror it looked like most of the group had stayed with me and I held Tom's wheel until we were almost up to the front group, then waved the next rider forward and dropped off. By the time I was tucked in at the back we had bridged the gap and it slowed down. I found Colonel Mike near the back of the group and he told me that effort had really taken it's toll on him.
Next we had to cross some intersections in Garland, causing splits and accelerations again. Some of these intersections got a bit hairy, with oncoming traffic and cyclists wanting to get through and not get dropped. After one particular intersection I decided to remove myself from the rat race- I was burning too many matches too early and I saw that Col. Mike had already pulled the plug and was a bit further back. I sat up and started spinning an easy gear, plugged in my iPod and just cruised along waiting for Mike to catch up. I hit the lap button on my Garmin so I'd have a record of this first section with the group- it gave me a 19.4mph average speed for this first 60 miles. Once Mike caught me we continued a nice easy pace for awhile, knowing that Jerry, Wes, Tim, John, and other strong riders were still behind us and we might have some company soon.
Jerry and Wes were the first to catch us, and we picked it up a bit and rode with them for a few miles, but it was getting to be too much for Mike again. When I saw him pull the plug I dropped off and let Jerry and Wes go up the road. It looked like Mike was hurting, and I've been there & done that. In a couple more miles he asked if we could stop for a minute. He was having some weird high heart rate issues and was worried that if he felt like this after the first 100K perhaps 600K was biting off a bit more than he could chew. He had just recovered from a respiratory infection, so I can understand why he'd be worried. I helped him weigh his options: turning back meant riding 65 miles back to Lumberton... with 4 routes running at the same time who knows how long it might take Tony to get out there if Mike waited for a pick-up... and the next control was 42 miles up the road. We checked the open/close times on the card- it was about 11:20am and we had until 7:02pm to ride the next 42 miles, plenty of time. We knew that there was food in Wallace just 20 miles away, so we decided to just casually spin up the road and get some lunch. Being from DC, Mike had never heard of Andy's before (like a couple of Seattle randos who rode this route with us in February) so I thought it was a good idea to introduce him to it. After we ordered burgers and chocolate shakes Tim and John showed up. We had a much needed meal and Col. Mike was looking much, much better.
Mmmmmmm.
Back on the road with Mike, Tim, and John and we were making good time. It was a short 20ish mile run to the control in Maple Hill, then another short run of 24 miles to the control at Rocky Point. By this time it was 5pm and we knew that it would get dark before our next control stop in Garland, 54 miles away. We donned our reflective gear and got back on the road. The 4 of us were working well together despite the headwinds we'd been fighting all day. John and Tim were taking their usual long pulls, Mike was looking strong again, and I was holding my own... at first. After awhile it was my turn to run into problems. I couldn't catch my breath and every time I tried to take a deep breath I would cough. I'd had this same symptom once before- on the NCBC 400K brevet back in May 2010. That turned out to be pine pollen. I guess spring has officially sprung!
This coughing, hard to breathe stuff slowed me down, but my companions were nice enough to wait up for me any time I fell behind. We rolled into Garland at almost 9pm and just barely caught the pizza place before it closed. Food definitely helps. It had cooled down dramatically so I put on my knee warmers and my wind vest. Apparently John hadn't brought knee warmers, so a bit further down the road he improvised with a couple of free newspapers and some plastic bags.
John O. gets the Rando Creativity Award for his newspaper leg warmers and plastic baggie mitts.
My breathing issue got better- good thing because we had about 70 miles to go to get to Shallotte and then 12 more to get to Sunset Beach where we could finally catch some sleep. The other guys had been knocking back Red Bulls and NoS energy drinks (135mg of caffeine in those!) but I was afraid I'd crash hard before we got to the beach. Maybe I should've had one though, because around 1 or 2am I started getting bleary-eyed. My speed was suffering again, and every time I tried to calculate speed / distance left to go to Shallotte it seemed like I wasn't getting any closer. I tried to get the guys to go on ahead since I was slowing them down, but they wouldn't leave me. For a little while I got on the front and sped up the pace and made some time, but eventually I didn't feel safe going 15 or 16mph so I had to slow it down. I'd whipped up John and Tim though, and they were off. A couple of times I had to ask Mike not to ride beside me because I was getting swervy and dangerous. He was worried about me, and wasn't going to leave me behind no matter what. Thanks Mike!
Eventually we made it to Shallotte, sometime around 3:30 or 4am. I'm not really sure of the time. Tim and John were waiting for us, but I told them I was going to lay my head down at one of the tables in the convenience store so they took off while Mike stayed with me. I felt like I didn't ever fall asleep, so I got a cup of coffee and a snack so we could get back on the road. Later Mike told me we had been at the store for about an hour! Maybe I did get a nap after all. As we were getting ready to leave, in rolled Ricochet Robert. He did a short stop and joined us for the short 12 mile run into Sunset Beach.
The coffee or the nap or the Little Debbie iced honey bun really worked, because we kept up a nice pace into Sunset Beach, climbed the bridge, and arrived at 5:20am. We were confused about where the hotel was, it looked like the cue sheet told us to go back over the bridge and then the hotel would be on the right. We climbed the bridge an extra time before we noticed that the hotel was only 0.1 miles from the pier, so it was back over the bridge to go get some sleep. A hot shower after over 400K is a great thing. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out, and I slept hard until my alarm went of at 9am. Mike was getting ready to go, so I put on a fresh kit and got something to eat so we could get back on the road.
Sleep was what I needed, now I felt great. Mike said that we were the last riders out on the 600K route. Ricochet Robert had left earlier with another rider and 2 others had left just before us. We decided that would be good motivation- 4 carrots up the road! I found out later that Tim and John had only slept for a couple of hours, then got up and rode on with Jerry and Wes. Mike and I cranked up the pace and soon we passed a store with 2 bikes parked in front. Only 2 more carrots. At the South Carolina line we stopped at a convenience store and found we had caught Robert and his companion. We grabbed drinks and snacks for the next 25 mile run into Boardman.
At the control in Boardman I went looking for food. Last time I was at this convenience store I had one of the triangle sandwiches, and it caused major gastric distress about 10 miles up the road. This time I had one of the spinning hot dogs- Joe from Seattle ate one of those last time and it didn't send him running for the woods. We got back on the road, with only 18 miles to the next control at Clarkton. I was spending most of my time up front, getting into the zone and keeping my cadence rhythm going I could comfortably maintain about 16-17mph. Just outside of Clarkton we slowed it down a bit, this time it was Col. Mike's turn to feel bad.
He waited until this last control to tell me that he really hadn't slept at Sunset Beach, just laid in bed. It must have been all that NoS energy drink he had! He ate a couple of spinning hot dogs and we had a nice long stop and a chat with one of the locals. I really enjoy these little encounters on the road, they inevitably start with the question "how far you ridin?" and then you get to see the look on their faces when you answer "380 miles." This gentleman took a keen interest in my bike, my Brooks saddle, and how my clipless pedals worked. It gave Mike plenty of time to eat his hot dogs.
Gorgeous sky with "God light" on Sunday.
It's 28 miles from Clarkton back to Lumberton. Last time I rode it was in the dark at the end of the 400K with Mike, Tim, and Geof. We passed the singlewide trailer with all the pit bulls in cages outside on NC-211- that's where the drunk rednecks had yelled and chased us on the 400K. They weren't out in the yard this time, must have gone fishing or something. It was looking like we'd arrive around 7 or 7:30 at the pace we had been going, but the spinning hot dogs worked their magic and Mike was feeling better. We kept up a good pace, and the frequent dog chases probably saved us 15 or 20 minutes! We arrived at the finish in Lumberton at 6:30 for a total time of 35 hours. Tony had pizza and sandwiches waiting, so I ate something before getting in the car for my drive home. Another great Bicycle for Life brevet! Thanks Tony!!
Me & Col. Mike still smilin' at the finish!
A few of the 59 riders at the start.I took another pull up front, and my plan was to pull for 1 mile, then get my point & shoot camera out to do another video as I fell back to the comfort of the draft. I was still at 0.8 miles and down in my aerodynamic tuck when I had to dodge left to avoid a hole. I was moving back to the right, but the rider behind me had jumped into the gap and was accelerating, so my pull was over! I sat up and tried to get my camera out quickly. Well, I screwed up and fumbled the camera and it went skittering down the road at 18-20mph! I pulled off to the left and turned around to see the last folks in line dodging my camera as it lay on its back in the middle of the road. After recovering it I just stashed it in the bag and got to work catching back on.
