The day started at 4:30 am when the hotel alarm went off and I got dressed for the ride. I had carefully prepared the night before and had done everything from pinning my race number to my jersey, laying out my clothes to prepping my breakfast. My group meets in the lobby at 5am where we munch away at the meager "early breakfast" hotel offerings and head out to the course.
Bright Eyed and Busy Tailed (Jeff, Me, Ashley, Brian, Donna)
By 5:30 am we are in the start corrals. We line up on the "fast" side. It is a balmy 53 degrees and I'm trying to contain my excitement. Several porta-pottie stops later, we're approaching zero hour. Christine meets us a few minutes before the 7am start and accepts our jackets, hats and other warm clothing that we won't be using for the ride. Jeff and Brian's wife are also there to see us off. It's an exciting moment.
Corrals Before the Race
The Chad
Donna and Ashley Ready to Rock
Jeff is Not So Ready to Rock
The gun goes off and hundreds of bikes are creeping forward inches from each other. Bunch starts are nerve wracking. Gradually space starts opening up and I can safely clip my second foot into the pedal and away we go. Here's a map of the route. Click on it for larger size.
Route
The start is chaotic as riders bolt off trying to get a jump on the field. Chad had prepped us for this and we let them run away, confident that we would catch up to the majority of them midway through the ride when they tired out.
Around mile 8, we get to the first river crossing.
First River Crossing
There are hundreds of riders that all dismount, pick up their bikes and make their way across the roughly 1/4-mile crossing. Some are rolling their bikes, others are running with them. People are darting all around, some are stumbling. I get across and am separated from my group. I see Chad and Brian up ahead in Team in Training jerseys so I put my head down and I start after them.
That's when it all went horribly wrong. I lose sight of them and after a few minutes I still don't see them. I'm convinced that they are ahead of me lost in the sea of other riders so I take off after them trying to catch up. I still can't find them and I'm starting to get very worried. I stupidly had decided to leave my cell phone behind as I have never had to use it in all my training rides or past Centuries and thought I might gain a small advantage by carrying less weight.
I slow my pace way down and let hundreds of riders pass me up and still don't see them. We're going for time, so I think that they wouldn't just stop. I stop and wait thinking maybe they are somehow behind me and they still aren't there. I'm also going for time so I half-heartedly start up again going 10 mph. What to do? If they are ahead of me, they will probably stop unless I take too long. If they are behind me, they will be riding as a group and will catch up to me. I could ride back but if I'm wrong, there is no way we make our goal. If I stop and wait and they are ahead, what if I'm wrong? They will have to come back for me. We have a scheduled stop at roughly the midpoint of the ride after the second river crossing so I just decide to ride and if worst comes to worse, we will meet there. If they are behind, they will catch me in the next 40 miles. If they are ahead of me, they will wait for me at the stop.
Flawed decision or not, I decide to ride ahead. It was a very strange experience, as I have never ridden a considerable distance without a team. It's a whole different world out there. I try to grab a wheel hoping to conserve strength by drafting but that doesn't go so well. The rider is purposely swerving around to make it difficult to draft off of him. I get the none to subtle hint and drop off and there I am, in the middle of two groups alone battling a headwind. Not good. My average pace was around 14 mph at that time a far cry from the average of 18.1 I need to hit if I'm going to reach my goal of finishing under 6 hours. I ride on trying to make up time. Average pace is slowly creeping up, 15.5 mph, then 16.1 mph and then we hit a downhill. 16.8 mph average! I give it a little gas and continue barreling down the hill and stumble unto a small group of riders being lead by a tandem bicycle. I ask if I can join on and there are no objections. Finally an opportunity to rest. I tuck in behind and it is smooth sailing. We eat up 20 miles with the tandem plowing through the air. Average speed is now up into the 17.2 mph range. Now we're talking. Somewhere around mile 45 they start to slow, I can't afford that so I give some heartfelt thanks and move ahead. I hit the second river crossing with an average pace of 17.4 mph, feeling good.
This crossing is twice as long as the last one and even more chaotic. Some bikers are actually riding through the silty dirt screaming at those walking their bikes to get out of the way. I decide to take a short nature break as there are no lines at the portables located in the middle of the crossing. Back on the crossing, I make it back on to paved road and hop on the bike with some silt in my shoes. Not too bad, though. I climb up the short hill looking for our support stop and don't see them. I'm getting totally demoralized at this point. I can't have missed them as I have been carefully looking for them. I turn a bend in the road and see some friendly faces. Jeff and Brian's wife are there waving purple and green signs. I roll up and immediately ask, "how far ahead are the rest of the team"? I get a couple of confused looks and they say, that I'm the first to arrive. Somehow I've managed to ride the first half of the race alone and end up ahead of the rest of my team. I'm feeling like a major idiot at this point. About a minute later, the rest of the Team rolls up and everyone looks relieved. I say sorry, feeling like a total dolt. Chad makes a call to the coaches to let them know that we've been reunited.
Back to business, we swap water bottles, eat quickly and are back on the bikes in less than 2 minutes. I say sorry again, looking for some sort of absolution and everyone is cool with me and say that they are just happy to have found me.
