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06-20-07, 10:35 PM
So... I completed my first 600km brevet! Wasn't sure I was gonna finish for a while there. Not to mention my anxiety with my finances... I started the ride with only $40 in my pocket... that had to pay for food, beverages, plus two regional bus trips, at $3.75 each... had me worried for a while!
We had two loops, the first part of the first loop headed out onto the plains before turning back towards the mountains. Headed out, and of course, me being
me, I ended up with the front group of riders. After a little more than 30 miles of riding with them, I got smart: They were all riding racing bikes, with
almost no extra weight (patch kit, tube, co2 inflaters looked to be about the only equipment they were carrying), plus were riding with a personal support
vehicle meeting them at the checkpoints. I chose to drop back and let them go on ahead.
After slowing down to a more reasonable speed, my friend Tom caught up with me, and we rode together the rest of the way to the first control. Had some good conversations along the way... I always love talking with Tom. He was out for a fast ride, though, and I was just worried about whether or not I was going to finish, so at the first control, he was in and out in like 30 seconds... I hung out for a bit for a short break before taking off again.
Rode on and off with a few different people on the way to the second control... some of the very strong riders that have been doing it for a long time. Made great time, and arrived without many events... well, other than realizing as I hit the bump into the parking lot at the second control that I hadn't zipped my back pocket on my rack trunk... lost 3 rechargeable AAA batteries... nothing I couldn't live without, though (Actually... lost two... the third fell out at the bump, and I found it and threw it back in the bag)
The next part of the ride was pretty brutal... climbing up into the mountains... 23 miles of climbing in 95 degree weather. One short stop while I fed a broken up fig newton to some baby foxes I saw beside the highway. I tossed the pieces out for them to find them, and watched them playing for a few minutes! It was great, and I was the only one that saw them. Then I stopped and took a break half way up before climbing the rest of the way. Right before my break, my chain started making a lot of noise, reminding me that I'd forgotten to lube it... oops... this could have been a rather annoying mistake... luckily at the next control I begged some lube from the support vehicle for one of the other riders. :) Made me much happier having a smooth running drive train again. Again took a decent break (about a half hour... maybe 45 minutes) before heading out again.
Rode out with Charlie (the guy who's support vehicle I bummed the chain lube off of!) and another ride who's name I forget (Yeah... I suck at names! VERY badly!) and stayed with them for a while ... through Estes Park, where they took me on the alternate route through the town... much nicer traffic wise than the last time I went through on the main route. After passing through Estes Park we headed to the next control... via Devil's Gulch (VERY tight switch backs and steep decent) to Glen Haven... home of the best darn cinnamon rolls I've ever tasted! MmmMMmmmm! You better believe I stayed long enough to scarf one of those down! After that it was time for the decent down from the mountains... Everybody goes downhill faster than I do (I meant to get some narrow tires for this ride, but didn't have the spare cash, so I was riding on 35mm cyclocross tires)... Lost my riding companions pretty fast, but I came up on the Dam store... they have some great jerky there, so I had to stop in and grab some. Then it was on to the next control, and a taste of rain and wet roads. Meh... you better believe I was regretting not getting the fenders reinstalled on my bike!
Met up with a small group along here and rode with them into and through Ft. Collins... including the nice detour around the road construction.. Went ahead into Wellington with them, to the next control.
After a short break, we all headed out again... into HORRIBLE headwinds... many described it as a 'wall of wind' ... and it was still plenty warm out at the time. Made up a paceline and kept at it... luckily it was evening and the temps dropped pretty quickly, so it wasn't too horrible, and they were great to talk with. The four of us stuck together through the next check point, and on towards the end of the first loop. About 18 miles before the end of the first 400k loop we caught up with another rider, who I rode up to talk to... the two of us rode together for the rest of the first loop (I think the other group stopped for a bit at that all night McDonald's!) Rode back into the starting control feeling pretty good... at about 12:30.. an hour and a half faster than my time on the previous 400km that I rode a couple weeks ago.
Not having money for a room to sleep in, my intention was to only stay for an hour or so before heading back out, but my body just wasn't cooperating... I started feeling queasy and very tired. The motel staff was great... offered me food and wanted to help me out, even though I wasn't staying there. Ended up staying there till almost 5 AM, when it was getting light out again, and eating breakfast there, as well. Was still feeling sick, but I needed to head out, so I did.
Headed back out again on my own... only to be caught up to by Larry before too long... he left about 10 minutes after me. Riding with someone really encourages me to keep up the pace, so I did, despite the way I was feeling. We had a decent ride... pretty uneventful... Took a short break in Milliken, even though it wasn't a control... we both had a little something to eat... I ate some Cup o' Noodles which went down really well and seemed to settle my stomach. Feeling great again, we headed out, on the way to the first control of this loop (which is the half way point)... along the way we ran into Tom Reeder... a rider out of Virginia who came out to do the 1000km ride which was being held at the same time... this portion of the loop was the same for the two rides, so we rode together to the next control... and it just kept getting hotter and hotter... Around the time we got to the control, the high temp in Greeley (JUST to the North of us) hit 100 degrees... We hung out in the control for a little bit, trying to cool down a bit before heading out again. Tom's ride took him a different route from this point, so we wished him luck, and headed back out... 62.5 miles to go!
