Morrisville-Siler City 200k 2010

Saturday marked the traditional the beginning of the NC brevet ‘season.’ This is not entirely the case with the additional offerings being offered on the calendar. Most of the riders had several brevets or permanents under their belt before toeing the line on Saturday. I still like to think of Al’s 200k as the beginning.

As a side note, Coho bicycles were rolling 5 deep on Saturday. I had the opportunity to check out Jerry’s ride with wood fenders and Wes’s with some serious gold flake. Nice machines gentlemen.

While we prepared bicycles in the parking lot and registered for the brevet, the ride actually starts days prior. It reminds me of a show like the Blue Angles. Their show starts before they arrive at an event. Once the logistics are set up, and the planes arrive. Everything they do when they are at a venue is choreographed. On show day, the real show begins. They march out to their F18s in a ceremony. Each member is introduced as they climb in to the cockpit. The ritual continues one by one. On a cue, number 1 plane taxis followed by the rest. Soon they are in the air performing a masterpiece of precision. The crew and pilots spend hundreds of hours preparing for 10 minutes of flying. A brevet is similar in that weeks of preparation go into a single event.

My preparation for the event in the crucial days prior was horrible and it showed within the first 10 miles as my gas tank emptied. A 24 hour post at work Thursday evening left me drained physically. I had poor nutrition on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I could have done a little better on the food part. The biggest mistake the morning of the ride was not fully topping off the liver glycogen. It only takes a few hundred calories to do the trick. I think I had only1 Gu. OOPS.

After dropping from the pack, I decided to just ride and make the best of it but I still wasn’t eating and drinking enough. Sometime before the first control in Snow Camp, I started feeling a little achy all over. I came up with a plan that would change the day for the better. 1. Drink more water. 2. Eat more chow. 3. Get some electrolytes in the system. Shortly after leaving the control, I felt like great and rode strong. Of course that is easy with a nice tailwind.

My second mistake occurred at the Siler City control. Once again, I had an exact plan of what I needed to do and started executing upon arrival. I planned to top off water, grab a sandwich for the road, get card signed and depart. I was held up by the lottery players in the gas station. The NC lottery must have some good pay outs because this happened at every several controls on the Fleche as well. Things went as planned, I thought. I headed back to Snow Camp. When I arrived, I realized I left my card in Siler City. OOPS.

I continued with my plan, topped off water etc. Another rider mentioned he saw it sitting on the ice machine in Siler City. I debated returning to get it for a second but thought I should wait to see if Sridhar grabbed it on the way out. He arrived like Saint Nick with the card. SHWEWW.

Another successful ride with some good lessons learned. Thanks to Sridhar for grabbing my card and to Al for a great route, the sandwich and cold ESB at the finish.

Congrats to Mike D and his accomplishment of 100 straight months of at least 100 miles.

Fleche NC 2010

Fleche 2010 began well before the official ride start. According to RUSA, the fleche is a 24-hour event held on or around Easter weekend. This is an ACP-sanctioned event. No rest stop may be longer than 2 hours…A minimum of 360 km must be covered during the event.

First, we had to recruit team members for the adventure. This proved to be fairly difficult but there seems to be no shortage of the mad itchin’ for adventure. We quickly filled our tentative roster only to have 2 randonneurs back out due to prior engagements. They were promptly replaced and one of these had to back out due to prolonged illness. With that, the team ‘Riders on the Bubble,’ was set with team members Gary, Sara, Maria and me.

Next, Gary liaised with RBA Tony over the route and we received updates on the progress as the route evolved. I must point out Gary with Tony as tutor worked hard on the route and it was evident; the route was great.

Logistics was the next obstacle. We decided to drop vehicles at the finish and car pool back to Gary and Sara’s as the start was less than a mile from their home. This would require a full day driving in the car. My car ride tallied 7 hours. It was worth the trip as I had wonderful hosts and received a full and peaceful night’s rest.