A shot of the peleton shortly before I fumbled my camera
Folks started leaving the control so I got back on the bike and headed out. As always the stop caused splits in the pack, and I was now in the 2nd group on the road. We were trucking along at a good pace though, and it seemed like we were slowly closing the gap to the smaller front group. My turn to pull came up and I put my head down and pushed about 21-22mph. Guess that wasn't enough because Tom F. came flying by me and I had to decide whether to go or not. There wasn't anybody on his wheel, so I pushed even harder and got on his wheel. In my mirror it looked like most of the group had stayed with me and I held Tom's wheel until we were almost up to the front group, then waved the next rider forward and dropped off. By the time I was tucked in at the back we had bridged the gap and it slowed down. I found Colonel Mike near the back of the group and he told me that effort had really taken it's toll on him.
Next we had to cross some intersections in Garland, causing splits and accelerations again. Some of these intersections got a bit hairy, with oncoming traffic and cyclists wanting to get through and not get dropped. After one particular intersection I decided to remove myself from the rat race- I was burning too many matches too early and I saw that Col. Mike had already pulled the plug and was a bit further back. I sat up and started spinning an easy gear, plugged in my iPod and just cruised along waiting for Mike to catch up. I hit the lap button on my Garmin so I'd have a record of this first section with the group- it gave me a 19.4mph average speed for this first 60 miles. Once Mike caught me we continued a nice easy pace for awhile, knowing that Jerry, Wes, Tim, John, and other strong riders were still behind us and we might have some company soon.
Jerry and Wes were the first to catch us, and we picked it up a bit and rode with them for a few miles, but it was getting to be too much for Mike again. When I saw him pull the plug I dropped off and let Jerry and Wes go up the road. It looked like Mike was hurting, and I've been there & done that. In a couple more miles he asked if we could stop for a minute. He was having some weird high heart rate issues and was worried that if he felt like this after the first 100K perhaps 600K was biting off a bit more than he could chew. He had just recovered from a respiratory infection, so I can understand why he'd be worried. I helped him weigh his options: turning back meant riding 65 miles back to Lumberton... with 4 routes running at the same time who knows how long it might take Tony to get out there if Mike waited for a pick-up... and the next control was 42 miles up the road. We checked the open/close times on the card- it was about 11:20am and we had until 7:02pm to ride the next 42 miles, plenty of time. We knew that there was food in Wallace just 20 miles away, so we decided to just casually spin up the road and get some lunch. Being from DC, Mike had never heard of Andy's before (like a couple of Seattle randos who rode this route with us in February) so I thought it was a good idea to introduce him to it. After we ordered burgers and chocolate shakes Tim and John showed up. We had a much needed meal and Col. Mike was looking much, much better.
Mmmmmmm.Back on the road with Mike, Tim, and John and we were making good time. It was a short 20ish mile run to the control in Maple Hill, then another short run of 24 miles to the control at Rocky Point. By this time it was 5pm and we knew that it would get dark before our next control stop in Garland, 54 miles away. We donned our reflective gear and got back on the road. The 4 of us were working well together despite the headwinds we'd been fighting all day. John and Tim were taking their usual long pulls, Mike was looking strong again, and I was holding my own... at first. After awhile it was my turn to run into problems. I couldn't catch my breath and every time I tried to take a deep breath I would cough. I'd had this same symptom once before- on the NCBC 400K brevet back in May 2010. That turned out to be pine pollen. I guess spring has officially sprung!
This coughing, hard to breathe stuff slowed me down, but my companions were nice enough to wait up for me any time I fell behind. We rolled into Garland at almost 9pm and just barely caught the pizza place before it closed. Food definitely helps. It had cooled down dramatically so I put on my knee warmers and my wind vest. Apparently John hadn't brought knee warmers, so a bit further down the road he improvised with a couple of free newspapers and some plastic bags.
John O. gets the Rando Creativity Award for his newspaper leg warmers and plastic baggie mitts.Eventually we made it to Shallotte, sometime around 3:30 or 4am. I'm not really sure of the time. Tim and John were waiting for us, but I told them I was going to lay my head down at one of the tables in the convenience store so they took off while Mike stayed with me. I felt like I didn't ever fall asleep, so I got a cup of coffee and a snack so we could get back on the road. Later Mike told me we had been at the store for about an hour! Maybe I did get a nap after all. As we were getting ready to leave, in rolled Ricochet Robert. He did a short stop and joined us for the short 12 mile run into Sunset Beach.
The coffee or the nap or the Little Debbie iced honey bun really worked, because we kept up a nice pace into Sunset Beach, climbed the bridge, and arrived at 5:20am. We were confused about where the hotel was, it looked like the cue sheet told us to go back over the bridge and then the hotel would be on the right. We climbed the bridge an extra time before we noticed that the hotel was only 0.1 miles from the pier, so it was back over the bridge to go get some sleep. A hot shower after over 400K is a great thing. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out, and I slept hard until my alarm went of at 9am. Mike was getting ready to go, so I put on a fresh kit and got something to eat so we could get back on the road.
Sleep was what I needed, now I felt great. Mike said that we were the last riders out on the 600K route. Ricochet Robert had left earlier with another rider and 2 others had left just before us. We decided that would be good motivation- 4 carrots up the road! I found out later that Tim and John had only slept for a couple of hours, then got up and rode on with Jerry and Wes. Mike and I cranked up the pace and soon we passed a store with 2 bikes parked in front. Only 2 more carrots. At the South Carolina line we stopped at a convenience store and found we had caught Robert and his companion. We grabbed drinks and snacks for the next 25 mile run into Boardman.
At the control in Boardman I went looking for food. Last time I was at this convenience store I had one of the triangle sandwiches, and it caused major gastric distress about 10 miles up the road. This time I had one of the spinning hot dogs- Joe from Seattle ate one of those last time and it didn't send him running for the woods. We got back on the road, with only 18 miles to the next control at Clarkton. I was spending most of my time up front, getting into the zone and keeping my cadence rhythm going I could comfortably maintain about 16-17mph. Just outside of Clarkton we slowed it down a bit, this time it was Col. Mike's turn to feel bad.
He waited until this last control to tell me that he really hadn't slept at Sunset Beach, just laid in bed. It must have been all that NoS energy drink he had! He ate a couple of spinning hot dogs and we had a nice long stop and a chat with one of the locals. I really enjoy these little encounters on the road, they inevitably start with the question "how far you ridin?" and then you get to see the look on their faces when you answer "380 miles." This gentleman took a keen interest in my bike, my Brooks saddle, and how my clipless pedals worked. It gave Mike plenty of time to eat his hot dogs.
Gorgeous sky with "God light" on Sunday.
Me & Col. Mike still smilin' at the finish!
Monday, March 14, 2011
A Ride To Remember
On Saturday the family and friends of Adrian "YoA!" Hands gathered together for a memorial service and ride to celebrate his life. By the time I first met Adrian in 2009 his ALS had confined him to a wheelchair and he could no longer ride a bike, but that didn't stop him from joining us at Geof's house for a post-Firecracker ride meal. I talked to him about how Geof was trying to convince me to try my first 200K permanent and he not only encouraged me to do it but also thought I should set a goal for Paris-Brest-Paris in 2011! Though I did not get the opportunity to get to know Adrian in person I have benefited indirectly from knowing those whose lives he touched- among others Geof, Byron, MikeD, Sridhar, Branson, Jerry, Capt. Ende, and of course Adrian's son Ian.
YoA!
I met up with Bryan H. and David at Geof's house for a pre-dawn start to ride over across Jordan Lake to meet Jerry at the store on the corner of Lystra Rd. Then the four of us rode to Carrboro to meet Ian and accompany him on his ride to the gathering in Hillsborough. Ian had carefully packed his dad's ashes into a pannier on the back of Adrian's trusty Koga Miyata bike so his last trip "wouldn't be in a stinkin' car!" We were all honored to join him on the journey. We rode to Hillsborough and stopped at Weaver St. Market for a bite to eat and to meet up with more cyclists and friends.
After breakfast we rolled over to the courthouse where family and friends were gathering, looking at bikes and photos of YoA! and generally having a nice time catching up with and meeting one another. Eventually we all made our way down to the Eno River en masse for a touching ceremony to scatter the ashes in the river. It was emotional for everyone in attendance, then on the walk back up from the river Ian proclaimed "Lets go ride bikes!" to get us all back in the proper mindset. Later he told MikeD and Geof it was the "coolest funeral ever!"
