Udder Century Ride Reports

[Psimet2001]

Throw your ride reports from the Udder in here.

I am out of town for few days so my ride report will be slightly delayed. All I can say was that it was an awesome ride. The rain made it even more interesting. Shoes are filled with newspaper as I am typing this.

Too good.

[Vjacks]

Its was great to me several of the BFNIC members. I was done with my ride before the rain, but that 32 mile route lonely :( . Oh well, this was pretty kewl for my FIRST organized ride. I had a good time.

CyLowe, thanks for hangin with me for the first leg of the ride. :beer:

[Kenal0]

The metric group got in as the weather was just changing so we stayed dry. I am eagerly awaiting the final average pace from the century group. Even the Whippet would have had a tough time keeping up.
Kenal0

[lowbike]

Dispite a little rain here and there great course and i did beat upon a lot you with my bent.

see you all again next year at this ride or again this year on other rides

Thank you all

[midschool22]

When I turned the corner to get into the Wild West Town, I wondered how many people would show up. Then it hit me. A whole bunch. It seemed like everyone and their bother was here. After parking and signing in, something happened to me. I usually top of my tires before every ride. I did the back with no problem. After filling the front, I somehow broke off the little presta valve on my tube turning it into a schrader tube. I figured it would be ok so long as nothing touched the valve.

That worked until the first rest stop. My normally 125 psi front tire was now about 60. So I changed out the tube and all was fine. This was the first time that I got to use my Wrench Force co2 inflator.

After that the ride went smooth. The rest stops were packed and had plenty of food and drink to go around. When I got to mile 48 of 50, the rains came. Two miles from the end. I didn't mind as I like the rain.

Maybe next time I'll get in early to meet the BFNIC members.

Ride on!

[CyLowe97]

The metric group got in as the weather was just changing so we stayed dry.
We figured you'd be laughing quite a bit thinking of us in the rain... :rolleyes:

75 miles into the ride and the winds kicked up and the rain came pouring down. Torrential! The last five miles into the final rest stop were soggy.

Ken, I ended with 17.3, but that was from hanging back. The others had a few mph higher and they'll tell you all about it.

It was good meeting so many new folks today. Thanks for coming out to join in the fun.

Oh yeah, kudos to the McHenry County Bike Club for getting the greatest SAG vehicle ever: a fighter jet! That low fly-by on the second leg was wild to see. :D

[CyLowe97]

Its was great to me several of the BFNIC members. I was done with my ride before the rain, but that 32 mile route lonely :( . Oh well, this was pretty kewl for my FIRST organized ride. I had a good time.

CyLowe, thanks for hangin with me for the first leg of the ride. :beer:
Way to go on your first organized ride!

:beer: indeed.

[SmokinMiles]

A "hail" of a good time! I'm actually euphoric from my weekend :D

A brief synopsis....I travelled 550 round trip on Friday/Saturday to finish up the trail running series I've been competing in all spring. This was my 4th of the year...15k distance. I needed gills for this horribly humid hilly run that was in the spectacularly gorgeous Brown Co. State Park. I held a decent pace without going all out (knowing that I was riding a century the next day) and won the female masters division. :) Luckily, emerged uninjured which isn't always a given after a trail run but this is a biking forum...I digress.

Got home from Indiana at about 6pm Saturday night and my hubby had the bike loaded and most of my gear assembled for the ride. He is indeed a saint :love: Ended up going out for dinner with him and then out for dessert, etc. Hit the sack at 11.

I was up at 5 am to travel to Union City and meet up with a large group of nice gentlemen. What a great turnout. I think I remember most everyone's names but I can't really associate all the names with the forum names.

We all rode together to the first rest stop. It was a gorgeous morning. I've been riding about a year. I've always ridden alone so it was really fun to cruise along in a group with the faster guys leading the way.

After the first rest stop, I rode with voldemort to the second one. The main group was flying! We were averaging 19mph and they left us like we were sitting still. Had a great time getting to know another fellow educator (I'm a teacher) and the good conversation made the miles fly by. We picked up a couple other riders and motored into rest stop 2. At one point we did have a lengthy Harry Potter discussion which later in my exhausted delirium seemed funny to me.

Then the terror struck! Voldemort (who I deemed to be sensible) was not going on for the century. Our picture taker of the day ( I thought I *might* be able to hang with him) had also been sucked in with the maniacal spinners and I figured I'd just see how long I could hang on. Spent this fabulously fast and fun section with Tim (can't remember forum name) I think later in the day he called me chatty Cathy :p ( I should show him my yearbook....all the signatures dedicated to "motormouth" ....sure that would be no surprise to him...even met a person in this segment that I could briefly converse with in Spanish) but he pulled me and a whole line of folks the whole 20 miles. A perfect pace. I honestly could not believe I had gone 60 miles.

