a bit small for a 10000-rider start_Shopping
The consumer expo seemed bigger. Some venders overflowed outside of MPEC. Many good deals didn’t show up ‘til Saturday morning.
Chatted with Fulk from Dynamic Bike Fit. He failed to convinced me his studio would be the best direction for my $.
I scored
$9 sun glasses to replace some cracked ones
Maxx amber sunglasses to replace the one given to Duane at Goatneck
Team USA jersey I didn’t need but wasn’t able to resist $10 tag and the free cap
Gloves I used for Saturday ride.
For motorcycle:
Fancy LG compression long sleeve + tights at 70% off
Perl Izumi sun sleeves
_Carbo load
Ate spaghetti with strangers on the ice rink. A 102-mile newbie sought advice. The veterinarian advised her to focus on hydration; he shared his sensible rest stop strategy. She turned to me as I was nodding, “is that what you’re doing, too?” “I ain’t stopping.” She looked horrified and wasn’t convinced by my explanation “it won’t be that hot.” The vet asked a few quantitative questions; I shared my water loss rate, heart rate, bottle number, and other info from the 2009 ride. In response, he talked about a coworker who was Michael Jordon of the semen extraction world. “He would fly all over the world and do all kinda exotic animals.” The attractive newbie stopped eating her pasta as the professional explained the details of preserving endangered animals.
I hope she got enough carb for the Saturday ride.
_Course
It’s the same 102-mile course I tend to bonk around mile 80. Some road surfaces were rough; slight climbs were involved. The original plan was to domestique for Tom Baker, who couldn’t make it because of family and work obligations. I decided to make it an annual fitness test. Even pace; stop less; have fun. I carried 5 water bottles--enough to last 5 hours in this weather. I used the heavier clinchers instead of aero tubulars. I also added the heavy profile seat bottle holder.
_Accommodation
I stayed at Ann’s for the 2nd year. Her house was close enough to the official start I didn’t have to worry about Saturday parking. Ann treated us like guests and gave us morning food. I looked forward to the fresh-ground coffee the whole week.
It was great chatting with her after a post-ride shower instead of worrying about late check out.
_Unofficial start
I started my computer by pedaling and forgot to reset at the start line.
I got to the start 30 min early. My nose started to run standing in the wind. Some riders took off. I went with them. 17 mph was a good warm up speed. I eventually settled amongst Team Bulge.
The road was blocked 10 miles into the ride for the 100k racers where mosquitoes waited for us. Cat 1, cat 2, cat 3, cat 4. The racers seemed pretty relaxed. The last pack was the “official paced group” where each rider paid a fee for pacing and liquid from 2 support motorcycles.
_Mechanical
Somehow my chain came off during mosquito feeding. By the time I started rolling, I was trapped in a slow moving pack that jammed every little climb. “Johnny Chen!” Rick Breckenridge shouted from the lead pack slicing through the slow goers. I hopped on his group for a few minutes, enough to bridge me back to the Bulges. I resisted the temptation to stay with Rick.
_Tail wind
Mile 22. We caught the official pace group. I evaluated options:
1. stay in a pack of 50+ strangers going at erratic speed that’d lead to certain bonking
2. sit in a steady group parasitically to finish under 5 hours while inhaling motorcycle fume
I picked the fun option. I ran out of gears during couple decent. Everyone had a big smile on their faces going 30+ mph.
Next 70 miles went as planned: I stayed on the bike except a 90-sec pit stop. Reality set in as wind changes direction. I felt weak around mile 80 and struggled to stay in draft. The legs gave out at mile 92. I limped to mile-98 beer stop. It was good to see Rick in the shack; he also went too fast.
“It never gets easier, you just go faster.” --Greg LeMond
A beer and sausage later, I was able to enjoy the short ride back to town.
Distance: 103.4 miles
Avg speed: 19.1 mph
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