After a quick ride to the starting control, we were almost nearly set for the impending adventure. Wait, no…we weren’t. Gary and Maria had to turn around and get a control card. Good to get Murphy out of the way prior to the event right?

Our route took us out of Apex, NC on the American Tobacco Trail before reaching the first control in New Hill. As we wound our way through the country side, we noticed several cyclists out for a Friday morning ride. It was along this stretch that we noticed the sign for a farmer selling ‘tomatoes.’

The winding route took us to Angier then we bopped to Benson. The temperatures kept rising. We reached the Smithfield control and I was cooked but no time to whine we had more miles to cover before sundown.

Arriving in Mt. Olive, home of the pickle fest, around 1800, I completed the chores were found some shade outside the convenience store to cool off and eat. It was cooler at 85F+ outside than inside the store. Note: chores usually include 1) get control card signed; 2) replenish supplies as required. Today it included cooling down. I ditched my civvies in a dumpster that I thought wouldn’t make too much of a difference when the ride began. This helped rid the bicycle of 2-3 lbs and made the rest of the rout mentally easier. I wolfed down a ham sandwich, a Coke and checked in via Twitter. I received a message from Branson who was doing the virtual eFleche from his desk. He stated the temperatures in Smithfield topped out at 90F.

We reached Kinston in the dark and made our way to Ayden for the next Control. Topping off and carrying some extra water we headed out towards Cape Carteret in the dark. We passed through Cove City, Trenton, and Maysville. The most difficult part of this part of the ride was staying awake and not crashing during the micro-dozing. Finally as the sun was rising, we approached Cape Carteret. I smelled sausage coming from the small restaurants.
We reached the 22 hour control with just enough time to sit and have a cup of coffee and a little food. I mistakenly chose to eat an egg and cheese bagel and when we departed the control I left portions of it out the parking lot and all the way over the intercoastal bridge leading to Emerald Isle.

We were truly on Riders on the Bubble as we headed up the island towards Atlantic Beach. Our pace guaranteed a finish baring any mechanicals. All members of Riders on the Bubble completed the ride. We were greeted by several riders that had completed in the previous hours which added to the motivation of finishing. I think I can speak for all of us by saying we would do it again next year. Thank you to RBA Tony Goodnight for setting up the ride and choosing a great location for the finish.

[I will post pictures later today.]

Ride Around Massanutten Mountain 200k

Yawn...Stretch...I finally mustered some strength and came out of hibernation along with beautiful spring weather just in time for the Ride Around Massanutten Mountain 200k Brevet. I figured all I needed to worry about was climbing the back side of Edith Gap and it would be about 90 miles of easy cruising. That was almost nearly the case.

We left Matt's house and rolled into Strasburg, weaved around the north side of the mountains and in no time, the slow climb up Scout Camp road to the crest of Edith Gap. The write up on the ROMA website says, "the only major climb of the day." That is only part of the truth. Sure it is the only major climb but it wasn't the most difficult climb. That would come soon enough. We would wind through the valley along the Shenandoah River towards the south side of Massanutten Mountain. The rolling hills in the valley become very steep in a few areas and provided the most difficulty of the ride.

The control at 100k was welcome. I downed a Coke and refilled the water and I was off. Soon the route turned north along the west side. I suddenly felt like a million bucks and peddled with purpose. It was time to have fun with smaller hills and trailing winds. I would be done in no time.

Until...about mile 105. On a descent all the sudden my wheels made a squealing sound like a dolphin. I stopped to assess the situation and didn't see anything wrong. Same thing on the next long descent. The squeal only seems to occur after 25 miles per hour. Eventually the wheel began producing resistance. I rode gingerly to the finish.

Possibly the bearings are shot in the rear wheel?

I'm ready for some more fun!

Gappity Gap Pics

Pics from the Gappity Gap 100k.

The Gappity Gap 100k starts in Sperryville, VA, climbs 5 miles Thorton Gap, Skyline Drive and descends into Luray. After rolling for a few miles, the route climbs Edith Gap and finally Edinburg Gap before turning around and doing the route in reverse.