Out of this rest stop, well, you could call the next section character building. We rolled out not speaking of the ominous bank of black clouds. We all stayed together until the rain started and then it was just survival. Rain is one thing...hail with a vicious crosswind....now that is some nasty stuff. I was lucky to hang on with another really nice group so as to not be alone during this part. It was lightning and thundering but there really wasn't anywhere to stop. Nothing to do but to keep riding.

As we rolled into the last rest stop the rain stopped. I grabbed a quick snack and told the "bats out of hell" riding group that I was getting a head start. My legs were feeling yesterday's trail run stiffening up. I knew it was better for me to just keep moving. At some point on this part, I thought I was hearing things. I heard a rooster crowing and then came up on a rooster and a hen in the road. Alrighty then. The most speedy caught me about mile 90. It was hard for them to recognize me as I'm sure I was a blur as they flew by!!!!!! I rode in behind them all.

It was my best century ever. My Garmin messed up but I think I was right about 5:30 riding time....a really good ride for me on really tired legs. The speedsters can chime in on this....it could have been a bit longer but definitely my very best century. I was with them at the first aid station and then was probably always about 5 mins behind coming into the rest stops.

I would highly recommend anyone to come out and ride with these guys. While I've been making jokes about their speediness, they are super nice, HUMBLE and gracious. It's just an awesome group of guys. Everyone was included in the day's fun. Nothing but a positive experience for me.

The pasta dinner afterwards was good. Sorry, Psimet, I grabbed a big cup of coffee on the way home. However, you know, not even caffeine is as good as riding! You're giving it all up for a darn good cause.

Also, my husband did mention that he just felt better all day knowing that I was out in a group. I do love my solo riding but will look forward to more rides with the bikeforum bunch.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading :p

Crystal

[Kenal0]

A 9 mile run followed the next day by a fast paced century. Very impressive!

Cylowe97- not quite laughing just extremely glad to be in my car and not still out when the rains came.
The pace for our final 20 slowed a bit from the first 42 but we did not get passed by the tandem (wheres your downhill now?) I did see them pull in when I was leaving.

Kenal0

[CyLowe97]

I think later in the day he called me chatty Cathy :p
To be honest, I was telling aham that I was not a Chatty Cathy. Guess it came out wrong. :o You were not chatting too much, don't worry. The conversation was just fine! And your Spanish conversation with the guy in the Puerto Rico kit was muy bueno.

(wheres your downhill now?)
:lol:

With inevitable retort: Where's your uphill now? That was pretty funny, if I do say so myself.

[SmokinMiles]

Its was great to me several of the BFNIC members. I was done with my ride before the rain, but that 32 mile route lonely :( . Oh well, this was pretty kewl for my FIRST organized ride. I had a good time.

CyLowe, thanks for hangin with me for the first leg of the ride. :beer:

Nice to meet you and great job on your first organized ride. The rest stops are truly the best part! :D Crystal

[SmokinMiles]

[QUOTE=CyLowe97]To be honest, I was telling aham that I was not a Chatty Cathy.QUOTE]

See, that's the exhausted delirium on my part. I totally missed the other part of your conversation. ha

[aham23]

my report.....................FAST.

100.45 miles - 5:13:42 riding time = 19.2 mph avg

The Edge Stats (http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=2920460)

the weather was fabulous the first 70ish miles. the pace was off the charts. the group was flying and it was a ton of fun. the freakish weather was interesting. the sideways almost hail rain was COLD and painfull. something must be wrong with me, but even the rain was fun!?!:)

it was great to see the new faces and most of the old. just kidding Cylowe97 it was good to see you too. next up is the HHH. good times. later.

[nvr]

