MS150 report: day 2

While escaping the hotel Sunday morning, I started to formulate a plan for the second day. My cell phone had died during the night, so I was pretty sure I would be flying solo all day. The girls I had ridden with on the first day were planning on connecting via cell in the morning, and that would be pretty hard to do when my phone wouldn't even turn on. On the bus ride to La Grange, I kept an eye out for Walmarts and other places where I could maybe get a battery or a pre-paid cell phone on the side of the highway. There was a Walmart on 71, but it was on the opposite side of the highway from where I would be riding. How would I sneak over there? No idea. I started to get sick to my stomach.

By the time we got to the fairgrounds and unloaded, it was 6:00 and the line of bikes at the start line was already down the block and edging around the corner. One of the veteran MS150 riders on the bus was saying that there was no way we would get out of there before 8:15, arriving "so late" like we did. Man, I totally should have taken the 4:30 bus.

I would have gotten lost on the way to my tent again, but there were some riders on the bus with me who were riding with the team whose tent was next to mine. I asked them if I could follow them, because I had no idea where I was or where I was going. They were happy to oblige, so I found my way without getting clipped by any sag wagons this time. :) After dropping off my bag and picking up my bike, I headed out to find the end of the line. About 5 seconds out of my tent, I heard someone call my name. It was my girls! They had just happened to be walking by as I was coming out. Talk about your perfect timing.

After we hit the team port-a-can and refilled our camelbaks (separate errands), we sought out the end of the line....around the corner and back about 50 yards. Yikes. After nearly two hours of idle chit-chat, we finally got on the road at just after 8:10.

Once my legs loosened up and my butt got used to the saddle again, the second day of riding wasn't so bad. It was hillier than the first (we did the "lunch express" route rather than going through the park...maybe some other year), but I used the first day as sort of a crash course in effective shifting. Mostly, I handled the hills by getting into the biggest gear I could safely spin 90 rpm on the downhills, which was usually either the 2nd or 3rd-highest on the bike (53-13 or 53-14, for the bike geeks). Then once I started feeling some resistance I'd either go down one or two or just drop immediately to the middle ring, depending on the grade/length of the hill (shallow/short stayed in the big ring, long/steep got the middle treatment). The strategy was to ride on momentum for as long as possible, then shift to a manageable spinning gear to survive what was left. Probably not the best technique in the world, but it worked. Surprisingly, I only used the granny gear (third chainring) once on the 2nd day.

I know I've said this more and more in the past few weeks, but I'll say it again--I have fallen in love with the big ring. It feels so much smoother and more powerful than the middle, which is where I used to spend most of my time. I was always kind of afraid of the big one, because I thought I wouldn't be strong enough to push any of the higher gears, and I didn't want to be in a cross-chain position all the time. In certain situations, though, I've discovered I can spin the high end of the big ring pretty comfortably now--tailwinds, downhills, smooth flat roads if I'm feeling strong or riding with a group. So, as I've started to get comfortable with the big ring, I find myself staying there as much as possible.

Aaaanyway. :) I called Rob from the last rest stop from Kellie's phone, to let him know we would be coming in between 3:00 and 3:30. It was too noisy at the finish for him to hear it, though, so I left a message and hoped that I would be able to spot him as I came in to the finish. Our little group got separated on the hills into Austin (and those were some hills--damn), with me somewhere in the middle. I rolled across the finish line sometime around 3:10-3:15, which put my total time for the 2nd day at just over 7 hours for 66 miles. I saw the first girl right after I crossed the finish, so I rolled up to talk to her, and then we walked our bikes to the sidewalk and waited for the last one to come in. She did, and just when I was starting to wonder whether Rob and Noah saw me come in and how on earth we would find each other, I spotted Rob across the street! Sadly, he hadn't seen me come in, because he was looking for me in a team jersey and I wasn't wearing mine the 2nd day. Damn...I should have mentioned that. Still, I was so glad to see him, and he finally got to meet some of my bike friends. We took one last picture, and got on the road.

While part of me was kind of looking forward to riding solo the second day, I'm glad that I was able to hook up with the same girls again. We didn't talk a whole lot on the ride, but it was nice to have someone to hang with at the rest stops. We stayed at them a bit longer than I would have by myself, but that's a fair enough tradeoff. I wasn't looking to break any personal records on this ride, just finish and have fun doing it. Mission accomplished!

Thanks again to everyone who sponsored, encouraged, or otherwise helped make my first MS150 a success. I couldn't have done it without you!