Larry and I were paying pretty close attention to the clock at this point, but we were sure we had plenty of time, so we just kind of took it easy... trying not to kill ourselves in the heat. The water in our bottles was HOT less than 20 minutes out of the control... even the ice we'd dumped in there didn't help. We made it to the next control and turned towards the end of the ride... both of us hurting, but me a little more so... the queasiness was back in force, and I couldn't eat anything. Could barely drink. About half way back I had to stop... Told Larry to go on, I'd be along... I still had time to recover and make it back before the end of the ride, so he kept going. I had to stop like 10 times... sitting in the shade, just trying to recover enough to keep going... Last stop like that was only a half mile before a convenience store, but I just couldn't quite make it there... After sitting in the shade for a good fifteen minutes at that spot, I managed the rest of the climb up the hill and on to where the 7/11 was... yes, the same 7/11 I stopped at on my 200km ride a while back... Again I arrived in REALLY bad shape...
At this point I had an hour and a half left on my time, and about 10 miles to go... I basically stumbled into the store asking for ice water... the clerk was very great to me... got me the biggest cup they had, and we filled it with ice water... I then sat outside the store for a good 30 minutes cooling down and trying to recover enough to make the last 10 miles. With an hour left I had to go... I was feeling much better, though. Thanked the clerk for his hospitality, and headed out.
The rest of the ride was fairly easy... a few mild climbs, and a pretty good downhill section... I made it to the final control and got signed in at 7:32 ... 28 minutes to spare. Kind of stumbled outside holding my card high, to where the RBA was waiting, after collecting the rest of the cards that had been dropped at his truck. Yes, I was the last one, but I finished.
Once I got home I did some research on electrolytes, and realized why I was having so many problems... even with the sports drinks I wasn't getting nearly enough electrolytes... Next time I'll carry some tablets with me. Live and learn, right?
And that, friends, is the final chapter in the saga of how I became a "Super Randonneur" in my first year of Randonneuring and achieved my goal of qualifying for PBP. Finances dictate that I can't actually attend PBP this year, but I look forward to the next time, when hopefully circumstances will be different.
The brevet:
382.84 miles (including one detour and one missed turn/backtrack)
24 hrs, 13 mins on-bike time
39 hrs, 32 mins total time
15.8 mph moving average
10.23 miles each way to/from the bus to the ride
46 hrs without sleep,
403.3 miles total for the weekend
Oh... and yes, I didn't do ANYTHING on Monday... and only headed out on Tuesday for a very short jaunt to rescue my wife and my neighbor when the neighbor's vehicle overheated and stranded them about 5 miles from the house.
We had two loops, the first part of the first loop headed out onto the plains before turning back towards the mountains. Headed out, and of course, me being
me, I ended up with the front group of riders. After a little more than 30 miles of riding with them, I got smart: They were all riding racing bikes, with
almost no extra weight (patch kit, tube, co2 inflaters looked to be about the only equipment they were carrying), plus were riding with a personal support
vehicle meeting them at the checkpoints. I chose to drop back and let them go on ahead.
After slowing down to a more reasonable speed, my friend Tom caught up with me, and we rode together the rest of the way to the first control. Had some good conversations along the way... I always love talking with Tom. He was out for a fast ride, though, and I was just worried about whether or not I was going to finish, so at the first control, he was in and out in like 30 seconds... I hung out for a bit for a short break before taking off again.
Rode on and off with a few different people on the way to the second control... some of the very strong riders that have been doing it for a long time. Made great time, and arrived without many events... well, other than realizing as I hit the bump into the parking lot at the second control that I hadn't zipped my back pocket on my rack trunk... lost 3 rechargeable AAA batteries... nothing I couldn't live without, though (Actually... lost two... the third fell out at the bump, and I found it and threw it back in the bag)
The next part of the ride was pretty brutal... climbing up into the mountains... 23 miles of climbing in 95 degree weather. One short stop while I fed a broken up fig newton to some baby foxes I saw beside the highway. I tossed the pieces out for them to find them, and watched them playing for a few minutes! It was great, and I was the only one that saw them. Then I stopped and took a break half way up before climbing the rest of the way. Right before my break, my chain started making a lot of noise, reminding me that I'd forgotten to lube it... oops... this could have been a rather annoying mistake... luckily at the next control I begged some lube from the support vehicle for one of the other riders. :) Made me much happier having a smooth running drive train again. Again took a decent break (about a half hour... maybe 45 minutes) before heading out again.
Rode out with Charlie (the guy who's support vehicle I bummed the chain lube off of!) and another ride who's name I forget (Yeah... I suck at names! VERY badly!) and stayed with them for a while ... through Estes Park, where they took me on the alternate route through the town... much nicer traffic wise than the last time I went through on the main route. After passing through Estes Park we headed to the next control... via Devil's Gulch (VERY tight switch backs and steep decent) to Glen Haven... home of the best darn cinnamon rolls I've ever tasted! MmmMMmmmm! You better believe I stayed long enough to scarf one of those down! After that it was time for the decent down from the mountains... Everybody goes downhill faster than I do (I meant to get some narrow tires for this ride, but didn't have the spare cash, so I was riding on 35mm cyclocross tires)... Lost my riding companions pretty fast, but I came up on the Dam store... they have some great jerky there, so I had to stop in and grab some. Then it was on to the next control, and a taste of rain and wet roads. Meh... you better believe I was regretting not getting the fenders reinstalled on my bike!