Another great ride with a great bunch of guys..and gal :) I left the house 15 minutes later than planned, got lost, and asked a cop for some directions. I made it to Wild West Town just in time. I had already printed and signed my registration form, and was ready to roll in 5 minutes. After Voldemort's lapse of judgement was corrected by shider's generosity we were ready to hit the road. The first leg was uneventful and the mood was cheerful. The sun was up, barely a breeze, and everyone was just warming up (at 20mph). It seemed to me that we hit the first rest stop really fast. I was sweating like pig, but still felt great. The trek to the second rest stop included a jet busting a low altitude 180 (looked like a Blue Angel maybe?) I didn't get the camera out in time for that, I had no idea they would come so close :( I don't remember much about the second stop except that I squirted the rest of my water bottle all over my face to cool off. Note to self...find out where these bike clubs get their cookies...they're yummy! Pulling out of there, we headed to Darien. I ended up in a 4 man paceline with Speedy, shider, and cyclpsycho. It was my first time in a paceline that actually rotated pulls in intervals. It worked great, and was a lot of fun. We cruised up to rest stop 3 between 22-25mph. The Cateye showed an average of 20.? so far for the 60 miles up to that point. I was pretty tired by then, and can't remember the order of things that happened after that. All I know is we got hit with some nasty winds, and cold, hard rain. Shortly after leaving the last rest stop, I was hanging in the back of the group. I took a quick drink and my bottle slipped, and it rolled all over the road, ending up on the other side. Thankfully, the only people behind me were at least 300 ft back so I didn't cause any accidents. I did have to play catch up with the group which was only about 200yds in front of me. I never caught them. Well I did catch Psimet and CyLowe about 10 miles later. The hills near the end of the route did a great job at demoralizing me, and breaking my spirit. I do remember passing SmokinMiles on this leg. I yelled a quick 'hola' and kept going. Finally pulled into Wild West Town to see shider and Aham waiting for us to make sure we didn't lie about when we made it :D Loaded the bike and headed in for some welcome eats. I think everyone got at least two helpings :D Here's the pics I took...I stopped after the second rest stop. We were hauling *****, and then it rained so I put the camera in the saddle bag. Enjoy

Dst: 100.53mi
Time: 5:14hrs
Avg: 19.2mph

Group Shot
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4071.jpg

Aham and SmokinMiles
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4072.jpg

Paceline
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4074.jpg

Psimet and shider leading the peloton
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4080.jpg

Speedy, Jim, iab, and Aham23
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4081.jpg

iab's butt, Aham23, and some guy
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4082.jpg

[nvr]

more pics

SmokinMiles and Voldemort
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4083.jpg

Rest Stop 1 17 miles
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4084.jpg

Banner
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4086.jpg

Moo Cow
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4085.jpg

Psimet and Aham23 chatting while rolling at 22mph
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4091.jpg

Psimet and Aham23 again
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4092.jpg

Me and Aham23
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4094.jpg

Rest Stop 2 42 miles
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4098.jpg

Group shot at the end...I forgot my change of clothes :(
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4100.jpg

[nvr]

eh, found one more pic

SmokinMiles Smiling
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4077.jpg

[midschool22]

The trek to the second rest stop included a jet busting a low altitude 180 (looked like a Blue Angel maybe?) I didn't get the camera out in time for that, I had no idea they would come so close.

I think I can explain that. Up the road about 35 miles, Rockford was having their annual air show. The main attraction this year...the Blue Angels.

[Inputflangeman]

Great ride, despite the rain! My comp said 19.5MPH AV, which was smokin'...the last 10 miles were hard, but, the organizers were nice to end the ride with a killer downhill. It was good to see all of you again, and sorry I buggered out so quickly at the end, I had a b-day party to be at. I'll look forward to the next one!

[CyLowe97]

I think I can explain that. Up the road about 35 miles, Rockford was having their annual air show. The main attraction this year...the Blue Angels.
What? That wasn't a SAG vehicle?

Coulda sworn I saw that bad boy touch down to help a rider fix a flat tire.....

:)

[wrafl]

Congratulations to all that participated, maybe next year I will join and enjoy the ride like all others.

[SpeedyMcAwesome]

I'm sorry I didn't get to meet up with everyone. I was too busy racing faster than that storm, so I didn't get rained on.

100 miles in 4:26:43. A little slower than I wanted, but I'll get that sub 4 hour century soon.

I'm so Awesome.

[Hipcycler]

^What the....???

Something's in the air this Monday morning I tell ya....

[Psimet2001]

^What the....???

Something's in the air this Monday morning I tell ya....
...you have no idea....no time for response yet, I am sneaking time in on bikeforums in the bathroom of the hotel. Don't tell my wife....

[CyLowe97]

...you have no idea....no time for response yet, I am sneaking time in on bikeforums in the bathroom of the hotel. Don't tell my wife....
^^ What the...? indeed ^^

[Hipcycler]

...I told YA!

[John Wilke]

Great pics, looks like fun.

[iab]

Is it me or do I have the brightest ass in the peleton?:eek: :p




iab's butt, Aham23, and some guy
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa25/sp1toon/Udder%20Century/IMG_4082.jpg

[Psimet2001]

Is it me or do I have the brightest ass in the peleton?:eek: :p
If by "bright" you mean "smart"....

[Hipcycler]

....but I bet you have a great personality though....

