Road Cycling - MS150 Breakaway to the Beach

Woo-hoo!!! :beer: I did my 150 mile ride this weekend!! It went from Camden, S.C. to Florence, S.C. (74 miles), then went on the next day from Florence, S.C. to North Myrtle Beach, S.C. (76 miles).

What a blast, rush, etc.!!! The longest I had ridden before this ride was 54 miles (I believe) and then for the last month I'd almost completely ridden indoors because of an ear infection that would not go away. Anyway, I finished & I'm so proud of me. LOL

Here's a brief summary of each day:

Day 1 -- Oopsies!! Me and my sister got there an hour late because we thought the start time was an hour later than it was. :eek: Anyway, they let us set off anyway & we were with other bikers by lunch time. LOL

I don't know how to describe the first day. There were no major mishaps but it did seem kind of grueling as the day went on. The volunteers at the rest stops were so great, though. They really made the ride such a good time. One stop was completely manned by people who had MS & they were so appreciative and sweet. Another one had iced towels & I think they should have these at every rest stop. We went to Darlington Speedway for one of our stops & it was kind of cool to go to the race track -- they had popsicles there -- another good item!

I cruised into Florence High School and was so glad to be done with Day 1. It was 89 degrees & sunny out and I was definitely ready to cool down. My sister showed up about an hour and a half later & I was worried she was in the hospital because she doesn't tolerate heat well. Turns out, she was at the McDonald's drinking a chocolate milkshake for part of the time! LOL

Day 2 --

This day was both exhilarating and harrowing in opposite order. Once we set off for this ride, around rest stop 3, someone thought it would be entertaining to turn the directional arrows & we ended up a couple of miles in the wrong direction -- along with 4 other riders. Anyway, while we're down this road -- Cujo (aka, Smokey -- the big black husky) decided to attack. He especially was fond of me. :eek: He hit my bike twice with his body, trying to knock me over. He had teeth bared, hair raised & was snapping at my legs. No fun at all. I'm yelling "NO!" at the top of my lungs like the books say to do & Cujo just kept thinking "dinner." His little kiddie owners were hollering "If you just pet him, he probably won't bite you." LOL -- "probably won't bite me." -- whatever. . . One of the smarter volunteers on a motorcycle figured out the arrow was turned the wrong way & came & found us at the Interstate we finally made it to on the errant trail. He called a truck & they drove us back to the arrow because we refused to face Cujo again. Anyway, Cujo rattled the 4 people so badly with us that they quit!! They caught the SuperSag to the Beach.

My sister and I forged on -- screw Cujo! LOL My adrenalin was racing.

Anyway, the fun parts of this day was that some guys with Canada shirts on asked me if I wanted to paceline with them & I told them, I had never done it & didn't want to wipe them all out. They told me to come on anyway & they would pull me & I didn't have to participate in the paceline. Sooooo, I rode behind them for about 25 miles at a 18-20mph pace and kept up!! It was such a rush -- I had no idea I could go that fast & hang that close behind people without spazzing. They were absolutely great about signaling slow downs & bumps & everything else. Plus -- they were hot! LOL Brightened my day.

At the last water stop, I decided to wait for my sister so we could ride in together. Sooo, it was a long wait in the hot sun and the paramedics came & picked up a woman who was just really non-stop vomiting because of the heat. Overall, I heard about several heat exhaustion hospital trips & several wrecks causing hospitalization. One was a railroad track wreck & I believe the person was hurt pretty badly. That story scared me enough that I walked my bike over the railroad tracks I came to.

The last 5 miles were at about a 10-12 mph pace but I was glad I waited for my sister because she was looking a little heat stricken herself.

Anyway, we made it!!! My overall pace was right at 14mph which was fine with me. I rode about 5 legs of the ride with my sister & the rest with strangers or on my own.

I'm sorry if this is not brief (LOL) but it was such a blast & such a rush to accomplish after only having my bike a few months or so. I am so addicted. I will definitely do this ride again next year!

Good job!!

-Stacie
:beer:

FANTASTIC!!!!!!

Hooray! Wonderful! I LOVED the in-depth explanation, esp. since I've got one coming before long.

As for Cujo... clip out a kick him as hard as you can w/ your heel! Works every time!

Thanks Stacie & oldillini!! :)

Carl, I'll try to remember the heeling the dog thing but I was just really scared of this dog & amazed I stayed on my bike at all after he bumped me and bit at me. LOL It didn't even cross my mind to unclip. I would have just been eaten had I fallen over. My sister swears she would have saved me as she hung back saying the dog was really mean. :)

hibiscus09,
I heard about the dog from a customer this morning. Does your sister happen to have a new Bianchi Eros?? I was on the route both days, the mechanic from Outspokin', also the only chick mechanic it seemed.

