MS 150 - New Bern, NC - A great ride, and a tropical storm

[Blueberry]

We survived (and thoroughly enjoyed!) our first MS 150 in New Bern this past weekend! A GIANT THANK YOU to all who sponsored me, and to those who wished me well, offered advice, etc. TE is truly wonderful!

We arrived in New Bern on Friday evening (a little later than expected). Camping was in a park down by the river (becomes important later), but the location was beautiful! We set up the tent in the dark without too many problems, got organized, and then ran to join our team at dinner (yep, the team captain was the last to arrive ). After a not-so-great dinner (off site from the ride), we chatted with other riders and then turned in. Camping temperatures were lovely, and we got a good night's sleep. We didn't set an alarm, as we knew others would have and either the alarms or the zipper alarms would wake us up - and they did.

We awoke to a beautiful day - we got breakfast, made it through the water and Gatorade lines, and took our places (sort of). There were so many cyclists I couldn't get as far back as I should have been. This resulted in much passing of me for the first 10 miles

After a few remarks from the ride organizers, we were off! They closed off the streets coming out of downtown, and we had HP escorts. We actually rode over a major bridge (the only one over the river) going out of New Bern (we're talking about a mile long bridge over water that carries interstate traffic). Beautiful!

Then we were on to the rest of the ride. I chose the 75 mile option, and DH rode the century. Hindsight is 20/20 and I could have ridden the century - but ah well - it was a lovely ride all the same.

We had 5 rest stops, with the third being lunch. All of the rest stops had great food and wonderful volunteers. Lunch was a little strange (beans, 3 kinds of rice, and sandwiches), but I couldn't eat much anyway. This is a flat ride - there weren't any hills of any size. The bridge was the largest of the day. We did have headwinds, though - since TS Gabrielle was sitting right off shore. Had a few stretches of headwinds + heat = he!!, but I spun (and sung to myself) through it. Also found some riders who weren't sure they could make it, and rode with them through the next rest stop (where they re-fueled and felt better!).

The ride back was across the same bridge - without a police escort. That was a little scary. At one point, there are 2 lanes exiting to the right, and the riders had to stay straight. There were volunteers blocking the breakdown lane (where I was riding) and pointing the correct direction. The only problem was that there was a solid stream of 70 mile per hour traffic Luckily, this isn't the normal route - the riders usually take the right exit, but couldn't because of a bridge closure. And the cue sheets were wrong. Big oops.

Made it back safely - actually kicked up my average speed by .1 in the last 10 miles (hence why I say I could have done more distance). Total mileage for the day: 80.66. Average speed (yep, it's low) - 11.6. We stayed for some festivities and then had dinner on our own. We tried (unsuccessfully) to get a good weather forecast. We knew that Gabrielle was supposed to make landfall soon near New Bern (turned out, she landed about 40 miles east and then cut up the coast), and we were camping on the water. We learned that the park floods when the water table rises, so we were concerned. We were also concerned about what tropical storm winds would do to the tent. But, we wanted to ride if possible, and we knew that the forecasts were anything but certain. Plus. we were too tired to pack up and drive home (and there were no more local hotel rooms). We toughed it out.

By the time we went to bed, the winds were gusting. By 4AM the squall lines were hitting and it was raining torrentially. Our tent held up, and we actually did get some sleep (I slept better *after* the rain started - I think the anticipation was worse). We packed up soggy tent (thankfully, everything inside stayed dry), and waited for the ride announcement (note - love my Element - the bikes were safe and dry).

They canceled all but the 30 mile route due to the storm, and I confess I wimped out. DH rode it - they rode through torrential rain and terrible headwinds. I felt like it was too much of a chance to take. They almost got blown off the road. We stayed for more festivities and then drove home.

I would do this ride again in a heartbeat!! The organization was great (except for the major booboo on the route), and the volunteers were delightful. They even have an announcer welcoming back riders as they finish (DH took over while the announcer had a break, and was announcing when I came in). Super cool!! And, it's for a great cause! The ride organizers had a snafu with the "I'm riding for..." bandannas, so I rode with my AV buff around my wrist