Texas - Anyone Else Totally Unprepared for the MS150?

I'm riding in my third MS150 this weekend, and I've never been so woefully unprepared for it. I've ridden 95 miles in 2010. That's down from 3000 miles for the whole year of 2008, when I first did the MS150.

Graduate school has really done me in when it comes to riding... I'm looking forward to graduating and May and trying to get back into the habit that schoolwork has pushed me out of.

Until then, I'll be in pain this weekend. Grrr.

The SE tailwind is definitely going to be your friend this weekend.

I hope you find a good pace line.

I would not say I am not unprepared for the MS150. I have ridden 1317 miles since Jan 1. I have lost an additional 25 lbs. Since I am new to cycling, I am in the best shape and conditioning I have been 9 or the last 10 years every other way ). My big question is am I really ready - the unknown from never having ridden the MS150 before? I am already making list on what to pack or to be carried on the bike. I will wash and clean the bike on Thursday night.

If you have done it before and this is your third time you should know if you are ready or not. Because of your conditioning you may not be able to ride as fast as you have in previous years, but you have finished it before. Good Luck.

I'll say that my butt is unprepared. I rode 100 miles yesterday and that's really the only thing that hurts. :)
Even my hip and knee that were hurting after the ride feel better.

My girlfriend and I rode 63 miles this past weekend during the Greater Dallas Bicyclist's scenic annual Lancaster Ride, and we've been riding pretty regularly these past few months (several times during the week, and both Saturday and Sunday mornings), so we should be ready. We're starting in Katy.

I'm with alohaboy. I've ridden 850+ miles this year, but no ride longer than 55 miles. Butt hurts during most rides. But I think I'm ready for it. If nothing else, I can ride from rest stop to rest stop.

I'm with alohaboy. I've ridden 850+ miles this year, but no ride longer than 55 miles. Butt hurts during most rides. But I think I'm ready for it. If nothing else, I can ride from rest stop to rest stop.

That's my plan. :)
Incidentally, we ride the exact same bike too, '08 Spec Allez Elite Compact.

My big question is am I really ready - the unknown from never having ridden the MS150 before?

Physical preparation vs. mental preparation. Both are important, but I would say physical is more so, for sore body parts and muscles mentioned above. And if you are not physically prepared, mentally you probably won't be either, unless you are naive (which Chino is not).

Mentally all you have to realize is that:

(1) it is not a race, just a cushy bike ride, so enjoy it! Unless you made some sort of wager with someone, it doesn't matter that you get to LaGrange/Austin 30 minutes sooner or later. Not only that, it is an EXTREMELY PAMPERED bike ride with tons of food, sag support, medical personnel, a route well-marked out so you can't help but know where to go.

(2) you'll be around (passing/being passed by) other cyclists the entire ride, which I liken to being on the interstate during rush hour, but generally traffic moves along at the speed you want it to go. Cycle defensively, and you'll be fine. Even though there are scads of people on the MS, the three years I rode I never felt like I was prevented from riding the pace I wanted to ride.

Hope you all have a good MS ride! I'm not able to ride this year because I have a conference to attend, and now all of the sudden I am feeling like I am missing out this year. I'll be looking for the ride reports so I can live vicariously through all of you. :)

I'm feeling pretty unprepared and have a minor hamstring injury from going too low too soon on my road bike (handlebars). I'll be riding the more cushy Giant on the ride not only because it's more upright, but also because it's already been beaten up from being shipped back to Houston once. I don't wanna hurt my Soul.

I'll be seriously taking it easy this time around because I have to nurse my left knee. No rat racing for me :)

I'm way more prepared than past years I rode it... then again, I'm not riding it this year. :D

Greg - Nate and I had wondered if you were still fitting riding in with the graduate program.
You've got enough of a base that you'll be fine. The last year I rode the MS150 I had barely touched the bike since the previous MS150. It hurt... but I finished. Less goofing around, sprinting, playing, bunny-hopping, sharing jokes with passing riders..... more head down grinding along.