Glad you had fun

Arsbars -- I'm the one with the Bianchi Eros. :) Was that you in there talking to Michael (I believe that's his name)? I'm 42, 5'3.5" and sandy blondish brownish hair. They just lubed it for me this morning. Were you the one who told me just to get off my bike when the dogs came after me? I think I saw you at one of the stops. I was getting my clips on my shoes oiled because they wouldn't clip in but I stopped at the mechanic across the way before I realized Outspokins mechanic was there. :D

Yeh that's me :)

Congrats on your ride!Sounds like it was very eventful. It's really cool when someone offers to let you ride in a paceline. Same thing happened to me on my MS150 ride, and it made all of the difference on the second day. Did you take any pictures?

Yeah, the paceline stuff was great! :) I did take pics -- but I'm not loving me in that lovely biking get up. LOL We forgot the camera on the first day, but brought it along on the second.

I had a blast too! And, luckily, we had great weather for the entire weekend. Came down from Northern Virginia to ride with my brother. I thought this was the most organized ride I've ever participated in and all the volunteers did a super job. I rode my mountain bike but was able to keep up with many of the pace lines which made for some quick times. I was exillerated for both starts but the last 15 miles or so of the second day started to get to me. I dehydrated a little and my legs wanted to cramp but I was able to make it in without an unsheduled stop. We got into Florence around 1:45 where we showered, got messages, ate dinner, then headed into town for a movie. By the time we got back to the gym it was lights out and nighty-night for us soon after. We started Sunday in the 3rd wave of riders (chilly morning) and finished around 1:30. After a long bus ride back (of course I slept the whole way) we stopped at Food Lion for a snack and were back in Charlotte by about 7:30. I'm really looking forward to doing this again next year-this time with a road bike (I've never seen so many high-end bikes in one place in my life). Congratulations to everyone who rode. :beer:

Cool, mjw! :) That was a chilly morning start -- my teeth kept chattering. LOL The lady could have talked a little less over the loud speaker too that early in the morning. :D

It was very well organized though, wasn't it? It was my first time doing this & I was amazed at how organized it was & how cheerful and helpful all the volunteers were.

I'm definitely doing it again next year!

Okay, I'll try to post a few ugly pics. LOL This first one is just me without a helmet because I feel like I have to show you normal me before I show you scary helmet, kotex shorts me. LOL

Now, here comes the scary pic. LOL This is the second day start line -- the chilly morning that made my teeth chatter. :)

Oh good -- it's kind of fuzzy anyway. LOL

This is my sister, Debbie, also on the second day. I was soooo proud of her. She had only trained twice & decided she would try anyway. She made it the whole way. Woo-hoo! I'm going to try to keep her cycling. She's holding onto my bike but hers was a 10 speed, which I think made the hills much tougher to negotiate.

Hibiscus, congrats on your ride!

I never even thought about doing that ride until I read your description. It sounds like so much fun I would like to go for it next year! Probably not in Illinois, but I'd like to head out to another state like Colorado or California or Seattle and give it a shot. Thanks for the details. As you know, my posts are long and involved, so it's nice to see someone who is as verbose as I am! ;)

Again, congrats to you AND your sister!

Koffee

Thanks Koffee! I think you'll really enjoy it if you do one. It's such a blast & everyone is so nice.

I have always, always talked a lot. I apparently have plenty to say! :D

I finally feel like a real person again today. :) Hand swelling went away yesterday. :D Can't wait to do this again next year. LOL

Hand swelling? I was fortunate not to have that problem on this ride. I did, however, have swelling and numbness (for about 2 weeks) following a 200 mile ride along the bumpy and muddy C & O Canal back in June. I took 800 mg of Ibuprofin 3 times a day and iced my left hand/wrist at night. I still have a little tingling when I tap my left hand on something but the other symptoms have gone away. Like you I can't wait to do the ride again next year. I'm looking at a new Giant OCR Touring (a big upgrade from the home made mountain bike I rode this year), it should improve my comfort and efficiency dramatically.

Cool -- I hope you end up getting your new bike. :)

My hands all better now. I actually kind of bloated up in general for a few days. I was hoping I would be 5lbs thinner for a day or 2. LOL No such luck. I only weigh 122lbs so I guess my body just refused to part with any weight. :D

When I arrived at the finish line they handed me a Pepsi and a 3 Musketeers. :eek:

Congrats on your ride! I've always wanted to do that ride but just
seem to fit it in. We do the MS 150 ride here in NC. Had 925 cyclists
this year. I use to live in Columbia about 10 years ago. I worked at
the Eckerds at 5 points. Use to go to the bike shop there some
(Outspokin) If I remember it was a great shop.

Hi there -- thanks! :)

I bought my bike at Outspokin -- they are all really knowledgeable and really nice there.

There was a group on this ride that started in Charlotte & met up with us in Florence to head on to the beach. :) You should do it next year!

Way to go Girls... that is a great sucess story.
Thanks for sharing

Thanks SirJoel! :) It was so cool!