We all rolled out from the courthouse on a 37 mile course to Raleigh for the memorial service at the SGI-USA Buddhist center at 3pm. It was a beautiful warm day and everyone was in great spirits, enjoying the company and telling Adrian stories. Before long the front group of riders had missed a turn- I was slightly behind still putting my camera back in the front bag when I heard the folks behind me trying to yell after us. I tried to yell up to the riders in front but they didn't turn around so I hammered a bit and caught up to them to let them know about the missed turn. Branson said no worries, he could navigate us through Durham and back on course and everyone agreed that some bonus miles were nothing if not appropriate on a YoA! tribute ride!
It was a fantastic ride with good weather and great friends, and when we crossed the ATT Branson peeled off to head home and Jerry was waiting to join back up with us. We stopped to eat again at an Indian restaurant before heading on to the memorial service. At the SGI center we had another huge gathering of cyclists, family, and friends. Before the service there was a parade of bicycles led by Gilbert Anderson, then we all went inside for a moving memorial service. For many of us the Buddhist traditions were new, but soon familiar. Grieving is one of those things that transcends language. Everyone had the chance to offer incense and a prayer for Adrian, and folks got up and shared their fond memories before we watched a slideshow of his life and rides. Touching words were said by Adrian's brother, his wife Padmini, his daughter Shanti, and son Ian.
Afterward there was more congregating and chatting out in the parking lot before Geof, Bryan, and I headed back to Geof's place. From everything I've been told of Adrian it was a perfect way to celebrate his life- surrounded by family and friends and smiles and bicycles.
YoA!I met up with Bryan H. and David at Geof's house for a pre-dawn start to ride over across Jordan Lake to meet Jerry at the store on the corner of Lystra Rd. Then the four of us rode to Carrboro to meet Ian and accompany him on his ride to the gathering in Hillsborough. Ian had carefully packed his dad's ashes into a pannier on the back of Adrian's trusty Koga Miyata bike so his last trip "wouldn't be in a stinkin' car!" We were all honored to join him on the journey. We rode to Hillsborough and stopped at Weaver St. Market for a bite to eat and to meet up with more cyclists and friends.
After breakfast we rolled over to the courthouse where family and friends were gathering, looking at bikes and photos of YoA! and generally having a nice time catching up with and meeting one another. Eventually we all made our way down to the Eno River en masse for a touching ceremony to scatter the ashes in the river. It was emotional for everyone in attendance, then on the walk back up from the river Ian proclaimed "Lets go ride bikes!" to get us all back in the proper mindset. Later he told MikeD and Geof it was the "coolest funeral ever!"
We all rolled out from the courthouse on a 37 mile course to Raleigh for the memorial service at the SGI-USA Buddhist center at 3pm. It was a beautiful warm day and everyone was in great spirits, enjoying the company and telling Adrian stories. Before long the front group of riders had missed a turn- I was slightly behind still putting my camera back in the front bag when I heard the folks behind me trying to yell after us. I tried to yell up to the riders in front but they didn't turn around so I hammered a bit and caught up to them to let them know about the missed turn. Branson said no worries, he could navigate us through Durham and back on course and everyone agreed that some bonus miles were nothing if not appropriate on a YoA! tribute ride!
It was a fantastic ride with good weather and great friends, and when we crossed the ATT Branson peeled off to head home and Jerry was waiting to join back up with us. We stopped to eat again at an Indian restaurant before heading on to the memorial service. At the SGI center we had another huge gathering of cyclists, family, and friends. Before the service there was a parade of bicycles led by Gilbert Anderson, then we all went inside for a moving memorial service. For many of us the Buddhist traditions were new, but soon familiar. Grieving is one of those things that transcends language. Everyone had the chance to offer incense and a prayer for Adrian, and folks got up and shared their fond memories before we watched a slideshow of his life and rides. Touching words were said by Adrian's brother, his wife Padmini, his daughter Shanti, and son Ian.
Afterward there was more congregating and chatting out in the parking lot before Geof, Bryan, and I headed back to Geof's place. From everything I've been told of Adrian it was a perfect way to celebrate his life- surrounded by family and friends and smiles and bicycles.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Tar Heel 200K
It had been awhile since I rode Dean's Tar Heel 200K. Since my last trip on this route they've paved some of the worst sections of asphalt, but not to worry- there's still plenty of roads that can give your bike a thorough shakedown to make sure every accessory is firmly attached! I met up with Mike, Lynn, and Jerry in Benson at 7am and I knew that I was in for a fast ride. I have trouble keeping up with these folks when they're casually spinning along and chatting about the weather! I told myself that it shouldn't be a problem, the Tar Heel is flat...
Sometimes flat is good. Sometimes there's wind. Today's wind wasn't that bad really- 8-10mph out of the south meant we'd have headwinds on the way out to the turnaround and then enjoy tailwinds on the way home. All I had to do was stick with them for the first 62 miles and I'd be golden. At first I was doing ok, but that was probably because they were just warming up. Before we got to Stedman I was feelin' the burn as we were cranking 17-18mph into a quartering headwind. I had to pull out of line and told them I'd see them at the control.
After a break and a snack we got back on the road. Everybody left before me, so I was riding solo a bit earlier than I had planned. For awhile I could see the group up ahead, but the gap was widening. I settled in for a 30 mile slog into the wind alone. As I've noticed on recent brevets, I actually ride pretty well when I get my rhythm going. I was averaging 15-16mph and keeping a steady tempo and effort. During this stretch I decided that unless I wanted to finish an hour or more after everybody else I'd need to minimize my time off the bike and keep moving. If I took the time for a sit-down Subway stop at Tar Heel I'm pretty sure I'd get dropped again and not see the others for the rest of the ride. I short stopped the control and saw the bikes parked at Subway. No idea how long they'd been there already, but I figured I could get 5 or 10 minutes up the road and they'd catch me on the way back to Stedman.
I really like tailwinds. And nice fresh pavement. The return trip was turning out to be a lot more fun than the upwind slog that I'd dealt with before. It seemed like it took very little effort to maintain 19 or 20mph, my arm warmers and leg warmers were off, and I was spinning a high cadence and really enjoying the ride. I kept expecting to see bikes in my mirror, especially when I got to the really long, straight stretches but as I entered Stedman I was still out front. Once again I made it a short stop, but just as I was ready to get back on the bike I saw Jerry and Mike crossing Hwy 24. They went to the Andy's instead of the convenience store and I thought about heading over to join them. I'd already had a snack at the store, so once again I figured I'd get a few miles down the road before they started chasing me down.
By the way, the nice pavement had run out and I was back to the bumpass asphalt with the tar snakes all over it. Even with a tailwind it's hard to maintain good speed on what one of my friends calls "speed sucking pavement." I was riding on a brand new rear wheel I had just picked up on Friday, and I was really giving it a good shakedown. It came through with flying colors- not even so much as a ping. I was keeping an eye on the mirror, but still no sign of the other riders. They must have stopped for awhile at Andy's. I got to the Short Stop convenience store and gave myself a longer stop, checked my phone and had a snack. Ironic that the longest stop of the ride was at Short Stop! There were only 13 or 14 more miles, so even if they caught me now I wouldn't be very far behind. Still no sign of them as I got back on the road, so I just spun an easy gear all the way back to Benson. I was surprised that they never caught me.
I went into the Burger King to get some food and have my card signed, and while filling my drink I heard someone call my name. It was Ian! He and Mary had driven down to Benson and brought a cake to celebrate Jerry's R-60. The other riders rolled into the finish about 5 minutes or so behind me and we all enjoyed a piece of cake in the parking lot. 5 straight years of R-12s, way to go Jerry!
Sometimes flat is good. Sometimes there's wind. Today's wind wasn't that bad really- 8-10mph out of the south meant we'd have headwinds on the way out to the turnaround and then enjoy tailwinds on the way home. All I had to do was stick with them for the first 62 miles and I'd be golden. At first I was doing ok, but that was probably because they were just warming up. Before we got to Stedman I was feelin' the burn as we were cranking 17-18mph into a quartering headwind. I had to pull out of line and told them I'd see them at the control.
After a break and a snack we got back on the road. Everybody left before me, so I was riding solo a bit earlier than I had planned. For awhile I could see the group up ahead, but the gap was widening. I settled in for a 30 mile slog into the wind alone. As I've noticed on recent brevets, I actually ride pretty well when I get my rhythm going. I was averaging 15-16mph and keeping a steady tempo and effort. During this stretch I decided that unless I wanted to finish an hour or more after everybody else I'd need to minimize my time off the bike and keep moving. If I took the time for a sit-down Subway stop at Tar Heel I'm pretty sure I'd get dropped again and not see the others for the rest of the ride. I short stopped the control and saw the bikes parked at Subway. No idea how long they'd been there already, but I figured I could get 5 or 10 minutes up the road and they'd catch me on the way back to Stedman.
