I'll admit I did commit to some kind of a vague ride plan before the Ride For Hope 100 mile road bike ride. I might have said we would try and stay with the lead group as far as the first climb (Fire Tower) and then sit up. I might even have promised to wait if someone in our group got dropped. It's all so fuzzy now.
The Week Before: AKA, "The Plan"
Fighting Irish (Irish from now on) had formulated the original plan since he had done a 100 mile road bike ride before and this was to be my maiden voyage. Dr. S Works had signed on ("for as long as I can ride"), Wrecking Ball had originally been in but quickly backed out. The Kid was always in, just not sure if he wanted to ride with old guys all day (especially his dad). He has found some roadie fitness lately, and that, along with riding some of the group rides around town, had him thinking it might no be so cool being my domestic for the day.
I had looked over the route map and had an idea of where were going. The course was going to be marked with yellow arrows that had 100 spray painted next to them. There were going to be hundreds of riders out there. Irish had assured me we could hang with the lead group at least until Firetower. I had two bottles plus drink mix and food. There were plenty of sag stops and I was assured we would stop at at least enough of them to keep our hydration needs met. It all sounded pretty simple. At least that was "the plan".
4:30 On A Saturday Morning
"Son, are you up?"
"No, I was waiting for you to get me up."
"Didn't you set your alarm?"
"Yea, but I turned it off."
"We have got to roll by 5:45 to make the 6:30 start."
"Ok."
We're get in the truck and rolling by 5:20.
"Dad did you bring me a recovery drink?"
"No, you were supposed to pack your own stuff."
"But you had to get yours, why didn't you just grab me one?"
"Sigh, you can have mine."
"Thanks."
6:15 am
We arrived at the start and managed to find Irish and Dr. S Works. The Kid pees twice before we roll to the line (this will be important later).
We roll out with the lead group albeit in the back portion. The pace was good, the group felt safe, The Kid was in front of me, Irish was up ahead, and Dr. S Works was along side. All seemed to be going as planned (if we had "a plan").
Ladies In Hoop Skirts, Dancing
"I've got to pee BAD." says The Kid at about 20 miles out.
Mind you we were still cruising in the draft of the lead group at this time, having not yet reached Firetower Hill. Let me take a minute to explain. If you haven't ridden road bikes, drafting the rider in front of you takes at least 35% less effort than being by yourself. You will do almost anything to stay in "the draft".
That's when I looked up and saw the ladies, dancing and twirling, spinning hula hoops, and ringing cow bells. There must have been 15 of them. I wasn't sure this was a sag stop.
"I don't know if that's a sag, it could be some kind of church group." I said.
"I don't care" said The Kid, "I've GOT to go NOW!" so he peels off. I do not. See, him having to stop for a pee wasn't in "the plan". It was to be the last time I would see him until the finish.
The Ride
Dr. S Works was the next to go, I don't know exactly where we dropped him. Then we hit Firetower Hill. Irish was still in front of me and we managed to hang on up the hill, then after, in fact we stayed with the lead group until after the town of Monticello Fl. Finally getting dropped (along with quite a few others) just before the second sag.
The rest of the ride is kind of a blur. We formed a small group, sharing pulls at the front and keeping a good steady pace. I popped at about 90 miles, running out of water at 92 miles, I struggled to get to the finish. The group didn't stop at the last two sags ( see, I told you you'd do anything to stay in the draft). I finished the 102 miles feeling like I was going to puke. Irish even sprinted the last couple of miles. I kinda hated him for that.
Roadie fitness is a whole different animal and I'm impressed with the abilities of those who did that ride and could smile afterwards.
Back At The Truck
I'd been back about 45 minutes when The Kid rolls in. The exchange went something like this:
Him; "Just start the truck."
Me: "Are you ok?"
Him, with a large dose of sarcasm: "Yea, I just rode 109 miles by myself in 95 degree heat."
He gets loaded up and we're in the truck headed out the gate.
Him: "Didn't we have a plan?" "Weren't you supposed to sit up after Firetower?"
Me, trying not to laugh: "I don't remember that, I do remember you were supposed to pull me all day."
About this time I couldn't keep the grin off my face. He started to grin also.
"How did you get 109 miles?" I asked.
"I don't know" he said. " When I found the port a potty there was someone in it, so I just went behind it. When I got back on the road I could still see the cop car in the back of the group so I pinned it, but I never saw another person till I ran up on Dr. S Works about 10 miles from the finish. He told me he had 93 miles in so far and had burned 6000 calories." (he really only rode 75 miles, I don't know if he was screwing with The Kid or just blown up). "He pulled me for 8 miles, it felt so good to be out of the wind. I kept thinking on the way in, dad better not drink that recovery drink."
I hadn't, and we started laughing. Turns out he made two wrong turns, riding roads that were not even used during the event, so no wonder he never saw anybody else. Of course he didn't take his phone since he was sooooo sure he wasn't going to get dropped. As I tell him all the time "If you're gonna be dumb you better be tough."
My First Hunny
Was it fun? In a perverse sort of way it was. I assume I just got overheated and dehydrated at the end. I could have used one more sag stop but didn't want to lose the group. It took 20 minutes and a Mountain Dew before I felt human again. I'm just dumb enough to one of these again.
No comments:
Post a Comment