BIKE: 7 and a half-ish hours, 113.7 miles, 11K feet of climbing!
I came into this ride with some fear about my knee. The last century ended with me in pain, and so I had to wonder what would happen this time when I hit the long miles again. Especially with all the hills!
This ride is so much fun! When I did it in 2010 with The Bird I think I claimed it was the most fun I'd ever had on a bike. I can say it again for 2012! I really do love these long rides in new areas, maybe I should look for more. BTW--reading the 2010 post was fun--all the things I learned that day, all the things I've learned since!
DC and I got there around 630, plenty of time to check in and saddle up. The ride didn't start until 830, so after a brief breakfast (none for me) we unloaded the bikes and prepped to ride. It's like preparing for battle. There are so many things that need to be in place--sunscreen, water bottles, clothing, foods, bike tools--it's well worth the time to check and double check. I can proudly say that I forgot nothing this weekend!
The plan was to take the ride slow, or at least I understood it that way. Then I found myself nearer the back of our group with everyone else long gone. Some riders I didn't see again until the return segment from Hermann. I took it easy, stopping to smell the roses so to speak, enjoying the countryside, the views, and the gorgeous day. I ignored the Negative Nan along the road with his cussing and plywood anti-cyclists signs. It takes a lot of hate to spend your morning that way. I didn't have time for it. Oh and have I mentioned yet that it didn't take long for the temps to hit 95F? Oh yeah. 95F. Mostly full sun, little to no wind. Just heat.
Surprisingly it didn't feel that hot to me. I would have guessed high 80's. Apparently I shouldn't be trusted for guessing temperatures.
The knee was tight in the first 20 miles. When we hit the first rest stop at 19 in Washington, I was worried. It was a somewhat painful tight feeling. It was worse at the stops and would loosed up again as I rode. I don't want to say it hurt, it wasn't quite pain. But it was there. And it was a lateral side tightness. It's not just treating this injury, I'm chasing it down!
We really didn't hit hills until the New Haven stop. From NH to Hermann was the best part of the ride--large rollers. Uphill segments so huge they got your attention, but down hill segments so fast that momentum pretty much took you right up. By this point it was just 5 of us: CP, TH, CM, CB, and me. On the hilly way into Hermann we saw other riders coming out, and they looked like they were suffering! We found out why soon enough.
Hermann was a cute little stop at a winery. Not something I'd enjoy doing on a weekend off, but I was sure happy to see it. Water, cut bananas, gels, bathroom, more sunscreen, and we were off again. We rode down a white-knuckler of a hill to get to the stop, now we had to go back up. And you know me, I'd rather go up a hill like that than go down it!
It looked Savage from the bottom but it was no Westernport Wall. Not even close. Frea did an awesome job on this hill (and the entire ride) and although at some points I'd wished I had The Bird, Frea wasn't a bad choice for today. One crank at a time, up, up, up, an over! My comrades were not so enthused about the hill.
There were so many moments I took snapshots in my head of: the color of the peonies, the road-side irises in white/purple and red/yellow, the ridge to Hermann with the cut rock and row of evergreens, the face of a hill when viewed from the crest of another...
What goes up, must come down, and we hit some doozies on the way back before a remarkably flat section. It was in this section that I started to Fuzz over and got some Stupids. I knew I needed some fast sugar! The home made infinit was working, just wasn't enough. Some caffeine maybe? Either way, we had 2 other riders near us and we pacelined a few miles with them before breaking up again. The next stop just couldnt come fast enough.
And when it did -- I took the gel equivalent of 3 caffeine shots. Zing! Suddenly I was in a grinning happy mood! I was the bouncy, yay for us rider, and I was the only one... CB and TH dropped out at that station leaving just me CM and CP. And CP was in a negative mood! He was talking about cutting the ride short and getting home earlier. But I wanted to finish...I was feeling OK.
For 5 minutes anyway. Then I wanted to quit. Then I wanted to finish. Then quit. Ah, long rides. How was I doing overall? My feet started to hurt. That burning pain at my 2nd and 3rd toes would wax and wane as we rode. I knew it would go away if I waited a few minutes, and it did, but when it came back YOW did it hurt. I was having trouble staying in aero, I think because just overall my body was tired. I started to get more Stupids, and at some point around mile 107 I was DONE. By that time we'd already cut the course to come home so I knew I just had to hang on a little longer.
Once finished, I was wiped but feeling good. All pains faded away, the mood improved, and although I didn't eat or drink much I was feeling great.
What could I have done differently to have hit 112 feeling stronger? Today's heat was a huge factor that drained me, and although I don't think CDA will be that hot I still wonder how I would have felt in better temps? We would have moved faster instead of being conservative, and then instead of being on the course 7.5 hours it would be closer to 6.5. The hills were another factor, I rode conservatively on each one knowing I needed to be ready to do it again.
Great learning experience! Frea is good to go on hills, my Boom-finIT is great stuff, my energy bars could use a little more fast energy, and best of all my knee held up to the challenge!
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