[voldemort]

Great ride, considering all the bad omens I had. Questionable forecast. Then when I get my bike out of the garage, I have a flat tire.:eek: Of course I'd left myself too little time to fix it before driving to the Udder, so I show up with a flat tire. Preoccupied thinking about the flat, I'd left the house... without a helmet or gloves. Thanks to the Psimet Service Department, my flat was fixed fast enough that I could still ride out with you guys. Thanks, Rob. Helmet and gloves, Shider to the rescue. :) Thanks for the loaners. And thanks to everybody for waiting around.
When we got rolling, I thought it seemed like we were on a pretty fast pace, even for this group. But I wasn't sure how fast we were going because the service technician bumped the magnet when changing my flat. I'll have to talk with the manager;).
I think it was after the first rest stop that I blinked, and most of the group was gone. I mean I decided to ride sweep.:rolleyes: Thanks for hanging with me, Smokin'Miles. And personally, I think we only saw that jet once 'cause they couldn't keep up with Shider, Aham, et al.:p
Finished the 62 with iab and Kenalo. If any of you doing the full century found a pair of wiped out legs on the side of the road in that last section, I think mine fell off somewhere climbing out of that valley (I need to remember to get in a little/lot more early season riding). Fortunately didn't need 'em much with that downhill finish. And it didn't start raining until about 2 minutes after I got in the car.:D

[shider]

Here are a few of the highlights from my point of view:

I arrived and was directed to park in a soft field with long grass several hundred yards from the registration building. I didn’t much care for walking through the mud in my bike shoes but if I wore my sneakers, I’d have to make a return trip anyway. Luckily my cleats didn’t get clogged up and I made it to the registration building were there was a big sign saying no cycling cleats in the building. Who planned this? I’ve heard of no shoes, no service, but here it was a case of no service with shoes! (Later on in the ride I saw a bid sign at one of the rest stops says no bicycles on the grass. It was surrounded by about 50 bikes on the grass.) For my pre-ride return to my truck with Voldemort I just rode the bike. (Voldemort: I got my helmet and gloves back fine. I can only apologize that they hadn’t recently been cleaned.)

There was of course a lot of talk on this board about the pace of this ride and whether there was going to be any pace lines and sharing of the load. As we set off, Psimet took pole with a 15.5 mph pace for the first mile or so before bringing the it up to 20 to 21 mph. I rode up beside him early on and stayed there for the next 8 miles! (Weren’t we supposed to count pedal rotations or something?) Unless I’m mistaken, the group pretty much stayed together for this part of the ride and it was (for me) very relaxing but also very enjoyable, carrying on conversations and the like.

After the first rest stop, the group was passed by a couple of time trial bikes. Full carbon disks in back make an unmistakable sound! I figured we wouldn’t see them again but a few miles later we (some of us anyway, its hard to keep track of who’s on and who’s dropped other than those people immediately around you) passed them back going up some small inclines. Somewhere around here the pace started to pick up and the two carbon jockeys made their way past us again. (We may have even passed each other a couple of times.) I happened to be taking my pull at the front (this wasn’t like the beginning of the ride, I couldn’t take more than 30 seconds at the front at this speed) and decided to jump on his tail just to see how fast he was going. I had no hope of matching him but I figured I might be able to draft him for a little while. To my surprise the group joined me and from there until the next rest stop (about 10 miles) it was a complete hammerfest. I knew my legs were going to pay for it later on in the ride but it was a lot of fun getting sucked along and pulling (for short periods or up hills were I seem to do better) with a group of riders who are faster than me.

It was also around this point where we nearly had our major scare (other than the weather) of the ride. I was drafting one of the time trailers when he suddenly realized there was a left turn marked. I have to admit that the markers (although always there) did occasionally blend into the background. While I was about 3 inches off his rear tire with the rest of the group immediately behind me, he yelled, braked and turned faster that you just read the words. Some of us made it around the corner and some took the smart way out and went straight on and then doubled back. I didn’t realize it at the time but this split the already fractured group. How we didn’t have a huge pile up there I don’t know.

After the second rest stop I was severely punished. I don’t know what happened exactly except that I was fighting to stay on the tail end of the four man group. As if that wasn’t enough they kept a steady rotation so I found myself at the front with regularity too. I managed to hang with them until the third rest stop made its appearance. If it had been a mile further down the road I would have been riding alone.