I really like tailwinds. And nice fresh pavement. The return trip was turning out to be a lot more fun than the upwind slog that I'd dealt with before. It seemed like it took very little effort to maintain 19 or 20mph, my arm warmers and leg warmers were off, and I was spinning a high cadence and really enjoying the ride. I kept expecting to see bikes in my mirror, especially when I got to the really long, straight stretches but as I entered Stedman I was still out front. Once again I made it a short stop, but just as I was ready to get back on the bike I saw Jerry and Mike crossing Hwy 24. They went to the Andy's instead of the convenience store and I thought about heading over to join them. I'd already had a snack at the store, so once again I figured I'd get a few miles down the road before they started chasing me down.
By the way, the nice pavement had run out and I was back to the bumpass asphalt with the tar snakes all over it. Even with a tailwind it's hard to maintain good speed on what one of my friends calls "speed sucking pavement." I was riding on a brand new rear wheel I had just picked up on Friday, and I was really giving it a good shakedown. It came through with flying colors- not even so much as a ping. I was keeping an eye on the mirror, but still no sign of the other riders. They must have stopped for awhile at Andy's. I got to the Short Stop convenience store and gave myself a longer stop, checked my phone and had a snack. Ironic that the longest stop of the ride was at Short Stop! There were only 13 or 14 more miles, so even if they caught me now I wouldn't be very far behind. Still no sign of them as I got back on the road, so I just spun an easy gear all the way back to Benson. I was surprised that they never caught me.
I went into the Burger King to get some food and have my card signed, and while filling my drink I heard someone call my name. It was Ian! He and Mary had driven down to Benson and brought a cake to celebrate Jerry's R-60. The other riders rolled into the finish about 5 minutes or so behind me and we all enjoyed a piece of cake in the parking lot. 5 straight years of R-12s, way to go Jerry!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Bicycle for Life 400K Brevet 2/19/11
We'd dealt with snow flurries on the 200K, sleet on the 300K, and an all-day cold rain on the 600K. It was about time for some warm weather and sunshine, and that's just what we got this weekend for a 400K ride to complete my second Super Randonneur series!
A good sized field lining up for the start.
Geof managed to get a rare Saturday off work to come ride with us, so we drove together to Lumberton for the start. We were a bit behind schedule, arriving just 20 minutes before 7am and hustling to get prepared to ride. I must be getting good at that, because the only thing I forgot was the earbuds for my iPhone! There were a lot of riders this weekend, and the course kept most everybody together until the 300K mark. Early in the ride I was having a great time with the large group and I shot this sunrise video:
Including myself I count 34 folks in this group. There were a couple up the road and some folks off the back, but this was the main peloton. At one point during the early miles- I think it might have been Milk Dairy Rd.- we made a turn onto a really rough stretch of pavement. The vibrations were really giving all the bikes a good shakedown, making sure everyone's accessories were firmly attached. Someone near the front lost a blinkie light, which shattered into many sharp plastic shards on the road and everyone tried hard to avoid it. I was in mid-sentence talking to Tim when his cue sheet jumped ship and he pulled out of line to retrieve it. I also saw Geof pull off to the right, but I wasn't sure why. Turns out he had run over the plastic shards and sliced his rear tire. The thought of stopping with Geof crossed my mind, but I figured he and Tim would catch up quickly and I wasn't sure I'd be able to hang onto their wheels if I stopped with them, so I just stuck with the group. Unfortunately they had longer stops than I had guessed, and I wouldn't see Tim and Geof again until the 300K point back in Lumberton!
At the first controle in Wagram it became clear that this was not going to be one of those relaxed brevets like we'd been having in the recent cold winter weather. The combination of sun, warmth, and a large group meant the short-stop controle competition was ON. I flipped my cue sheet, got my card signed, and downed a fizzy caffeine drink and saw most of the 400K folks I knew rolling on down the road. I had chugged the drink a bit too fast, but had to get going and catch them anyway. It kept getting warmer and they kept getting faster, but I was feeling ok and not having too much trouble keeping up. County line sprints were being contested, which also served to whip the pace up from time to time. This route has a bit more rolling terrain than the routes we'd been riding south of Lumberton on the previous two brevets, so mainly I was having trouble with the speed was on the uphills. At one point I was second in line when we hit a small climb and I just couldn't hold the wheel of the guy on the front, so I had to pull off. I felt bad about shirking my turn in the wind, so once the road leveled out I went back up to the front to put in a bit of a token effort to make up for it.
At the second controle in Ellerbe there was once again the mad dash competition to be the first in line to get the cards signed. I had a hard time even finding a place to park the bike- sorry Joel for snagging your spot! I ran through my to-do list quickly once again: cue sheet flipped, card signed, fluids topped off, and I removed my vest and warmers. This time I was ready to go before the rest of the group so I figured I'd roll on out and they'd catch me soon enough. I got my cadence up and found my rhythm, and soon I was felling really good. It's amazing the difference between trying to match someone else's pace and being able to just ride within my limits. I was slower on the uphills, and I'd see the group closing the gap up to me, but then at the tops of the hills I'd get my speed back up and pull away again. If I'd been at the back of the group I would probably have been dropped on the uphills and then pushed myself too hard afterward trying to bridge back up to the group. Eventually Jerry flew off the front and came up to tell me to slow down and ride with the group! I'm really starting to think that riding alone and within my limits is less tiring than killing myself in a fast group, even though I don't get the benefit of the draft. While I was still feeling good I jumped into a county line sprint and actually had the strength to pull ahead and win! The line was right at a rough bridge crossing, so I didn't dare give the ride-no-handed salute... crashing after winning a CL sprint makes you lose lots of cool points, and I don't have many to spare.
Soon the rolling terrain and trying to keep up with the pack was taking it's toll on me, but just in time we came upon Tony parked along the roadside with cold drinks and Subway. The food was just the ticket I needed, and I stuck with the others all the way through Pinehurst and Southern Pines- a beautiful scenic ride that we all enjoyed immensely. At about the 95 mile mark I got gapped off the back on an uphill and I just let them go. I had 20 miles to go till the next controle at Spring Lake and I knew that yo-yoing off the back would wear me out more than just spinning it out. I had a great tailwind the whole way through Ft. Bragg, riding through deserted pine forest all alone. When I got to Spring Lake John O. was still there, not wanting to try to stay with the group that had already left. I ran through my checklist quickly, but while my back was turned John and Joel took off!
Tony set up a lunch rest stop for us on route!
I decided to go catch them, and lucky for me they weren't in hammer mode. When I got them in sight I could tell they were just spinning along, riding side-by-side and chatting almost as if they were waiting for me. We rode together for quite awhile, but eventually I just had to ride my own pace. John stuck with me and we rolled into the Erwin controle together. We had a nice relaxing stop, and I went ahead and put on my reflective sash and put my arm warmers back on to prepare for the darkness that would descend during the next 58 mile stretch back to Lumberton. John was great about sticking with me, even though I was slowing him down. Just outside of Fayetteville we were caught by a group of three and we tagged along with them for a bit. There was a turn off of Middle Rd. onto Dunn Rd, and for some reason we all misread the cue sheet and thought we were entering the town of Dunn, NC. At a crossroads we spotted a Baldino's Subs and John and I decided to stop while the rest went on ahead. One day I'll have to try a Baldino's sub again to see if they really taste as good as this one did after 165 miles on the bike! While we were stopped I put my leg warmers back on and put fresh batteries in my headlamp. I also texted Geof to tell him we were in Dunn! We wondered why there were officers from the Fayetteville Police Dept. having dinner at the sub shop in Dunn, but we still didn't put 2 and 2 together.
John enjoys one of the best subs ever made.
When we were getting ready to roll we spotted a couple of riders who were lost, having turned back after going into downtown Fayetteville and not finding the next left turn on Franklin St. They took off before we were ready to follow, but once we were back on the road we discovered what they were talking about. We missed Franklin St. and took a little tour of downtown Fayetteville before finally backtracking and finding the route again. Luckily the delays had worked to our advantage and a group of 3 riders including Ian H. caught up to us at a stoplight. The five of us stayed together all the way to Lumberton, trading off turns at the front and adjusting our speed so no one was getting left behind. It's always nice to stick together after dark. This was my second long ride with the new headlight and once again I was very impressed. The B+M IQ CYO N light is very bright and it's beam is nice and even. In our party of 5 I had the brightest light. I don't notice any drag from the Shimano dyno-hub even though I know there is a small amount. The only problem is that now I'm the one blasting others from behind, casting long shadows on the road in front of them. It makes them want to stick me on the front in the wind!