Met up with a small group along here and rode with them into and through Ft. Collins... including the nice detour around the road construction.. Went ahead into Wellington with them, to the next control.
After a short break, we all headed out again... into HORRIBLE headwinds... many described it as a 'wall of wind' ... and it was still plenty warm out at the time. Made up a paceline and kept at it... luckily it was evening and the temps dropped pretty quickly, so it wasn't too horrible, and they were great to talk with. The four of us stuck together through the next check point, and on towards the end of the first loop. About 18 miles before the end of the first 400k loop we caught up with another rider, who I rode up to talk to... the two of us rode together for the rest of the first loop (I think the other group stopped for a bit at that all night McDonald's!) Rode back into the starting control feeling pretty good... at about 12:30.. an hour and a half faster than my time on the previous 400km that I rode a couple weeks ago.
Not having money for a room to sleep in, my intention was to only stay for an hour or so before heading back out, but my body just wasn't cooperating... I started feeling queasy and very tired. The motel staff was great... offered me food and wanted to help me out, even though I wasn't staying there. Ended up staying there till almost 5 AM, when it was getting light out again, and eating breakfast there, as well. Was still feeling sick, but I needed to head out, so I did.
Headed back out again on my own... only to be caught up to by Larry before too long... he left about 10 minutes after me. Riding with someone really encourages me to keep up the pace, so I did, despite the way I was feeling. We had a decent ride... pretty uneventful... Took a short break in Milliken, even though it wasn't a control... we both had a little something to eat... I ate some Cup o' Noodles which went down really well and seemed to settle my stomach. Feeling great again, we headed out, on the way to the first control of this loop (which is the half way point)... along the way we ran into Tom Reeder... a rider out of Virginia who came out to do the 1000km ride which was being held at the same time... this portion of the loop was the same for the two rides, so we rode together to the next control... and it just kept getting hotter and hotter... Around the time we got to the control, the high temp in Greeley (JUST to the North of us) hit 100 degrees... We hung out in the control for a little bit, trying to cool down a bit before heading out again. Tom's ride took him a different route from this point, so we wished him luck, and headed back out... 62.5 miles to go!
Larry and I were paying pretty close attention to the clock at this point, but we were sure we had plenty of time, so we just kind of took it easy... trying not to kill ourselves in the heat. The water in our bottles was HOT less than 20 minutes out of the control... even the ice we'd dumped in there didn't help. We made it to the next control and turned towards the end of the ride... both of us hurting, but me a little more so... the queasiness was back in force, and I couldn't eat anything. Could barely drink. About half way back I had to stop... Told Larry to go on, I'd be along... I still had time to recover and make it back before the end of the ride, so he kept going. I had to stop like 10 times... sitting in the shade, just trying to recover enough to keep going... Last stop like that was only a half mile before a convenience store, but I just couldn't quite make it there... After sitting in the shade for a good fifteen minutes at that spot, I managed the rest of the climb up the hill and on to where the 7/11 was... yes, the same 7/11 I stopped at on my 200km ride a while back... Again I arrived in REALLY bad shape...
At this point I had an hour and a half left on my time, and about 10 miles to go... I basically stumbled into the store asking for ice water... the clerk was very great to me... got me the biggest cup they had, and we filled it with ice water... I then sat outside the store for a good 30 minutes cooling down and trying to recover enough to make the last 10 miles. With an hour left I had to go... I was feeling much better, though. Thanked the clerk for his hospitality, and headed out.
The rest of the ride was fairly easy... a few mild climbs, and a pretty good downhill section... I made it to the final control and got signed in at 7:32 ... 28 minutes to spare. Kind of stumbled outside holding my card high, to where the RBA was waiting, after collecting the rest of the cards that had been dropped at his truck. Yes, I was the last one, but I finished.
Once I got home I did some research on electrolytes, and realized why I was having so many problems... even with the sports drinks I wasn't getting nearly enough electrolytes... Next time I'll carry some tablets with me. Live and learn, right?
And that, friends, is the final chapter in the saga of how I became a "Super Randonneur" in my first year of Randonneuring and achieved my goal of qualifying for PBP. Finances dictate that I can't actually attend PBP this year, but I look forward to the next time, when hopefully circumstances will be different.
The brevet:
382.84 miles (including one detour and one missed turn/backtrack)
24 hrs, 13 mins on-bike time
39 hrs, 32 mins total time
15.8 mph moving average
10.23 miles each way to/from the bus to the ride
46 hrs without sleep,
403.3 miles total for the weekend
Oh... and yes, I didn't do ANYTHING on Monday... and only headed out on Tuesday for a very short jaunt to rescue my wife and my neighbor when the neighbor's vehicle overheated and stranded them about 5 miles from the house.