bautieri
This morning I had the pleasure of riding another metric century with fellow forum poster vXhanz. I arrived to his house at 6:40am after a few navigational errors. I managed to miss 2 streets. Anyways, he was waiting for me so I pulled into the driveway. Unloaded my bike, then changed into my cycle cloths. Thinking I had left my sunglasses in the car I walk over to it and see both my keys, and my backpack locked inside my car. We had 5 minutes before we had to leave to bike over to the starting point of the Double Creek Metric Century. After a brief explanation I was able to successfully break into my car in 3 minutes using a coat hanger, two screw drivers, pair of pliers and a shop cloth. I retrieved my keys and backpack but could not find my sunglasses…they were clipped onto the front of my jersey the entire time.
Oh I finally bought and used a jersey so The Historian can quit teasing me about it :p.
I was thinking we were not off to a good start and would later be proven correct. My riding companion had been suffering from the effects of food poisoning for three days prior to the ride and was not feeling so great at the start. In addition his rear hub was making a nasty creaking noise right from the start. The rear wheel was trued and this was it’s first ride. No turning back at this point, “we’ll have a mechanic look at it at the first rest stop” he said.
4.6 miles later we were at the start and let me tell you some ladies look really nice in lycra ;). For once in my life I was able to chase all kinds of women all day without being labeled as offensive. The ride started and we held a nice pace just a hair under 20mph. The scenery was nothing short of spectacular. After a couple good hill climbs we made it to the first rest stop. I had half a banana and was intruded by a peculiar flavor of Card Kaboom Goo. The flavor was peach banana. I figured it would be one of two things, freaking awesome or horrible. Turns out it was horrible, avoid this flavor if you possibly can. After un-hydrating and topping off our bottles we set off. Herb was still looking a bit blue around the gills but was determined not to give up. The mechanics booth was packed so we decided to wait until the next stop 10 miles later. We got to the next stop and alas there were no mechanics. We each had a cliff bar and topped off. I would later be informed that the cliff bar was able to make Herb feel much better. Probably helped to have a bit of food in him. About 2 miles past the second rest stop I had a mechanical failure. Pulling out from a stop sign I heard a pop from my bottom bracket and was treated to a creaking noise when my pedals were in the two and eight o’clock position. I also notice the bike was noticeable harder to pedal. Better have a mechanic look at it at the next stop. The creaking got worse and by time I made it to the next stop the creaking had grown to making a horrible groaning noise whenever moved forwards. Backwards movement brought on a cracking noise that made everyone who heard it wince. Oh course, no mechanics and no sag wagons. Thinking back now I don’t remember seeing a single sag wagon the entire day.
Later we stopped to assist a fellow rider with a flat tire. By this time the suns heat was getting really oppressive, 90’s and high humidity. My bike was increasingly difficult to pedal and annoying to boot. I would later find out that my constant creaking would help Herb with his sprinting as he had grown weary of listening to it. Thanks Herb, how do you think I felt riding the darn thing :lol:.
We were getting really low on water when a kind soul made a little oasis for the bikers. They had set out a small cooler of ice and pulled their garden hose up to the road side with a sign asking the bikers to help themselves. It really was a god send as there we had made it deep into farm country with nowhere to stop. We topped off and set off. The last 20 miles we were treated to cows, horses, and farmers busily shopping hay. Smile and wave to farmers, they don’t bite. As you can probably guess the creaking was worse and was getting hard to pedal. Even in a low gear it was hard make any head way. Finally after a hard fought 10 miles we made it to the school to complete the ride. We took 5 hours to finish the ride but considering the illness and host mechanical setbacks I think we did ok. Lunch was a pulled pork sandwich that was delicious. I couldn’t finish mine, it was just too heavy to be eating right after that ride. I munched a piece of cantaloupe instead and un-hydrated again. Herb had offered to have his wife come pick us up which sounded like a good idea until I remembered that I had the truck parked in. Guess we’re riding then. I climbed back aboard ole squeaky and rode as best I could to Herb’s house. Upon arriving Herb introduced me to his lovely family. His wife had kindly prepared us quite the feast of shrimp alfredo and grilled chicken. After getting cleaned up we enjoyed a delicious meal and cooled off. I had a wonderful time and thank my gracious hosts for inviting me into their home. I would love to do this ride again when it’s a bit cooler and our bicycles are in better shape. I think I’ll be holding on to this cue sheet.
My thoughts:
The ride itself was awesome. Beautiful scenery and we even had the pleasure of having some roads closed for us.