Back in Lumberton we had 300K done. Tony had pizza and cold drinks waiting for us at the Super 8 and we stopped for a rest. Ian had a shower and got in bed, needing to get some sleep before heading out again on the 1000K. I started getting cryptic texts from Geof, who I hadn't seen since his puncture in the early morning. He said "6 miles away" but my last text to him said we were in Dunn (Fayetteville!) so I didn't know if he meant 6 miles from there or what. I texted him "we're in Lumberton" and he replied "3pm." Now you have to understand that it was 9:30pm and after nearly 200 miles in the saddle your mind just doesn't work right. Anyway, Geof's texts made no sense to me so I texted him "pink fluffy bunny slippers" and he didn't reply. Turns out he had meant 3mi, not 3pm so he was just 3 miles from Lumberton. He and Tim had skipped dinner and ridden straight through. They were ready for a long stop and some pizza.
John was ready to get going, and I wanted to go too, but I also wanted to ride with Geof and Tim so I waited. While I was having another slice I overheard rider named Mike having a somber conversation with Tony, it sounded like he was thinking of abandoning. I heard Tony advising him to take a break and ice his knee- plenty of time left so no need to make a hasty decision. A little while later I asked him which ride he was doing and he told me the 400K. I too suffer from knee pain when I push too hard on these long rides, so I suggested that we ride together and spin easy gears for the last 100K. I thought that Geof and Tim might go faster than I wanted to and that it would be nice to have some company on the dark roads in the wee hours of the morning. That turned out to be another one of those great rando decisions- Col. Mike is excellent company on the road, and he was telling me about his job at the Pentagon and describing the intricacies of the Russian language to me! Too bad my mind wasn't working better or I might have been able to retain some of that knowledge.
Geof and Tim didn't stage a breakaway, so we four stayed together for the whole last 100K to Clarkton and back. As we rode down Hwy 211 we passed a mobile home with 6 or 8 dogs in plastic pet carriers and cages out in the yard- gotta love North Carolina. This was just after Midnight and the residents were out in the yard drinking. The dogs got all riled up and barking and that got the rednecks all riled up and barking, and next thing you know they ran out into the road behind us yelling and screaming "don't come back here again" and whatnot. Of course this was on the way out to Clarkton, so we had to come back that way in about 20 miles or so! We tried to warn other riders as we saw them on their way back, but I'm not sure if others had the same experience we did or not.
When we arrived in Clarkton there were 2 convenience stores and there was some confusion about which was supposed to be the controle. One store had a police car with it's blue lights on in the parking lot, so when the question "which store?" came up the quick answer was "how 'bout the one that's NOT getting robbed??" Of course, that turned out to be the only one that was open. I had a coffee and sat down on the curb, the cold concrete actually felt good since by now my saddle and I were no longer on speaking terms. The weather had turned a good bit colder than predicted, and I was not the only one who was wishing they'd brought more layers. I'd brought the windvest but left the sleeves, and I could've used my glove liners to add to the DeFeet gloves, but other than that I was doing ok. We rolled on for the last 30 miles of the ride, past the rednecks, who yelled at us again. The one consolation was that at least they were drinking at home and not out driving around with us.
We saw other riders on their way out as we were headed back in, some were 400K'ers who had taken a nap, some were 600K'ers, and then when we were almost back we saw Ian on his way out on the next leg of his 1000K journey. We rolled into the Super 8 at almost 3:30am cold, tired, and hungry and Tony had more pizza. I congratulated Tim- he and I both completed our Super Randonneur series with this ride. It felt good to be done, and great to get back into street clothes. Geof and I went to the Waffle House for some food and some much needed coffee before getting on the road. It was a great ride!
Ignore the long, straight track leading from Lumberton to Clayton- when I turned my Garmin on at the start of Sunday's Cyclepaths ride it figured I'd teleported... :-)
A good sized field lining up for the start.Geof managed to get a rare Saturday off work to come ride with us, so we drove together to Lumberton for the start. We were a bit behind schedule, arriving just 20 minutes before 7am and hustling to get prepared to ride. I must be getting good at that, because the only thing I forgot was the earbuds for my iPhone! There were a lot of riders this weekend, and the course kept most everybody together until the 300K mark. Early in the ride I was having a great time with the large group and I shot this sunrise video:
Including myself I count 34 folks in this group. There were a couple up the road and some folks off the back, but this was the main peloton. At one point during the early miles- I think it might have been Milk Dairy Rd.- we made a turn onto a really rough stretch of pavement. The vibrations were really giving all the bikes a good shakedown, making sure everyone's accessories were firmly attached. Someone near the front lost a blinkie light, which shattered into many sharp plastic shards on the road and everyone tried hard to avoid it. I was in mid-sentence talking to Tim when his cue sheet jumped ship and he pulled out of line to retrieve it. I also saw Geof pull off to the right, but I wasn't sure why. Turns out he had run over the plastic shards and sliced his rear tire. The thought of stopping with Geof crossed my mind, but I figured he and Tim would catch up quickly and I wasn't sure I'd be able to hang onto their wheels if I stopped with them, so I just stuck with the group. Unfortunately they had longer stops than I had guessed, and I wouldn't see Tim and Geof again until the 300K point back in Lumberton!
At the first controle in Wagram it became clear that this was not going to be one of those relaxed brevets like we'd been having in the recent cold winter weather. The combination of sun, warmth, and a large group meant the short-stop controle competition was ON. I flipped my cue sheet, got my card signed, and downed a fizzy caffeine drink and saw most of the 400K folks I knew rolling on down the road. I had chugged the drink a bit too fast, but had to get going and catch them anyway. It kept getting warmer and they kept getting faster, but I was feeling ok and not having too much trouble keeping up. County line sprints were being contested, which also served to whip the pace up from time to time. This route has a bit more rolling terrain than the routes we'd been riding south of Lumberton on the previous two brevets, so mainly I was having trouble with the speed was on the uphills. At one point I was second in line when we hit a small climb and I just couldn't hold the wheel of the guy on the front, so I had to pull off. I felt bad about shirking my turn in the wind, so once the road leveled out I went back up to the front to put in a bit of a token effort to make up for it.
At the second controle in Ellerbe there was once again the mad dash competition to be the first in line to get the cards signed. I had a hard time even finding a place to park the bike- sorry Joel for snagging your spot! I ran through my to-do list quickly once again: cue sheet flipped, card signed, fluids topped off, and I removed my vest and warmers. This time I was ready to go before the rest of the group so I figured I'd roll on out and they'd catch me soon enough. I got my cadence up and found my rhythm, and soon I was felling really good. It's amazing the difference between trying to match someone else's pace and being able to just ride within my limits. I was slower on the uphills, and I'd see the group closing the gap up to me, but then at the tops of the hills I'd get my speed back up and pull away again. If I'd been at the back of the group I would probably have been dropped on the uphills and then pushed myself too hard afterward trying to bridge back up to the group. Eventually Jerry flew off the front and came up to tell me to slow down and ride with the group! I'm really starting to think that riding alone and within my limits is less tiring than killing myself in a fast group, even though I don't get the benefit of the draft. While I was still feeling good I jumped into a county line sprint and actually had the strength to pull ahead and win! The line was right at a rough bridge crossing, so I didn't dare give the ride-no-handed salute... crashing after winning a CL sprint makes you lose lots of cool points, and I don't have many to spare.
Soon the rolling terrain and trying to keep up with the pack was taking it's toll on me, but just in time we came upon Tony parked along the roadside with cold drinks and Subway. The food was just the ticket I needed, and I stuck with the others all the way through Pinehurst and Southern Pines- a beautiful scenic ride that we all enjoyed immensely. At about the 95 mile mark I got gapped off the back on an uphill and I just let them go. I had 20 miles to go till the next controle at Spring Lake and I knew that yo-yoing off the back would wear me out more than just spinning it out. I had a great tailwind the whole way through Ft. Bragg, riding through deserted pine forest all alone. When I got to Spring Lake John O. was still there, not wanting to try to stay with the group that had already left. I ran through my checklist quickly, but while my back was turned John and Joel took off!
Tony set up a lunch rest stop for us on route!I decided to go catch them, and lucky for me they weren't in hammer mode. When I got them in sight I could tell they were just spinning along, riding side-by-side and chatting almost as if they were waiting for me. We rode together for quite awhile, but eventually I just had to ride my own pace. John stuck with me and we rolled into the Erwin controle together. We had a nice relaxing stop, and I went ahead and put on my reflective sash and put my arm warmers back on to prepare for the darkness that would descend during the next 58 mile stretch back to Lumberton. John was great about sticking with me, even though I was slowing him down. Just outside of Fayetteville we were caught by a group of three and we tagged along with them for a bit. There was a turn off of Middle Rd. onto Dunn Rd, and for some reason we all misread the cue sheet and thought we were entering the town of Dunn, NC. At a crossroads we spotted a Baldino's Subs and John and I decided to stop while the rest went on ahead. One day I'll have to try a Baldino's sub again to see if they really taste as good as this one did after 165 miles on the bike! While we were stopped I put my leg warmers back on and put fresh batteries in my headlamp. I also texted Geof to tell him we were in Dunn! We wondered why there were officers from the Fayetteville Police Dept. having dinner at the sub shop in Dunn, but we still didn't put 2 and 2 together.
