202 miles of cycling.
Hills.
Carbohydrates.
and a pink bike.
First off, I had no intention of riding 202 miles. I was perfectly happy contemplating 150 for this little adventure.
Saturday morning started off soggy and muggy. I rode out with the Monsanto Mavericks (getting all mavericky :-) on the bike, rockin' my Pacific Power/Blue Sky Jersey. I felt a little out of place amongst the 75+ members of the MM team all in their fine "genetically modified" kits. I don't really need to dress differently to stick out in a crowd!
How do you sum up 100-miles in a paragraph. 5:15 on the cycling computer... 7 hours total. I DID take a nap in the middle there. But, I get ahead of myself. I went out slow, then I picked it up, then I bonked a little just in time for lunch. Newly sustained, I fell in with some fast guys who proved way to fast for me. I stopped at the Amish aid station and ate homemade ice cream (cCarbohydrates) with two women (Kathleen and Carolyn) on the Mavs team. One of them commented that the ice cream tasted funny. I thought about that for a second and then looked around for the cow. Pretty sure the milk coming out of that black and white heifer was whole and unpasteurized. Brilliant!
That night we sat around and glorified our prospective adventures around the course. Turns out two Monsanto guys saved someones life with CPR and cool heads. Another of our number went down hard and had to check out the local hospital. But mostly, it was sore legs, tired lunges, beers in hand, and big smiles.
Later on in the evening, the band played and Big Shark Cyclery raffled off a bicycle... but not just any bike. A PINK Cruiser bike! Here's the short story:
Fred won it.
Brad claimed it.
Travis rode it.
The long story is that, we couldn't figure out what to do with it! 10 people standing around laughing about the ridiculous pink bike and taking turns "safely" weaving around the tents. Then Travis says "I'm going to ride that bike tomorrow....I'm going to ride it 100 miles!" The collective fell silent, we came to a telepathic consensus, and then proceeded to enable him.
Day two, the pink bike is ready for Travis. My Dean seems to be in working order. My legs wake up slowly with the help of coffee and bad waffles and then we roll! The pink bike heads out early anticipating a slower pace. And we intention to catch him before the first aid station. For me, though, I fully intention 75 miles at a more moderate pace (notice how it already got 25 miles longer). But, the pace is fast from the start and the mishmosh of riders on the course is disconcerting. It is hard to stay in a group, and within minutes, my 75-mile ride partner is missing and I am committed to a faster paced group.
We hit some HILLS! Along highway 70 out of Columbia, it is nothing but giant rollers. To break it up a bit, I get a few tractor trailers to sound their horns as they go by (that never gets old). We come upon the pink bike around mile 15 riding alone! And, he's holding a more decent pace than the one I had established. It took all of 1.5 seconds to decide to do the 100 at his pace and get a few jokes, digs, videos, and pics out of the deal.
That was the plan. But, to make it all the way on the pink bike in a timely fashion, he was skipping aid stations, and Sunny had to go to the bathroom. So, 50 miles in, Brad and I put a surge on to stock up on water, drink, sunscreen, and munchies and to evaluate the Honey Pot facilities. We waited at that aid station for well over 15 minutes before getting phone call from Travis saying that he had taken a wrong turn (followed the 45 mile arrows) and was going to ride backwards on the 100 course towards us. ??? OK.
We hauled to lunch at 75 miles in order to quick stock up and meet Travis coming, but my bike was not feeling it. Apparently the miles are catching up to him, because the mechanism on my right shifter is shot and it took some major arm extension to get my rear derailleur to move. Not good news approaching the hilliest section of the course.
HILLS... again. With my inability to shift, I decided to hammer the hills and fell in with a fast couple of the Mavericks guys. Turns out they just wanted to get off the bike and I was happy to oblige. We pushed the pace the last 20 miles and finished around 5:30 for ride time and 7 hours again for total time. And the pink bike beat us! Turns out we dawdled to long at lunch and he turned around in order to only get 100 miles (he really rode 104 because the course ended up long!).
Post-ride cool down :-)
So, again, all for charity. I raised $250 dollars for my part. Not bad for less than a month of fundraising and living in a new place. Next year, it's on!
