I'm happy to report that I biked 25-28 miles in the space race yesterday, in about 3 1/2 hours. This included a full 15 minutes for the first mile, since the crowd had to thin out before anyone could get any kind of speed. Overall, if you take out the time for breaks and the like, I probably averaged around 9-10 mph. Considering that I was on a hybrid bike (Trek 7300), that's not too bad. My time would have been better if I hadn't run out of steam on those last 5 miles or so. I averaged about 12 mph until the 2nd rest stop (at 20 miles), and then about 7-8 mph after that. Gotta tell you, though...after 25 miles, there was no sweeter sight than that big rocket in front of Johnson Space Center. I almost wept for joy.
Overall, I was surprised at how easy the ride was. Last year, I did the 10 mile course, and I remember being exhausted at the end of it. This year, the first rest stop was at 10 miles, and I felt like I was just getting started. You wouldn't really know it to look at me, but I guess I am in better physical shape than I was a year ago.
The one complaint I had is that they didn't seem to be prepared for the sheer magnitude of the crowds this year. Part of it was that they advertised it as the only family training ride for the MS150, which caused roughly double the entrants of last year (by the looks of things. I didn't count them or anything). Everything seemed a lot more disorganized and chaotic, and it took a full hour after the scheduled start time to get everyone together so we could take off.
Like last year, the weather conditions were perfect (except for that nasty headwind, that kept changing every time the course turned...or so it seemed. Always in my face), and the volunteers were great. I'll be back again next year...maybe I'll even try to take on the 65-mile course. Oh, and I'll be bringing sunscreen next time too. I've got me a nasty sunburn.
Posted by Joy at March 10, 2003 03:35 PM