Yeamac is right. A big part of the equation is the mental toughness. Physical training is the other key. It is not a race and you have a long time to ride the miles.

Purplefender - no Soul bike? It really is a cool looking and very different bike. Since I have seen you ride it at some many training rides you did put it to good use this season. Comfort is a key to this ride.

I am feeling good and I did lots of training, but never the MS150. My longest ride this season was low 70 miles. My plan is to ride and only stop at every other rest stop or 1-1:15 between breaks. My hope is to average 17-18 mph ( computer avg ) over the 1st day. If we get a nice tail wind or rain then that will change things.

I hope to see you all out there. This is a supposed to be a fun ride, so I will enjoy it one way or another. I will be wearing a Shell Jersey day 1 and a Yellow Houston Cycle Centers Jersey Day 2 on my Trek 2.1 (with Soul wheels - never seen anything else by Soul in Houston except for PF bike ). Good luck and rest up.

I feel like I'm as ready as I could expect to be. Many training rides since January with the longest last weekend of 62. I was tired the next day but not sore at all and my butt very rarely bothers me.

I'll be on my Trek 2.1 like aggarcia (minus the soul wheels) and in a Fluor jersey day one and red and black jersey day 2.

I'm excited already, trying to do things that keep my mind off of it. Like a kid before Christmas. It's gonna be a blast no matter what.

Good luck to everyone. Say Hi if you see me.

Does anyone wear the same jersey for both days?

I was thinking about doing that and bringing some febreeze to keep it fresh. Or is that bad form?

I have heard this from senior MS150 riders - some people wash their jersey and shorts from day 1 in the shower and wear it day 2. Since the MS society is bringing our luggage, why not include a fresh jersey and pair of biking shorts? After a long hopefully hot ride why wear sweaty jersey again?

bigworm - what year is your 2.1? This really is a good value bike on Trek's line. I have seen several of them on the CP training rides. The 2.1 will really help those miles melt away, or so I will tell myself.

aggarcia, same as yours...09 Blue and white. I love it. Been looking at the soul wheels you put on yours. I'll decide later on those. Just thinking about the ride this weekend currently.

The 09 2.1 really has a nice color scheme. I was been a good bike over the almost 3K miles I have put on it since June 09.

I really like the S4.0 wheels in types of riding except in strong cross winds. Those strong 20-30 mph cross winds really push the bike around and you have to steer the bike straight. My only wish was they were lighter, but you can not have your cake and eat it too for the price.

I guess like all MS150 riders were are watching the weather.

You bring a hanger and wear your jersey in the shower, then hang it up overnight. You should wear different bibs the second day, lest you wind up with a hiney full of pimples the second day. Have to do the shower/hang since the team I'm riding with didn't have an option for two jerseys.

I'm wearing my Memorial Herman jersey on Day 1, then my Aggie kit to cross the finish line - nothing beats all those whoops in front of the Capitol in Austin!

lol I'm sure all those UT fans will love you.

Oh gosh, not this ut/am stuff again. Everyone knows UHCL is better than all that :lol:

I would like to ask your guys suggestion for what to do if someone is riding without a group.
Should I just cycle along and try to find a nice place line?

Anyone trying to do this in one day? Perhaps start out on the 70 mile route the first day and take the easier route from la grange to austin?

I would like to ask your guys suggestion for what to do if someone is riding without a group.
Should I just cycle along and try to find a nice place line?

Yep, chances are you will find a group of similar speed, style, ect.

Anyone trying to do this in one day? Perhaps start out on the 70 mile route the first day and take the easier route from la grange to austin?

I've always heard that there is a group that has been riding it in one day since the early 1990's. But I've never actually seen them.(probably because I'm in La Grange when they arrive in Austin) That's cool and all, but part of the fun is crossing the finish line to all the cheering crowd, music, ect. If you do it in one day no one is there but a bunch of dudes setting up tents and stuff.

paste_me, from all the training rides you should be able to find a group of riders that are at a pace you want to ride at. One of my current riding partners I meet at Bike the Bend riding alone last year. We were riding along at the same pace. With 13k other riders there should be lots of possible riding partners.