Looking at the weather radar in the morning I would have bet that it was going to happen and it did, at about mile 70, half way between the third and fourth rest stops. I blame whoever it was at the third rest stop that exclaimed how one couldn’t have asked for better weather. Cresting a small hill we crossed an intersection. “Clear right!” was called out. I looked right and it most definitely was not clear to the right. There were some very nasty dark looking clouds that way. Sure enough it didn’t take long for them to hit us. The wind drove the rain hard enough that it stung! I didn’t see any hail but I have ridden in hail storms that have been more comfortable. The worst part (other than the stinging rain) was the first several minutes where, due to the water splashing and being blown from my front wheel, my left foot was completely soaked. With each rotation of the crank my left foot squelched in its sodden sock while my right foot served as a nagging reminder of what dry feet feel like. It didn’t last long before I was drenched completely and just became numb to the situation.

The final leg of the ride I was determined to ride at my own pace. SmokinMiles had set out several minutes before the group and so I was expecting that we might catch up to her along the way. She had told me earlier in the ride though that she came into her own at around mile 80. I think it was near the base of the “big” hill at around mile 90-92 that Aham23 announced he had blown up or something to that affect. As the two faster guys pulled off the front and Aham23 drifted back I found myself alone for the first time in the ride. I rode by myself for a while passing and being passed by the occasional rider until I got bored and waited at a stop sign for someone I recognized. As he passed by Aham23 asked me who I was waiting for. I think I was in a daze, I hadn’t even seen him, although to be fair, he was riding along next to a female cyclist who wasn’t part of the group. I joined the two of them but didn’t manage to get a word in edgewise. Aham23 didn’t either. She dropped back not too long afterwards and Aham23 and I finished the few remaining miles. It wasn’t long at all before the others showed up. I was surprised to see SmokinMiles pull up because that means I must have passed her somewhere. I honestly don’t remember that happening, kinda scary.

My final stats were 5 hours, 11 minutes ride time at 19.2 mph. Not that it matters though, I don’t race but I do like to challenge myself and its interesting to compare times/speeds from one year to another. It is always a real pleasure to ride with such a great group of people. I can honestly say I’m sorry I can’t do it more often.

[Hipcycler]

^ another one.....
Animals.

They're all animals I tell ya.

[SmokinMiles]

"After the first rest stop, the group was passed by a couple of time trial bikes. Full carbon disks in back make an unmistakable sound! I figured we wouldn’t see them again "

In my mind these time trialers might as well just have thrown down the gauntlet. As soon as I saw them, I thought, "these guys are gonna chase their sorry butts down just because, well, just because they can!" :D

You passed me with around 5 miles to go, and I said, "good job" and you replied real nice to me. I think it was probably that I was wearing a jacket and you didn't recognize my jersey....or that the figure on the bike was a shadow of my former self :p Crystal

[shider]

In my mind these time trialers might as well just have thrown down the gauntlet. As soon as I saw them, I thought, "these guys are gonna chase their sorry butts down just because, well, just because they can!" :D

My wife says the cadence on our tandem goes up whenever there is a bicycle visible in front of us. :lol:

You passed me with around 5 miles to go, and I said, "good job" and you replied real nice to me. I think it was probably that I was wearing a jacket and you didn't recognize my jersey....or that the figure on the bike was a shadow of my former self :p Crystal

I figured you probably said something to me and I replied with something unintelligible and kept riding. :o

[aham23]

SpeedyMcAwesome I'm sorry I didn't get to meet up with everyone. I was too busy racing faster than that storm, so I didn't get rained on.

100 miles in 4:26:43. A little slower than I wanted, but I'll get that sub 4 hour century soon.

I'm so Awesome.

classic!!

later.

[cyclpsycho]

Nice report Shider!

Hate the disk!!

I want you to know I'll always be behind you speedy ;)

Not that it matters though, I don’t race but I do like to challenge myself and its interesting to compare times/speeds from one year to another. It is always a real pleasure to ride with such a great group of people. I can honestly say I’m sorry I can’t do it more often.

I'm just glad I found that "old fat guys" can still do a 5 hr. century :D

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and hope to ride with the group again soon! :beer:

[aham23]

^ another one.....
Animals.

They're all animals I tell ya.

Yes, Yes we are! :D

i actually was looking forward to hammering out "a" century this year. i too enjoy pushing myself to and beyond limits that i once didn't even know existed. however, i did not think it would be so early in the year. maybe august, but no way did i think i would approach a five hour century the first weekend in june. (*edit)

one thing i found kind of neat was when we all rolled in everyone was checking their computers and announcing their stats. it went something like this:

5:10 / 19.2
5:11 / 19.2
5:12 / 19.2
5:13/ 19.2

and so on.

later.

[dannwilliams]

i would approach a five hour century the first weekend in july.

So fast he is now a month into the future!;)

[aham23]

^^^^ i think i am still dazed and confused from all of sunday' speed! :)