John enjoys one of the best subs ever made.When we were getting ready to roll we spotted a couple of riders who were lost, having turned back after going into downtown Fayetteville and not finding the next left turn on Franklin St. They took off before we were ready to follow, but once we were back on the road we discovered what they were talking about. We missed Franklin St. and took a little tour of downtown Fayetteville before finally backtracking and finding the route again. Luckily the delays had worked to our advantage and a group of 3 riders including Ian H. caught up to us at a stoplight. The five of us stayed together all the way to Lumberton, trading off turns at the front and adjusting our speed so no one was getting left behind. It's always nice to stick together after dark. This was my second long ride with the new headlight and once again I was very impressed. The B+M IQ CYO N light is very bright and it's beam is nice and even. In our party of 5 I had the brightest light. I don't notice any drag from the Shimano dyno-hub even though I know there is a small amount. The only problem is that now I'm the one blasting others from behind, casting long shadows on the road in front of them. It makes them want to stick me on the front in the wind!
Back in Lumberton we had 300K done. Tony had pizza and cold drinks waiting for us at the Super 8 and we stopped for a rest. Ian had a shower and got in bed, needing to get some sleep before heading out again on the 1000K. I started getting cryptic texts from Geof, who I hadn't seen since his puncture in the early morning. He said "6 miles away" but my last text to him said we were in Dunn (Fayetteville!) so I didn't know if he meant 6 miles from there or what. I texted him "we're in Lumberton" and he replied "3pm." Now you have to understand that it was 9:30pm and after nearly 200 miles in the saddle your mind just doesn't work right. Anyway, Geof's texts made no sense to me so I texted him "pink fluffy bunny slippers" and he didn't reply. Turns out he had meant 3mi, not 3pm so he was just 3 miles from Lumberton. He and Tim had skipped dinner and ridden straight through. They were ready for a long stop and some pizza.
John was ready to get going, and I wanted to go too, but I also wanted to ride with Geof and Tim so I waited. While I was having another slice I overheard rider named Mike having a somber conversation with Tony, it sounded like he was thinking of abandoning. I heard Tony advising him to take a break and ice his knee- plenty of time left so no need to make a hasty decision. A little while later I asked him which ride he was doing and he told me the 400K. I too suffer from knee pain when I push too hard on these long rides, so I suggested that we ride together and spin easy gears for the last 100K. I thought that Geof and Tim might go faster than I wanted to and that it would be nice to have some company on the dark roads in the wee hours of the morning. That turned out to be another one of those great rando decisions- Col. Mike is excellent company on the road, and he was telling me about his job at the Pentagon and describing the intricacies of the Russian language to me! Too bad my mind wasn't working better or I might have been able to retain some of that knowledge.
Geof and Tim didn't stage a breakaway, so we four stayed together for the whole last 100K to Clarkton and back. As we rode down Hwy 211 we passed a mobile home with 6 or 8 dogs in plastic pet carriers and cages out in the yard- gotta love North Carolina. This was just after Midnight and the residents were out in the yard drinking. The dogs got all riled up and barking and that got the rednecks all riled up and barking, and next thing you know they ran out into the road behind us yelling and screaming "don't come back here again" and whatnot. Of course this was on the way out to Clarkton, so we had to come back that way in about 20 miles or so! We tried to warn other riders as we saw them on their way back, but I'm not sure if others had the same experience we did or not.
When we arrived in Clarkton there were 2 convenience stores and there was some confusion about which was supposed to be the controle. One store had a police car with it's blue lights on in the parking lot, so when the question "which store?" came up the quick answer was "how 'bout the one that's NOT getting robbed??" Of course, that turned out to be the only one that was open. I had a coffee and sat down on the curb, the cold concrete actually felt good since by now my saddle and I were no longer on speaking terms. The weather had turned a good bit colder than predicted, and I was not the only one who was wishing they'd brought more layers. I'd brought the windvest but left the sleeves, and I could've used my glove liners to add to the DeFeet gloves, but other than that I was doing ok. We rolled on for the last 30 miles of the ride, past the rednecks, who yelled at us again. The one consolation was that at least they were drinking at home and not out driving around with us.
We saw other riders on their way out as we were headed back in, some were 400K'ers who had taken a nap, some were 600K'ers, and then when we were almost back we saw Ian on his way out on the next leg of his 1000K journey. We rolled into the Super 8 at almost 3:30am cold, tired, and hungry and Tony had more pizza. I congratulated Tim- he and I both completed our Super Randonneur series with this ride. It felt good to be done, and great to get back into street clothes. Geof and I went to the Waffle House for some food and some much needed coffee before getting on the road. It was a great ride!
Ignore the long, straight track leading from Lumberton to Clayton- when I turned my Garmin on at the start of Sunday's Cyclepaths ride it figured I'd teleported... :-)
Monday, February 14, 2011
Mule Pullin' and a Showdown
I could still feel last week's 600K in my legs as I rolled from my house to the start of Dean's Benson Mule Pull 100K permanent populaire on Saturday morning. After a quick espresso and a saddle adjustment at Swift Creek Coffee I got going just a few minutes after 10am. The temp was in the mid-40's and warming, so once I did the first little climb on Rand Rd. I was unzipping my wind vest and after the climb up Barber Bridge Rd. the vest came off. I made good time to the controle at the Grocery Boy Jr. and then got back on the road to Benson.
I could tell by the flags and whatnot that I was making good time due to a tailwind, but I chose to ignore that fact until later when I'd have to deal with it head-on. Meanwhile I just enjoyed the ride. At the turnaround in Benson I had a quick snack and a fizzy drink and then got down to business fighting the headwind to get back to Garner. It had warmed up to above 60 degrees, and it was quite nice to be out in pleasant temperatures for a change. I stopped at the Grocery Boy again, and then one more stop to take a couple of pictures. Got back to Swift Creek Coffee at about 3:15 for a time of 5hr. 15min.
On Sunday I met Martin for a 7am start to MikeD's Showdown at Black Creek 200K. I've ridden with Martin quite a few times, usually just for the first few miles of a brevet until I'm off chasing the fast guys. Martin's smarter than that! I was looking forward to spending more time on the road hearing his stories about the Irregulars group that I've read about on his blog.
Even though the forecast called for nice temperatures later in the day it was pretty cold at the start, something like 30 degrees. It warmed up pretty quickly though, and soon we were spinning along and trading stories on a beautiful sunny day that felt more like spring than the dead of winter! At the first county line we had a joke sprint, but the sprints got more serious after that.
The only bad thing about the nice temperatures was that it seemed to bring out all the loose dogs. I actually witnessed Martin unclip, kick a dog with his left foot while still pedaling with the right! That's pure talent there, folks. Too bad I couldn't shoot a video of it- I was squirting another dog with my waterbottle at the time!
We made good time to the turnaround in Black Creek, and Mike was right that the store would be closed. We answered the info controle question and had a snack while I made yet another minor adjustment to my saddle position. This turned out to be the last adjustment it needed, once we got back on the road I could tell that I'd finally gotten the Swift into it's sweet spot.
At the last controle we each had a slice of pizza and a nice long stop, then got back on the bikes to get it done. Just as I had the day before, we were fighting the headwinds on the return trip so we took turns pulling. Back in Youngsville we started to hit a few hills. I would get a lead on the uphill, then Martin would pass me on the downhill side.
I'd done well in the county line sprints up to this point, but when we approached the Wake County line Martin caught me sleeping. Once I realized it was coming up I tried to close the gap, but just couldn't do it. Nice strategery Martin!
We got back to the McDonald's at the finish at 5:28pm for a total time of 10hr. 28min. Even if we hadn't started almost 20 min late that's a respectable time! I had a blast riding with Martin, and I'm sure he has plenty more road stories for next time!
I could tell by the flags and whatnot that I was making good time due to a tailwind, but I chose to ignore that fact until later when I'd have to deal with it head-on. Meanwhile I just enjoyed the ride. At the turnaround in Benson I had a quick snack and a fizzy drink and then got down to business fighting the headwind to get back to Garner. It had warmed up to above 60 degrees, and it was quite nice to be out in pleasant temperatures for a change. I stopped at the Grocery Boy again, and then one more stop to take a couple of pictures. Got back to Swift Creek Coffee at about 3:15 for a time of 5hr. 15min.