Riding to Austin in one dst would be fun, but you would miss the social aspect on Sat in LaGrange and the finish at the Capitol.

paste_me, from all the training rides you should be able to find a group of riders that are at a pace you want to ride at. One of my current riding partners I meet at Bike the Bend riding alone last year. We were riding along at the same pace. With 13k other riders there should be lots of possible riding partners.

Riding to Austin in one dst would be fun, but you would miss the social aspect on Sat in LaGrange and the finish at the Capitol.

Yeah, I would like to do it in 2 days but I would need accommodations. Since I am not on a team there wont be aynone there who sets up a tent for me n' all. I tried looking for a hotel room but it seems all of them are sold out right now.

I saw someone renting tent space in LaGrange. You can send two bags for free via the MS society. A tent and small bag with clothes and sleeping bag is what my friend has done in years past. Look around, you still have time. Good Luck.

get in touch with the MS150 organization itself.... a team is nice, but they DO make it possible for those riding alone.

Yes, my good friend ran the MS150 3 times in the early late 90's with friends. He called last night to give me some pointers. He was disgusted how pampered it is to run with a team. The team provides some much for little so money ( about the cost of a jersey ). There are lots of people not riding with a team, so not think it is a requirement. As a first time rider I wanted to go the team route for the large support they give. If I ride next year, then I will have more team options.

Why would anyone do the MS150 after they cancel it so often? Fake storms or swine flu and they shut it down. Total waste and crooked.

They key point to remember is that the MS150 is a major fund raising event for the MS society and the largest MS ride in the country. We are trying to raise money to cure MS and we get to ride our bikes.

Only last year did they have to cancel day one because the fair grounds in LaGrange were under water from all the heavy rain. It has rained before on MS rides, but when the conditions do not allow for a successful event, decisions must be made.

I didn't have any accommodations either and don't have a team. I am sending a tent in my luggage and a sleeping bag. That tent is huge...so there is extra room. Also the MS organizers said there might be space available in one of the buildings for sleeping if needed.

The one thing I have a question about is gearing for the hills? I usually ride very in very flat terrain and I am no speed demon so my usual gears are in the 50-60" class. i just switched to a 10s setup but i don't like the gears I get out of the triple at cruising speed but I wanted to keep the low gear (a 31" gear), however I have compact double that I could use that would give me my usual gears but a low of only a 35" gear. Can anybody comment on the hills for a first timer? My usual stomping ground is around Kingwood up to Coldsprings so I am used to very small rolling hills. I did the Continental Classic ride in March after the GatorRide and did ok but the hills added an extra 1 hour to my usual time for that distance (and it was the first time I ever had to use the triple crank.)

I didn't have any accommodations either and don't have a team. I am sending a tent in my luggage and a sleeping bag. That tent is huge...so there is extra room. Also the MS organizers said there might be space available in one of the buildings for sleeping if needed.



how do i send my tent with them? do it when i pick up my packet?

We are trying to raise money to cure MS and we get to ride our bikes.



No foolin'. I had no idea.

The happiest week of the year for me, is the week after the MS150, when I can get the roads back to myself.

how do i send my tent with them? do it when i pick up my packet? You get two numbers for two bags of luggage in your packet. Just put it in your luggage and drop it off at the luggage bus on Saturday before he ride. Then you pick it up in La Grange when you arrive and set it up. At least i hope it goes this way since that is what I'm doing.

Why would anyone do the MS150 after they cancel it so often? Fake storms or swine flu and they shut it down. Total waste and crooked.
Nice threadsh!t guy :-) Glad there's always one of you every year. Keep on truckin, you're a winner!

