I did it!
40 miles. Four-tay miles, baby. :) It took me about 3 1/2 hours, plus about 10-15 at the rest stops.
For the novella that is my play-by-play, click OPEN WIDE>>.
I started to get a little nervous as we were coming to the starting place, because even though the literature said that only the 62 and 100 mile routes had hills, we had driven over a whole lot of hills to get there. I expressed my concern to Rob, and he pointed out that we were in Texas hill country...what exactly did I expect? (Answer: that "Texas hill country" was a little further west. I thought that didn't start until New Braunfels or so.)
So, we got to the high school where it started at about 7:45, and there was a guy waving us into a nearly empty parking lot. I thought, oh hey--we're a little early. I mean, I knew this ride was going to be quite a bit smaller than the Space Race (which had something like 4000 riders this year), but I thought there would be at least a couple hundred there by 10 minutes before the start time. Where was everyone?
I watched other people get out of their cars, and all but one was skinny and had road bikes and special shoes. I was starting to feel a little inferior, with my hybrid, walking shoes, and plus-size cycling clothes. I told Rob that I wanted to sit in the car until 7:55. At about 7:54, the one other fat lady took off her t-shirt to reveal her cycling jersey underneath, and I decided that I looked at least as good in mine as she did in hers. I couldn't really avoid getting out of the car any longer anyway, so we stepped out and started to take the bike off the car.
About that time, another guy pulled up, and asked if he had missed the start of the ride. I told him I didn't think so...I wasn't even sure where it started, since there were no signs anywhere. A girl a few cars down called out that the starting area was in the HS parking lot, and that we were in the jr. high parking lot. We asked her why they waved us in here, and she said that she thought the other one was full. A-ha....that's where everybody is!
So I said goodbye to Rob (who went to pick up Noah and hang out at the house for 3 hours) and headed over to the high school parking lot, where there were hundreds of cars, but not nearly that many riders. I could now see where the starting line was, but there weren't people congregated there. I guess we DID miss the start after all. There were a couple recumbent bikes sitting by the 40-mile starting line. I lined up behind them, thinking that maybe they hadn't told the 40-milers to go yet. While I was waiting there, the girl who had given the heads-up about the other parking lot and her companion (boyfriend, I think, but it was never made entirely clear) came riding up. She told me that this was her first organized ride, and was I doing it alone? I told her I was, and she asked if I wanted to ride with them. Cool! Then she went to the restroom, and I was left with her significant other, whose name I didn't know and who hadn't spoken a word.
Feeling kind of awkward, I asked him if this was his first ride, though I was pretty sure it wasn't. He had one of those "bike a century for fun" physiques. He answered in a heavy accent that I couldn't identify, that he had done the MS-150 this year, and he cycled pretty regularly. Can I call 'em or what? :)
So then the girl came back from the restroom and introduced herself. Her name was Nora**, his name Al**. We made some small talk, they asked what rides I had done before, and then we were ready to go.
Nora was super nice, and we talked most of the first 10 miles. She had just started cycling recently, because Al was an avid cyclist and she thought it would be fun to do it together. He was from Norway (hence the accent I couldn't identify), and used to cycle semi-professionally there. He moved here several years ago, and when she showed an interest in cycling, they started riding together. They're going to be entering the MS-150 together in April, so
he's been training at her pace for about a year, which I thought was extremely cool.
I rode with Al and Nora for about the first 20 miles, through the first two rest stops. I was holding up pretty well...they both had road bikes (which are faster), but since this was her first ride they both stayed at around 14 mph on the flat stretches and I could keep up with them pretty easily. Note that I said "flat stretches", of which there weren't that damn many. It was a hilly route, but they were long and gradual, with decent downslopes. I guess in the cycling world, a mild up-and-down is not considered a "hill". I should really write a letter. :)
Despite the hills, I was feeling pretty good for those first 20 miles, averaging 16 or so miles per hour. About 2 miles after the second rest stop (just over 17 miles into the ride), I started to wear out. Nora and Al started to pull ahead on the upslopes, and after a while, I gave up trying to catch them. There were a couple steeper, longer sections on that stretch, and I gained a new appreciation for the tour-de-francers who can go 18 mph for 25 miles UP A MOUNTAIN. It was all I could do to go 7 mph a half mile up a rolling hill. :)
Somehow I managed to reach the third rest stop (at about 27 miles, with an "oh, thank GOD" under my breath), only to find that Al and Nora had waited for me there. We talked for a few minutes, and I told them I was feeling okay, but they should just go ahead, since I'd probably fall behind again. They were cool with that, and Nora told me that they'd wait for me at the finish line. Since I wasn't sure if Rob and Noah could get there in time, it was nice to know someone familiar would be there.
We set off, and it wasn't long before I was way behind them again. The hills were starting to get pretty damn annoying. And was it my imagination, or were the ups much, much longer than the downs? It got harder and harder to keep the bike over 5 mph on inclines, and once I couldn't keep it above a normal walking speed, I just stopped and took a break. There were a few more of these than I would have liked, but I only had to walk the last part of a hill twice. (To the organizers' credit, a SAG vehicle came by and made sure I was okay both times. The ride was very well supported.) One bright spot came before the 4th rest stop, though--I passed the 28-mile mark, at which point this became the longest ride I have ever done.
Nora and Al weren't at the last rest stop, and I was grateful...I hated to think of them waiting on me through that 8-or-so miles of fits and starts. I rested there for about 5 minutes, calling Rob to let him know that I was at the last stop so that he could get to the finish line in time. According to my bike computer, I had about 6 miles to go.
Well, it turned out to be about 4 miles. There are few things sweeter in this world than seeing that "Finish Line-1 mile" sign about 2 miles before you're expecting it. Al and Nora were already there, and waved to me when I came riding in. They had finished about 5-10 minutes before, and hadn't stopped at the last rest stop, so I guess I made pretty good time on that last stretch. I had a peanut butter sandwich and some fruit, and started to wind down. I had biked 40 MILES. If you gave me wings at that point, I think I could have flown. I was so happy, and relieved it was over.
Not much happened after that...we biked back over to the other parking lot, they packed up their stuff. We said goodbye, and they left. Rob and Noah got there about 3 minutes after that, and we headed home. About 15 minutes into the car ride, the exhaustion caught up with me, and every muscle started complaining. But in a good way.
So yeah, that's about it. Nap now.
**Not their real names
Posted by Joy at September 28, 2003 02:56 PM