On Sunday I met Martin for a 7am start to MikeD's Showdown at Black Creek 200K. I've ridden with Martin quite a few times, usually just for the first few miles of a brevet until I'm off chasing the fast guys. Martin's smarter than that! I was looking forward to spending more time on the road hearing his stories about the Irregulars group that I've read about on his blog.
Even though the forecast called for nice temperatures later in the day it was pretty cold at the start, something like 30 degrees. It warmed up pretty quickly though, and soon we were spinning along and trading stories on a beautiful sunny day that felt more like spring than the dead of winter! At the first county line we had a joke sprint, but the sprints got more serious after that.
The only bad thing about the nice temperatures was that it seemed to bring out all the loose dogs. I actually witnessed Martin unclip, kick a dog with his left foot while still pedaling with the right! That's pure talent there, folks. Too bad I couldn't shoot a video of it- I was squirting another dog with my waterbottle at the time!
We made good time to the turnaround in Black Creek, and Mike was right that the store would be closed. We answered the info controle question and had a snack while I made yet another minor adjustment to my saddle position. This turned out to be the last adjustment it needed, once we got back on the road I could tell that I'd finally gotten the Swift into it's sweet spot.
At the last controle we each had a slice of pizza and a nice long stop, then got back on the bikes to get it done. Just as I had the day before, we were fighting the headwinds on the return trip so we took turns pulling. Back in Youngsville we started to hit a few hills. I would get a lead on the uphill, then Martin would pass me on the downhill side.
I'd done well in the county line sprints up to this point, but when we approached the Wake County line Martin caught me sleeping. Once I realized it was coming up I tried to close the gap, but just couldn't do it. Nice strategery Martin!
We got back to the McDonald's at the finish at 5:28pm for a total time of 10hr. 28min. Even if we hadn't started almost 20 min late that's a respectable time! I had a blast riding with Martin, and I'm sure he has plenty more road stories for next time!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Bicycle for Life Lumberton 600K 2/5/11
I know, I know... The 400K was supposed to be next. When I saw the group that was forming to ride the first US 600K of the year I just couldn't resist. Mark Thomas, president of RUSA was flying in from Seattle and bringing his friend Joe. Mike Dayton, Tim Lucas, Joel Lawrence, Jimmy Williams, John Ende, Ian Hands, and Steven Andreaus rounded out a stellar crew of Randos. Who cares that the weather was supposed to be cold and rainy- I was in!
We lined up in the wet parking lot of the Super 8 in Lumberton at 7:30am, ready for a long, wet ride. It wasn't raining at the start, but it wasn't long before the sky opened up. I had fitted the LeMond with fenders in anticipation of the wet weather, and I'm glad I did- they keep a lot of dirty road water off your feet, your bike, and your back! This was also to be my first ride with my new Shimano dynamo-hub wheel and B+M IQ CYO light, and I must say that being able to run an extremely bright light constantly all day and night in the rain without ever needing to change batteries was wonderful.
We rode with the 200K, 300K, and 400K riders for the first bit. I know the 300Kers including John O. had to stop for a controle in Ammon while we pedaled on. I don't remember if the 400K folks were with us after that or not. On a ride that long, a lot of it becomes a bit of a blur! Sorry there aren't any pictures from this first part on Saturday, my camera was taking refuge inside 2 ziplock baggies in my handlebar bag. I did manage to get it out to shoot one video during a lull in the rain:
At our first controle stop at Roseboro I had just finished my to-do list when some of the other folks started leaving. The running joke all weekend was the phrase "I'll just soft-pedal!" I hopped on the bike and rolled out asap- not quite ready to get dropped 45 miles in to a 380 mile ride. When we all got regrouped back on the road we did a quick headcount and realized that we were missing Ian. Everybody slowed down and we gave him a chance to catch up- a cold, rainy 600K is not the place you want to be riding solo. Best if we all stuck together.
There was another controle stop at Garland, just long enough to wring out the water from my gloves, get my card signed, and drink a caffeinated beverage before getting back to the grind. One of the most memorable moments came at about 80 miles in when we ran headfirst into a warm front. This was like nothing I've experienced before- it was such a drastic change that I could hear the front of the line, about 7 riders ahead saying "whoa!" Then a couple seconds later I hit a wall of warm air, perhaps 15 degrees or more warmer than before. My glasses instantly fogged up. This was just as we entered Wallace, and we stopped at an Andy's for a sit-down bite to eat. Our little group of Randos left large puddles inside every establishment we frequented!
Up to this point we'd been riding more or less east, with a nice tailwind from the west. But after Wallace the route took a turn to the south almost to Castle Hayne before turning west, so we were dealing with head and cross-winds. This was where I first started to yo-yo off the back of the group. Also somewhere in this section it got dark, and I got to fully enjoy my newfound ability to see where I'm going at night. Also the rain finally stopped! Still, in my memory this section is pretty much a blur. When we finally rolled into White Lake it was going on 11pm. Riders who had planned to go all the way to Sunset Beach before sleeping were ready to get a room and live to ride another day. Dry clothes from my drop bag were wonderful!
Ian and I toyed with the idea of a short sleep stop, but after 1.5 hours of sleep we both mumbled something about staying with the group and slept for another hour or so. At 3am we were up and getting ready, 3:30 we departed. It was cold, and the group immediately got to work warming up. I was dropped like a bad habit. I spent my time in the early morning darkness riding mostly solo, just keeping the group in sight. Whenever I did catch them it was because they backed off the pace and waited for me, but soon it would accelerate again and a gap would open up. It can be quite frustrating, but it's something I've gotten used to!
We were treated to a nice sunrise and with it a general warming trend began. There was much talk of bacon at the Waffle House in Shallotte, and since we hadn't been sprayed by a passing hog truck in the rain for awhile it actually sounded very appetizing. The thought of a hot breakfast spurred me on, and I was staying with the group and even going to the front for my trademark short pulls. When we climbed to the top of the overpass for US17 in Shallotte, there it was- the Awful Waffle, like a shining beacon of pork products! And there was much rejoicing.
The full breakfast had the effect of energizing the group, but not me. With a belly full of waffles, eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon I was yo-yoing off the back again. Since it was only about 12 miles to Sunset Beach I let them go, but I'd already done the damage trying to close the gaps and I didn't feel like I had any power in my legs. It was a struggle to maintain 12 or 13mph! When I arrived in Sunset Beach Tony told me I was about 20 min. behind the group. They were all having a nice long stop, changing clothes and whatnot, so I short-stopped it, quickly ran through my to-do list and got back on the bike telling them "you'll catch me."
My intention was just to make it over the bridge climb in front of the group so I'd have a chance, but on the other side I settled into a rhythm for the first time since earlier on Saturday. I upped my cadence a bit and found that I was fine to maintain a steady 16-17mph. It was sunny and warm, and I had deployed my iPod so I was rockin' & rollin' down the road and feeling good! After 20 miles or so Steven caught me & I told him I was keeping it to around 16mph. He stayed with me for awhile, but eventually the group caught up and passed, just before a county line to take the sprint. Steven was off with them, so I was solo again until I came upon a fire station where Mike D and Cap'n Ende had taken a break. The 3 of us rolled together to the next controle. I love randonneuring. Officially it's "every man for himself" and self-sufficiency is the order of the day, but Randos still look out for one another!
We regrouped at that controle and all but 2 rolled out together toward the controle in Boardman. Steven and Jimmy were "smellin' the barn" and wanted to get it over with. They said if we passed a restaurant we'd find them there. There are no restaurants! We wouldn't see them again 'till the end. The sun was out and we were in short sleeves and loving life. What a big change from Saturday! Of course the warm weather also made the free range country dogs more frisky, it seemed like every house had at least 2 dogs. You can hear the barking in the background of my video:
By the time we got to the controle I was pretty hungry. I'd been eating Cliff bars and Hammer gel on the bike, but I really needed some solid food. All that there was to be had was a convenience store. I got one of those triangle sandwiches and a Little Debbie oatmeal creme pie. Tony was there and we stopped and visited with him while we ate.
Back on the bikes the talk was "can we finish before dark?" The pace quickened. Pretty sure Cap'n Ende was the instigator, then Mike D. went in pursuit. I got on Mike's wheel, and Tim got on mine. Joel was the smart one and let us go. I was feeling good, so after Mike swung off I put in a pull to close about half the gap to the Cap'n. Then I swung off and let Tim finish it. In retrospect that was probably a match I shouldn't have burned. Pretty soon I was having trouble keeping up the pace again, and then that triangle sandwich caught up with me!
