I rode my first 200k brevet yesterday. I realize now that I was praying for the wrong thing. Instead of asking for no rain, I should have been asking for no wind. So I got a beautiful sunny day, 45F in the morning, 59F in the afternoon, with a 30mph wind!! It was all the radio stations could talk about on my way to the ride...
Other than that, it was a good day. I hadn't been all that worried about the distance, because I knew I could ride 105, so what was another 19 miles...The time limit is 13.5 hours. So much to learn, about getting my card stamped, and controls, and secret controls...And riding with a cue sheet, not a permanently marked Century ride! My greatest fear, other than rain, was getting lost. So I spent hours at work Friday, going over the route on Yahoo Maps, printing out and highlighting sheaves of paper, which I never looked at, but was happy to have as a back up, and I found studying them Friday, like studying for a test, made the "exam" on Saturday a piece of cake! I knew in my head what the route looked like, and which direction I was supposed to be going at all times, and the general shape and configuration of the route.
I didn't know what I was going to need/want, in terms of clothing and food, so I had this rather large bag on my rack filled with snacks, sushi, choc milk, knickers in case the wind pants got too warm (not an issue) and a wind vest in case my jacket and wind jacket got too warm (not an issue). All I ended up removing was my jacket, leaving a wind jacket, arm warmers and a LS jersey, and my windproof gloves.
I stayed with the lead pack (!!!) for about 20 miles, until it all split up when people stopped to pee. Then I ended up riding with a 70ish man who saved me from the headwind. Imagine a rectangle, lying on its side. The first leg was West, with the wind directly out of the West. On my own, I was struggling to maintain 12mph, and behind the Windblocker, could maintain 16, but he was working his butt off. He left me at the first control, at 40 miles.
I navigated my way to the town of Williston, where I saw traffic cops blocking traffic at the light. All this for us?? In fact, the whole road was blocked, but luckily they let us through. I heard talk of a parade. And there it was, going the opposite direction. Two fire trucks, sirens going, an honor guard with a flag, then, curiously, cars and cars full of black people only, and many walking along. Ok, Martin Luther King Jr. parade. Somehow, it seemed kind of depressing, almost funereal.
Then a nice Southbound short leg, and a nicer long Eastbound leg. I was amazed at how rural the ride was- how undeveloped Florida is. You hear all the time about people moving here, and things getting developed, and the Everglades being ruined, but here I was, riding 124 miles, in pretty much wilderness. A ramshackle house here and there, a few tiny towns, but no gas stations, stores, communities, signs of civilization. It was just me and the live oaks and the swamps and the pine farms and the wind. Lots of multi million dollar horse farms on the Southern leg, though.
Then came a horrifying Northbound leg to the control at 80 miles. There were 63 riders, but I only saw a group of four recumbents, passing me, and someone in orange a long way ahead, who I would almost catch if I could stay in the aero bars, but I couldn't, because the wind from the side was so strong it would almost blow me over, and I needed to have my hands on the bars.
I ate my sushi lunch at the 80 mile control. Took off my shoes and felt my frozen feet unthaw for the first time in 6 hours. Did I mention that my nose ran non-stop for the entire ride, (did you know wind can blow so hard it can blow the snot right away from your nose???) and though I have never been a snot-rocket proponent, I just had to try. But was not really successful, since I could only manage to get it as far as my sleeve...I felt like I had been rubbing sandpaper under my nose for hours, and every square inch of the terry on my gloves was saturated. Geez...
Then came the "wonderful" West/North/West/North zig zag for about 20 miles. The wind, combined with the hills, was horrifying. I was down to 6 mph in my granny gear! I could feel it blowing me backwards. I never saw another rider from 80 miles to the end. BF kept calling and e-mailing and telling me to hurry up and it must really suck to be me. I stopped to answer the phone in a gorgeous place- under the live oaks, across the road from a flock of about 100 Sandhill cranes- our winter visitors. When I saw them from a distance, I thought at first they were sheep, they are so big! There was one last huge hill, due West, into the wind, which never abated all day. I made it up, then stopped for a bottle of chocolate milk. Then a jaunt North, then a turn to the east, and I was flying! Or, I would have been, if I didn't have quads of jelly.
Went through the little town of Micanopy, and came to the Secret Control at 110 miles. The guy wanted to talk, but I just wanted to be done. He said the guy that whizzed by me a minute ago didn't stop- but he probably wasn't part of the ride, he didn't look like a randonneur (does that mean I do??).
Finally, the turn on to the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail for the last seven miles. I couldn't even get up to 15 most of the time. Riding time- just under nine hours. 14 mph average speed. I thought, as I was coasting in, now, could I run a marathon right now? I don't think so. I don't even think I could walk it. Anyone who does Iron-distance racing-you're tough. When I got back, they had a nice dinner, snacks, drinks, but the cell phone was ringing off the hook. BF wanted me home, where he had made a meal of chicken tacos and bought a special bottle of wine and chilled it for me. My quads hurt more than I think they ever have. I wanted so much for someone to come take me home. I had a short fantasy of asking the kid in the car next to me if he would pack up my bike if I gave him all my dollars and change. The drive, when I finally got going, wasn't so bad. The hot bath felt wonderful. I made it till 9:00, but couldn't manage to read in bed.
This morning, I feel ok. Knees hurt a little. (Thank God they didn't, on the ride!!) Quads a little sore. Neck ok. Diaphragm and ribs, ok. I have promised my neck I will go buy it a memory foam pillow, since it has been hurting all week. I wonder why I felt so crappy at the end, yesterday. I'm sure I was trained enough. I never felt anywhere near that sore in a Century. Could it have just been battling the wind for so many hours? I stood a lot more than usual, because that was simply the only way to get up hills, no matter how tired I was. Usually when I'm tired, I avoid standing, but if I tried to just spin up, I'd make no progress at all. It actually felt good to stand, until my quads were momentarily depleted. Hmmm. I would like to go for a recovery ride this morning, only it is 30F, and I don't feel quite warmed up from yesterday.
By the way, I thought I had solved the cold feet problem by putting chemical toe warmers in my shoes. I was in heaven for about two hours, then the warmers lost their heat, and I was cold the rest of the day. I saw lots of PI foot and toe warmers out there. I'm thinking I still want the real winter cycling shoes, though.
Anyway, that was my adventure. I was thinking about the 300k next month, but at this point, it hardly seems possible. Ir was it just the wind?? How on earth do you train for that distance?? I'm going to have to do some research...
Nanci