Rest stops were well stocked with water, Gatorade, fruit snacks, pretzels, banana’s, pb&j, and carb kaboom gels. I was even able to finish the ride with +1 Goo than I started with.Spacing of the stops was poor in my opinion, they were all three were within 20 miles of each other.
Sag vehicles were non-existent, mechanics were only available at the first stop. If I have the chance to leave feedback I will comment on the lack of mechanical and emergency help available.
Bau
Oh I finally bought and used a jersey so The Historian can quit teasing me about it :p.
I was thinking we were not off to a good start and would later be proven correct. My riding companion had been suffering from the effects of food poisoning for three days prior to the ride and was not feeling so great at the start. In addition his rear hub was making a nasty creaking noise right from the start. The rear wheel was trued and this was it’s first ride. No turning back at this point, “we’ll have a mechanic look at it at the first rest stop” he said.
4.6 miles later we were at the start and let me tell you some ladies look really nice in lycra ;). For once in my life I was able to chase all kinds of women all day without being labeled as offensive. The ride started and we held a nice pace just a hair under 20mph. The scenery was nothing short of spectacular. After a couple good hill climbs we made it to the first rest stop. I had half a banana and was intruded by a peculiar flavor of Card Kaboom Goo. The flavor was peach banana. I figured it would be one of two things, freaking awesome or horrible. Turns out it was horrible, avoid this flavor if you possibly can. After un-hydrating and topping off our bottles we set off. Herb was still looking a bit blue around the gills but was determined not to give up. The mechanics booth was packed so we decided to wait until the next stop 10 miles later. We got to the next stop and alas there were no mechanics. We each had a cliff bar and topped off. I would later be informed that the cliff bar was able to make Herb feel much better. Probably helped to have a bit of food in him. About 2 miles past the second rest stop I had a mechanical failure. Pulling out from a stop sign I heard a pop from my bottom bracket and was treated to a creaking noise when my pedals were in the two and eight o’clock position. I also notice the bike was noticeable harder to pedal. Better have a mechanic look at it at the next stop. The creaking got worse and by time I made it to the next stop the creaking had grown to making a horrible groaning noise whenever moved forwards. Backwards movement brought on a cracking noise that made everyone who heard it wince. Oh course, no mechanics and no sag wagons. Thinking back now I don’t remember seeing a single sag wagon the entire day.
Later we stopped to assist a fellow rider with a flat tire. By this time the suns heat was getting really oppressive, 90’s and high humidity. My bike was increasingly difficult to pedal and annoying to boot. I would later find out that my constant creaking would help Herb with his sprinting as he had grown weary of listening to it. Thanks Herb, how do you think I felt riding the darn thing :lol:.
We were getting really low on water when a kind soul made a little oasis for the bikers. They had set out a small cooler of ice and pulled their garden hose up to the road side with a sign asking the bikers to help themselves. It really was a god send as there we had made it deep into farm country with nowhere to stop. We topped off and set off. The last 20 miles we were treated to cows, horses, and farmers busily shopping hay. Smile and wave to farmers, they don’t bite. As you can probably guess the creaking was worse and was getting hard to pedal. Even in a low gear it was hard make any head way. Finally after a hard fought 10 miles we made it to the school to complete the ride. We took 5 hours to finish the ride but considering the illness and host mechanical setbacks I think we did ok. Lunch was a pulled pork sandwich that was delicious. I couldn’t finish mine, it was just too heavy to be eating right after that ride. I munched a piece of cantaloupe instead and un-hydrated again. Herb had offered to have his wife come pick us up which sounded like a good idea until I remembered that I had the truck parked in. Guess we’re riding then. I climbed back aboard ole squeaky and rode as best I could to Herb’s house. Upon arriving Herb introduced me to his lovely family. His wife had kindly prepared us quite the feast of shrimp alfredo and grilled chicken. After getting cleaned up we enjoyed a delicious meal and cooled off. I had a wonderful time and thank my gracious hosts for inviting me into their home. I would love to do this ride again when it’s a bit cooler and our bicycles are in better shape. I think I’ll be holding on to this cue sheet.
My thoughts:
The ride itself was awesome. Beautiful scenery and we even had the pleasure of having some roads closed for us.
Rest stops were well stocked with water, Gatorade, fruit snacks, pretzels, banana’s, pb&j, and carb kaboom gels. I was even able to finish the ride with +1 Goo than I started with.Spacing of the stops was poor in my opinion, they were all three were within 20 miles of each other.
Sag vehicles were non-existent, mechanics were only available at the first stop. If I have the chance to leave feedback I will comment on the lack of mechanical and emergency help available.
Bau