Mike D, Cap'n Ende, Mark, Joel, and Tim were still cranking away but Joe from Seattle stuck with me and we just kept the group in sight. Joe regaled me with rando stories to keep my mind off my G/I predicament. Soon we saw Mark and Joel waiting up for us, but I wasn't going to be able to hold out 'till the convenience store. They went on to the controle and left me alone to do my best impression of a bear in the woods. I remembered a story my friend Charlie Brown told me from his Boy Scout adventures, and I used the "hold a tree" method:
I felt much better as I rolled into the controle at Clarkton, and the boys were waiting for me- chomping at the bit and ready to go. I didn't want to slow them down any more (I also didn't want to try to keep up with them) so I managed to convince them to go on without me. It was only 28 miles to the finish and I had something like 6 hours left to get it done! They took off and I finished a ginger ale to settle my stomach. I got rolling and soon I was back in that magical rhythm that I'd found after Sunset Beach. No music this time, but I found motivation through math: I figured that if I kept my average speed up I could finish before 6:30pm- a sub 35 hour 600K. Once again I was feeling great, and I rolled into the parking lot of the Super 8 in Lumberton at 6:20pm, beating my last year's 600K time by 1 hour, 25 minutes!
We lined up in the wet parking lot of the Super 8 in Lumberton at 7:30am, ready for a long, wet ride. It wasn't raining at the start, but it wasn't long before the sky opened up. I had fitted the LeMond with fenders in anticipation of the wet weather, and I'm glad I did- they keep a lot of dirty road water off your feet, your bike, and your back! This was also to be my first ride with my new Shimano dynamo-hub wheel and B+M IQ CYO light, and I must say that being able to run an extremely bright light constantly all day and night in the rain without ever needing to change batteries was wonderful.
We rode with the 200K, 300K, and 400K riders for the first bit. I know the 300Kers including John O. had to stop for a controle in Ammon while we pedaled on. I don't remember if the 400K folks were with us after that or not. On a ride that long, a lot of it becomes a bit of a blur! Sorry there aren't any pictures from this first part on Saturday, my camera was taking refuge inside 2 ziplock baggies in my handlebar bag. I did manage to get it out to shoot one video during a lull in the rain:
At our first controle stop at Roseboro I had just finished my to-do list when some of the other folks started leaving. The running joke all weekend was the phrase "I'll just soft-pedal!" I hopped on the bike and rolled out asap- not quite ready to get dropped 45 miles in to a 380 mile ride. When we all got regrouped back on the road we did a quick headcount and realized that we were missing Ian. Everybody slowed down and we gave him a chance to catch up- a cold, rainy 600K is not the place you want to be riding solo. Best if we all stuck together.
There was another controle stop at Garland, just long enough to wring out the water from my gloves, get my card signed, and drink a caffeinated beverage before getting back to the grind. One of the most memorable moments came at about 80 miles in when we ran headfirst into a warm front. This was like nothing I've experienced before- it was such a drastic change that I could hear the front of the line, about 7 riders ahead saying "whoa!" Then a couple seconds later I hit a wall of warm air, perhaps 15 degrees or more warmer than before. My glasses instantly fogged up. This was just as we entered Wallace, and we stopped at an Andy's for a sit-down bite to eat. Our little group of Randos left large puddles inside every establishment we frequented!
Up to this point we'd been riding more or less east, with a nice tailwind from the west. But after Wallace the route took a turn to the south almost to Castle Hayne before turning west, so we were dealing with head and cross-winds. This was where I first started to yo-yo off the back of the group. Also somewhere in this section it got dark, and I got to fully enjoy my newfound ability to see where I'm going at night. Also the rain finally stopped! Still, in my memory this section is pretty much a blur. When we finally rolled into White Lake it was going on 11pm. Riders who had planned to go all the way to Sunset Beach before sleeping were ready to get a room and live to ride another day. Dry clothes from my drop bag were wonderful!
Ian and I toyed with the idea of a short sleep stop, but after 1.5 hours of sleep we both mumbled something about staying with the group and slept for another hour or so. At 3am we were up and getting ready, 3:30 we departed. It was cold, and the group immediately got to work warming up. I was dropped like a bad habit. I spent my time in the early morning darkness riding mostly solo, just keeping the group in sight. Whenever I did catch them it was because they backed off the pace and waited for me, but soon it would accelerate again and a gap would open up. It can be quite frustrating, but it's something I've gotten used to!
We were treated to a nice sunrise and with it a general warming trend began. There was much talk of bacon at the Waffle House in Shallotte, and since we hadn't been sprayed by a passing hog truck in the rain for awhile it actually sounded very appetizing. The thought of a hot breakfast spurred me on, and I was staying with the group and even going to the front for my trademark short pulls. When we climbed to the top of the overpass for US17 in Shallotte, there it was- the Awful Waffle, like a shining beacon of pork products! And there was much rejoicing.
The full breakfast had the effect of energizing the group, but not me. With a belly full of waffles, eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon I was yo-yoing off the back again. Since it was only about 12 miles to Sunset Beach I let them go, but I'd already done the damage trying to close the gaps and I didn't feel like I had any power in my legs. It was a struggle to maintain 12 or 13mph! When I arrived in Sunset Beach Tony told me I was about 20 min. behind the group. They were all having a nice long stop, changing clothes and whatnot, so I short-stopped it, quickly ran through my to-do list and got back on the bike telling them "you'll catch me."
My intention was just to make it over the bridge climb in front of the group so I'd have a chance, but on the other side I settled into a rhythm for the first time since earlier on Saturday. I upped my cadence a bit and found that I was fine to maintain a steady 16-17mph. It was sunny and warm, and I had deployed my iPod so I was rockin' & rollin' down the road and feeling good! After 20 miles or so Steven caught me & I told him I was keeping it to around 16mph. He stayed with me for awhile, but eventually the group caught up and passed, just before a county line to take the sprint. Steven was off with them, so I was solo again until I came upon a fire station where Mike D and Cap'n Ende had taken a break. The 3 of us rolled together to the next controle. I love randonneuring. Officially it's "every man for himself" and self-sufficiency is the order of the day, but Randos still look out for one another!
We regrouped at that controle and all but 2 rolled out together toward the controle in Boardman. Steven and Jimmy were "smellin' the barn" and wanted to get it over with. They said if we passed a restaurant we'd find them there. There are no restaurants! We wouldn't see them again 'till the end. The sun was out and we were in short sleeves and loving life. What a big change from Saturday! Of course the warm weather also made the free range country dogs more frisky, it seemed like every house had at least 2 dogs. You can hear the barking in the background of my video:
By the time we got to the controle I was pretty hungry. I'd been eating Cliff bars and Hammer gel on the bike, but I really needed some solid food. All that there was to be had was a convenience store. I got one of those triangle sandwiches and a Little Debbie oatmeal creme pie. Tony was there and we stopped and visited with him while we ate.
Back on the bikes the talk was "can we finish before dark?" The pace quickened. Pretty sure Cap'n Ende was the instigator, then Mike D. went in pursuit. I got on Mike's wheel, and Tim got on mine. Joel was the smart one and let us go. I was feeling good, so after Mike swung off I put in a pull to close about half the gap to the Cap'n. Then I swung off and let Tim finish it. In retrospect that was probably a match I shouldn't have burned. Pretty soon I was having trouble keeping up the pace again, and then that triangle sandwich caught up with me!
Mike D, Cap'n Ende, Mark, Joel, and Tim were still cranking away but Joe from Seattle stuck with me and we just kept the group in sight. Joe regaled me with rando stories to keep my mind off my G/I predicament. Soon we saw Mark and Joel waiting up for us, but I wasn't going to be able to hold out 'till the convenience store. They went on to the controle and left me alone to do my best impression of a bear in the woods. I remembered a story my friend Charlie Brown told me from his Boy Scout adventures, and I used the "hold a tree" method:
I felt much better as I rolled into the controle at Clarkton, and the boys were waiting for me- chomping at the bit and ready to go. I didn't want to slow them down any more (I also didn't want to try to keep up with them) so I managed to convince them to go on without me. It was only 28 miles to the finish and I had something like 6 hours left to get it done! They took off and I finished a ginger ale to settle my stomach. I got rolling and soon I was back in that magical rhythm that I'd found after Sunset Beach. No music this time, but I found motivation through math: I figured that if I kept my average speed up I could finish before 6:30pm- a sub 35 hour 600K. Once again I was feeling great, and I rolled into the parking lot of the Super 8 in Lumberton at 6:20pm, beating my last year's 600K time by 1 hour, 25 minutes!
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