We proceed on and encounter some rolling hills and then a steady climb. All of a sudden, my legs are protesting and I'm paying the price for my solo jaunt. I get dropped on the last climb and thankfully Chad is soft-pedaling at the top of the hill and leads me out to the rest of the group letting me draft behind him. Everything is ok on the flats. I take the opportunity to eat, and devour an energy bar and some salted almonds. The effect is almost immediate and I feel much better on the next climb.
We pass a couple of ambulances and there are at least two riders on the ground in a jumble of splintered bike parts. One has a neck brace on. It is a very disturbing sight. I read the next day in the paper that there was a hit and run incident where a car plowed into 10 riders, got out of his car to look for any damage to his vehicle, looked at the riders and then sped away. Hopefully there is a warm spot in hell for him after he's done rotting in jail. I say a little prayer for the downed riders and we move on.
We continue on at a fast clip of over 20mph, building the average speed back up. We pass a group of Team in Training Riders from New Jersey and one of them says, "there they go. You guys from San Diego are always mowing us down out here". We're famous :)
We hit the much anticipated downhill on Tangerine Road. It is roughly 16 miles of rolling, mostly downhill. Jeff and I take turns at the front and lead a train of about 20 riders down the hill at speeds over 30 mph. What a blast.
All good things come to an end and then we hit a some more hills and continue on over a long series of rollers. They are taking their toll on me, I'm tired and fading. Ashley is also struggling, which is strange as she is always so strong. We slow the pace trying to recover and are having trouble riding as a group. We've got 20 miles to go and need to average above 22 mph if we are going to finish in under 6 hours. Trouble in paradise.
We hit mile 95, and I'm feeling like crap. Every part of my body in contact with the bike is in bad pain. My hands are numb, my butt is sore and my feet are burning. I fidget around trying to find a position that doesn't hurt and am not successful. My quads start cramping bad. 14 miles to go. Hmm, that is looking like another hour on the bike at our current pace. I'm starting to doubt if I will be able to finish. The miles start passing slowly. Mile 100, only 9 more to go. Knee starts hurting from the strain of turning the cranks. I lower the resistance and spin a little more to reduce the pressure. I'm struggling to keep on a wheel. Chad is encouraging and motivating me. "Almost done", "It will hurt even more without the wheel", "C'mon". I eat my last energy bar and bit of almonds. I'm down to 1/2 bottle of water. The last 9 miles are pure agony and feel like all uphill. Down to 5 miles, and I start thinking, that 5 miles is really only two loops around Fiesta Island. Playing tricks with myself, setting short term goals to keep moving. Feet are burning and I lift them up in my shoes to relieve the pressure whenever we hit a small downhill. 2.5 miles left. That's just one loop around Fiesta Island! We turn the corner and suddenly the finish line is in sight. We bunch up and cross together as a Team. Awesome!
We cross the line, and our timing chip is removed and our race bibs are marked. Someone notices that Ashley's front tire is flat. Must have been a slow leak and explains her uncharacteristic struggles. I stagger away leaning on my bike to stay upright. I'm feeling completely and totally whipped. Feeling a little disoriented, I make my way to a nearby patch of grass and lay down and take off the shoes. Other finishers are milling around. Brian and Jeff's wife are there and there is champagne. We pop a couple of bottles and just savor the experience.
Someone looks up our time and it is 6hours 20 minutes. We didn't make it... Damn!
I hobble over to the medal tent and a collect my silver medal and then make my way to the Team in Training Tent to check-in and grab something to eat.
Medal
Sandwiches, watermelon, chips. I try to find a shady spot and gingerly sit down to eat. I'm still very shaken from my experience and a flood of emotions pass over me as I'm sitting there. Disappointment for not making the goal, relief of being done, fear of almost not finishing, guilt of getting separated from the group, respect for what I have just done. I start thinking of my family members who died of Leukemia and the pain is worth it. Disappointment turns to pride. I can honestly say I took myself to the limit and rode as hard and fast as I was able. I rode until it nearly killed me. I just finished riding 109-miles at an average pace of 17.1 mph! That is awesome!
I rejoin the group and we head back to the hotel. I take a quick shower and Christine babies me as I lay down to rest and recover. At 4pm, two hours later, I get the call. The next group of riders are coming in. I suit up, and we ride back out to escort them across the finish line as a show of support. We collect two groups and ride in as a Team. It's great.
We hang out for another hour or so and then head out for the next batch of riders. Our last rider comes in about 10 minutes shy of the 11-hour time limit. 11 hours on a bike and not giving up. That is dedication.
Totals for the day were
109-miles
3400+ feet of climbing
Average pace of 17.1 mph
Total Time: 6 hours, 20 minutes, 32 seconds
1491st place out of 4,539 century riders and 8,636 total riders.
More importantly, the total amount of funds raised by all the Team in Training chapters participating to fight blood cancers exceeded 1 million dollars.
2 comments:
Steve - riding ANY distance alone at Tucson is a challenge - one apparently well met. Nice Job my friend.
Thanks, Rick. Looking forward to mentoring on your Tahoe Team this season.
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