Originally Posted by ahultin

Ok so as promised, my ride report, but before that, I must throw a quick heartfelt thank you out to the one and only Mr Beanz! I don’t think that I would have attacked the hills if it were not for your incessant badgering to just climb!
As this thread is aptly titled this ride was one of redemption! This was attempt two of my first century and one I have been gearing up for since last year. For those that are reading this that are new or just missed last year’s ride report, it is here https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/772602 . While it is a long read, it helps to understand this “journey” As I read back through it this morning I
Could actually feel the emotions that ran through after last yrs attempt. Working up to this weekends I had logged many miles and many feet of climbing but I was still concerned, after all this route had beat me once. I was so concerned that very few people even knew I was signed up for the ride. Knowing that attempting this ride with someone would be easier than alone, shortly after our Clyde Assault on GMR I asked Mr Beanz If he would join me. To my delight and surprise, he agreed J
About three weeks prior to the ride my training plan had been interrupted by my right shifter going out. This left me training on my dual suspension MTB with slicks. It was heavy and it was slow so while I could ride consistently I could not put in the miles. My longest training ride before this happened had been 60 miles and I had a planned 75 and 80 that I would end up needing to do without. The week before I consciously reduced my riding to let muscles relax and rebuild (Advice I failed to head last year) The day before I ate well and loaded up on rice. I set everything out for the ride, 4 extra tubes, some tools for just in case, patch kit ,some NUUN, fig newton’s, well you get the picture. I went to sleep at 7:45 with the alarm set for a brisk 4am wakeup. I got up Saturday morning, had some cereal, some fruit, some V8 and a bunch of water and was off. Arrived at the parking lot about 6 am and started getting ready. Beanz rolled over about 6:30 as he had parked in a different spot. Just before 7am we rolled over to the start line and we were off! I had a plan, stop at every rest stop, stay hydrated, eat whether or not I felt like it was needed and I was going to finish. In the heat of the mass start I set the pace a little fast to begin with but I think Beanz recognized that and reeled me in after a short while. About mile 9 we hit the first small climb and it definitely was better than before. We stopped at the first rest stop @12.5miles in and all was well. Drank a Gatorade and some water, used the rest room and off we went. It definitely helped having a ride partner but I am sure I abused Mr Beanz wheel privileges (I owe you one J ) The next climb was up Goetz Road. Last yr I stopped on this hill at least twice, this year I made it up! I won’t lie, it was hard going but I made it. With that we were rewarded with a nice descent which was a great time to recuperate. The next 20 miles was fairly uneventful as it was flat or down hill but I knew what was coming up. We had two more short but steep climbs and then where at the lunch stop (a little over half way) For lunch they had sandwiches/chips/bananas/trail mix, not to bad and actually seemed like a better than last year’s pasta fare. Not sure how long we were there but It was a much needed rest , especially knowing the next part of the route. We also had an interesting conversation with a rider doing the tour on an Eliptigo, interesting character.
After lunch we started on our way back out. It was about 5 miles of shallow grade before we hit the “serious section” dropped into granny gear and grinded up. The climb was difficult but I was able to tackle the first hill non-stop which I could not last year. The second hill (which I had to walk most the way up last year) I stopped 1 ½ times, well ok twice the first stop was to rest, the second was because Beanz had gone around a corner and stopped when he saw I wasn’t behind him. When I caught back up he told me to rest J. At this point we tweaked with my rear derailuir as a rider who passed me grinding up the hill commented that I had two more gears to use but my shifter was maxed. Getting up that was a great accomplishment but we had one more serious incline to tackle. At this point in the ride I was getting some minor cramping. Nothing too sever but enough to notice. Compare to the debilitating cramping I had last year at this point it was nothing. We went around Benton and hit Sage, the final climb which strava shows as cat 3. I was pretty spent and Beanz offered up his Clif bar (Damn I guess that’s another I owe you) which while nasty L seemed to help. This section held serious anxiety as last year the rest stop on this segment was as far as I got. I crawled my way up and made it to the rest stop, had some Gatorade, some grapes and refilled the water. We learned that we were in a small group of the last 6 riders, 2 ahead and 2 behind, no worries though as the goal was to finish and that in and of itself would be a win. Saddled back up and made the last ½ mile or so push up the hill. That small push, the ultimate difference between last yrs DNF and this year’s result was blissful! I hit the peak and reveled in what I knew would be a 5 plus mile recovery coast down the grade. Top speed without even trying was 45.5mph J. We rolled through a few miles of Hemet and hit the next rest stop with two other riders. A Banana, a Gatorade, a water and an aweful PB&J later and we were off again. 80 miles down, a high distance for the year but at this point there was no turning back! The cramps began to progress at this point and my speed began to fall, 15,14,13, then on a short decent at mile 89.5 my calf went into full contraction and would not let up. I had to get off and felt like I was going to die stretching it out. There was no way though that this was going to stop me. A few minutes later I got back on and pushed the last half mile to the last rest stop. Here we were told the two that where behind us had taken a short cut and were now in front. I had another Gatorade some peanuts and some water and stretched out a little more. We began to push off and a short 2 miles later I had what seemed like a rush of energy and the cramps subsided. We pushed on at a decent clip. I was truly overwhelmed with emotion for a few miles as it looked like it was almost over, that was until we made the left onto Case at mile 98.5 and started into the wind. It was like the routes one last taunt before it was over, the longest mile I had ever ridden! We got through it though (again trying to hold Mr Beanz wheel! ) The last short leg was on D street and I could see then end in sight. The feeling of elation over successfully completing was only exceeded by the feeling of joy as we rounded the last corner and saw that my wife and daughter were waiting at the finish line! This was a surprise as while originally planned, my son Sebastian had come home from school Thursday with a fever so she was going to have to stay with him. We passed through the finish line according to my garmin with a moving time of 7hrs 30 min and a total time of 10hrs 9min. Not bad considering my goal was to finish and this bested my solo century last November of 8hrs 5 min! While I came in dead last I have learned to look at the positives, I was first in the over 300lb class J
All in all a great experience and as Beanz stated on the ride, “if it is Humanly possible, anyone can do it with the right training”
So all my fellow clydes, GET OUT THERE AND RIDE!!!

Originally Posted by Lesper4

That is awesome beanz great stories like that motivate us all.