This route provides a challenge. Both the 100k and 200k versions are available as a permanent, give it a try.

Surry Century Sep 2009

Livestrong Philly

Starting ride at miles from the start to beat the traffic.

I blame Lance mostly. Apparently the organizers of the Livestrong Challenge in Philly received the memo and created a truly challenging route. More than 6,000 participants lined up in staging areas anticipating the start of the days events.

My event began on the way to the ride’s start. Traffic along the route to the event was backed up for miles. I jumped out of the car at the first parking lot we could pull over at, grabbed the bike and rode 4 miles to the start. The traffic delayed the official start time by 30 minutes allowing most of the participants to arrive and get staged.

The first 30 miles of the ride were a crash-fest. Saturday night’s showers left the asphalt wet under some shady patches of road. The wet roads combined with tricky descents and hoards of riders equaled disaster for some. Before the first rest stop, I saw several riders on the side of the road picking up the pieces form wrecks. At one sloping downhill, a rider was lying in the ditch with a dozen riders ‘assisting.’ The ambulance crews were busy throughout the day.

Rounding another corner, I felt a wheel hit my rear wheel followed by the sound of metal on pavement. The rider behind me was paying attention to the course marshals directing traffic instead of the obstacle in her way (me). She wasn't injured physically.


The course was hilly one blogger called the area (p)hilly. Several climbs were measured at 16-19%. Cresting a steep ascent was often met with another before recover. I got a kick out of this and realized the true meaning of Livestrong Challenge. Thanks for the laugh Lance.

Cheer Squad.

Drum and fife at rest stop.

Philly is the City of Brotherly Love. Evidence was everywhere. All of the volunteers along the route were kind and helpful throughout the event. Along all of the steep climbs there were spectators cheering us on. They all seemed to be ringing a cowbell. “I got a fever…” Other friendly people were sitting on their porches offering cool refreshments and children had their lemonade stands ready for weary riders.

There were so many riders that were inspiring. Survivors and friends and family members riding in honor of a cancer patients or those lost. Many of the participants were not avid cyclists. They just had a desire to get on the road and do something challenging. They wore reminders on their jerseys or written on their legs. On the steepest climbs, these banners of courage gave me a lettle extra boost to reach the top.

An inspiring day.

Finished! Good thing...it's getting hot.

Alert

Kevin, in good spirits, recovering from an accident 3 months ago.

Riding a bicycle in the Tidewater area requires vigilance by both riders and motorists. There have been numerous mishaps this year alone in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. To put it into perspective, there have been 5 accidents on my commute route alone 2 of the fatalities. Three months ago, one of my riding buddies, sustaining a broken C2 vertebrae and arm. The month prior, another buddy, a local racer was hit by a turning car and sustained ankle injuries.

An article about Ghost Rides is found here at 24SevenCities.

The Foto by Wes blog provides advocacy information and general awareness about bicycling in Norfolk.

The Tidewater Bicycle Association's monthly newsletter provides VDOT bicycle laws. This month's letter from the President provides rider's responsibilities and tips for safe bicycling.

The area is not bicycle friendly and despite efforts by the TBA, it will not be any time soon. Recommendations my the TBA have been ignored. The city's answer has been several 'bicycle paths' that lead...to...ummm...I haven't figured it out yet. The don't lead anywhere! And they certainly don't lead anywhere where cyclists commute.

TBA's April Newsletter explains the areas issues in depth. The TBA President writes,

Our proposals to reduce certain side-paths from 10-12 ft down to ordinary sidewalk width (5ft) in places where little use was expected and then to reallocate the resultant space to on-road biking have been brushed off. Ditto for suggesting reductions in the generous landscaping being put in during most road expansions. It seems the city is quite willing to trade our lives for a few extra blades of grass.

Riding in the Tidewater requires you to be alert all of the time, take nothing for granted and obey the laws.