Yes you drop your 2 bags at the luggage truck with your rider luggage tags on them. Your luggage will then be available for pickup in LaGrange and then again in Austin. They also will return your luggage and bike to where you started from and/or bus you back to the start if you bought a bus pass ( the luggage and bike are standard ).

canopus - I could help better if you define your cassette and chain rings by their numerical ratings. My triple is a 30/39/30 and a cassette of 12-26 or 11-26 depending on which wheels are on the bike. On training rides I would use my 50-21, 50-23, or 50-26 to spin up the bigger hills. If I thought I was going to need to 50-26 before hand to get up the hill, I would down shift into my 39 chain ring before hand. I do not like to cross chain if possible. The puts more stress on everything before hand.

You will lose speed on the hills vs the flats. On the hills try to maintain your cadence not your speed going up the hills. I try and keep my cadence round 70-80 rpm.

You mention a triple vs compact. In most cases they will have the same big chain ring and a similar small chain ring. The biggest difference is there is no middle chain ring. I do not understand not liking the speed differences of the triple. Please explain?

thanks guys! you have been helpful! hopefully everything works out.

Aggarcia,

Thanks, now just bear with, cause I can hear everyone already saying to push those gear you whinny baby.
I have been running a triple crank, 30-42-52 and a 7 speed in the rear 13-15-16-18-20-22-24
I keep my cadence between 85-95 on 170mm cranks.
It looks like this (in inch gearing):

30 42 52
24 33.8 47.3 58.5
22 36.8 51.5 63.8
20 40.5 56.7 70.2
18 45.0 63.0 78.0
16 50.6 70.9 87.8
15 54.0 75.6 93.6
13 62.3 87.2 108.0

My usual gears are the 42-22 through 42-18 gears. Rarely do I hit the 30 in the front.

I switched to a Campy 10s in the rear and now have this for the triple (in inch gears). I thought I might have better range and maybe a little lower gear for the hills since I struggled a little on the Continental ride in March.

30 42 52
26 31.2 43.6 54.0
23 35.2 49.3 61.0
21 38.6 54.0 66.9
19 42.6 59.7 73.9
18 45.0 63.0 78.0
17 47.6 66.7 82.6
16 50.6 70.9 87.8
15 54.0 75.6 93.6
14 57.9 81.0 100.3
13 62.3 87.2 108.0

However the the missing 51 and 56 inch gears really hurt my knees this last week when I rode this for the first time. Also the chain line is absolutely horrible in all sense of the word. I can't stand it.
So I was thinking of putting on my compact crank which would give me this (inch gearing):

34 50
26 35.3 51.9
23 39.9 58.7
21 43.7 64.3
19 48.3 71.1
18 51.0 75.0
17 54.0 79.4
16 57.4 84.4
15 61.2 90.0
14 65.6 96.4
13 70.6 103.8

These are my three options since I can't get a 29 rear cog this week.
So my question is really how bad are the hills, say compared to the Continental ride back in march. Am I really going to miss that 31 inch low gear?

Now remember I am not that strong of a rider and can't power up hills like alot of people. I am getting better but still have a ways to go. I am thinking that the 4" gear loss on the bottom won't be so bad to get back my cruising gears that the compact crank would offer.

Your 7 speed must have been hard to ride. The triple is different gearing. The compact is pretty standard. There are two ways to climb hills - power up them or spin up. Most of my friends have the same compact and a 12-25, so close gearing. Put it into the 34-26 and just spin up the hills. It will take less effort and slower to spin up the hills, but this is not a race. When I get tired I just put my triple in the 39-26 and spin. Save energy and spin up the hills. This is not a race.

Holy cow that was a hell of a two days!

They had to move us from camp walmart to the kc hall saturday night.

Second day started off hard from all the butt-pain and the spray from the back tire makin things all wet. At one point on the ride I thought my brakes were dragging because it was so much work to go forward....I hadn't noticed that I was on a hill :lol:

A great ride for me though! Got to La-grange at 1:35 and got to Austin at 11:50. Beer at the end of the finish line at the team tents was the best part about both days.

Hope you all had fun!

Graduate school has really done me in when it comes to riding... I'm looking forward to graduating and May and trying to get back into the habit that schoolwork has pushed me out of.



I was in the same boat.