Hipcycler

No ride for me today.
Wet leaves+hip replacement=Not so good if you crash.

So I was inside and organizing my training log and web log, feeling nostalgic about the season as it nears a close.

Many rides stick in our memory for one reason or another.

But I'll pin you down to telling us a story here about THEE SINGLE RIDE that stands out to you from this season. You only get to talk about one.


I'll start....

Many of you know that my big goal this year was to finish my first century in my first attempt, which I did. And while that was indeed huge and a lot of fun to do with some members of BF at my side, that wasn't really THEE one this season. No, sometimes THEE one comes out of left field. It comes as an unexpected surprise for reasons that perhaps can't even be explained. Yet there it is...your most memorable ride of the season.


A week after that century I met up with two friends of mine and we rode 40 miles in territory unfamiliar to me. This would turn out to be the ride that sticks in my mind more than any other in '06.

Some background:

A couple of months after my hip replacement surgery, there was a sales associate where I work who was a little older than me and an avid and accomplished cyclist. I turned to him to get info about buying a bike, as was recommended by my surgeon as a way to continue my rehab.

Jeff helped me get into my first bike and acted as sort of my coach six years ago. He taught me a lot. He gave me a little yellow rubber wrist band called Livestrong that I still wear today. I learned so much about the sport from him. I deeply respected what he could do on a bike.

He's a total 'Type A' personality guy. He can never sit still. He's a hammer. He can never let anyone pass him. He has but one speed and that's all out. We tease him about it to this day. It's irritating, but it's Jeff.

He was one of the guys on this ride. He was having a BBQ at his house and wanted to ride first.

The other guy, Rich, is an accomplished tri-athlete and was one of our professional tour guides during the Tour de Phil cycling camp I did for a week in Girona, Spain a few years ago. Needless to say, he too can hammer.

The plan was for the three of us to go out on a little ride while our wives went to a big antique show. We'd meet up after at Jeff's house for the BBQ.

I was in way over my head and knew these guys were going to get serious in a hurry despite our easy 16-17 mph pace for the first mile or so.

The pace quickened.
I was on roads I had never seen before, and was just trying to focus on doing everything right to be able to show these guys and myself that I belonged in here with them....that I could handle it at their pace.

I believe I posted about this ride here after it happened, because at one point on a flat section the three of us were in a tight paceline and I looked down and we were sustaining 29 mph. I couldn't believe I was doing that well. For me, that was huge. Everything, from the breathing to the pedal stroke and gearing, had to be in order for me to hang on.

We worked a tight line the entire ride. And every time Jeff got on the front he would break all the rules. I would hear the gears clunking and I knew he wasn't grabbing an easier one! Sure enough, there went the speed by a mile an hour or two higher. That's Jeff.

I worked super hard.
I suffered at times, but it was the good suffering, the suffering you feel when you ask your body to do more than it is used to doing and it responds.

I hung with the big boys for 40 miles.
In the end we averaged just under 20 mph for the trip.
All along the way there wasn't much talking. We let our legs do that I guess. It was all business out there and that was fine with me. I felt like a real cyclist today.

Afterward, we sat on his deck, grilled chicken breasts and talked cycling.
Life was good.

I think that ride on that day represented the peak of my cycling season in 2006.

DocRay

I came across a huge snapping turtle trying to cross a secondary highway. He was 3 ft long, it was 100 degrees. He was dying in the heat. I doused him with my water bottle, and turned him back around towards a shady swamp, while he snapped at me.

It must have looked hilarious seeing a guy in spandex and slippy look cleats trying to turn around a turtle that was obsessed with walking into traffic.

Machka 

Oh this is EASY. The one ride that really stands out in my mind in a VERY positive way is the UMCA 24-hour Challenge.

I've got the story, complete with photos, on my website here: https://www.machka.net/2006/2006_UMCA24.htm

But very briefly .... the UMCA 24-hour Challenge is a 24-hour road race run like a Time Trial ... you ride for 24 hours straight through (or as much of that as you can), and you can't draft other riders. I didn't have any great expectations for that ride ... but I blew away almost all my previous personal bests for various distances ... and I won the "first place" trophy. You'll have to read the story for details on all of that!!


Here's the UMCA 24-hour site for more details on the ride itself: https://www.big-dogs.org/umc/umca24/24Home.aspx

GuitarWizard

Probably the century I attempted back in September with the onset of a bad case of mono - looking back, I'm amazed that I actually finished 40 miles of it. If it wasn't for the fact I had the most upset stomach I've ever experienced, I probably would've completed it....would've been in rough shape, though.

Hipcycler

Good stuff....keep 'em coming.

DocRay--I think it is very cool that you helped that turtle. And see, turned out to be your most memorable ride of the season!

Machka--What can I say? Awesome story.

GW--The power of the mind over the body, even as it is ailing and telling you not to go.

superdex

Just one? ARGH!

Okay, with much apologies to the BFers I flew out to meet/ride in Lancaster PA, I'm going to say my One Ride of the Summer was Rocky Mountain National Park: https://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=225625

GuitarWizard

Yeah....unfortunately my stomach was having nothing of that. I literally couldn't even look at food, that's how bad it was. If I could've eaten and fueled myself, I would've completed it.

Oh well...I just hope the weather is just as nice next year. It was *the perfect* day for riding - sunny with no clouds, around 83 degrees, no wind, and fairly low humidity. The year before, I guess it poured buckets for most of the day.

Patriot

I'd have to say one of the neatest rides I had, was when I rode home from work on friday night a couple weeks ago. It was around midnight, pitch black out in the country, ,and the air was cool (45F) and crisp. The sky was bare with the stars out in full glory. As I stopped along an empty dark road without a soul in sight, I looked up at the stars, and I saw the International Space station go zipping across the sky. It went from horizon to horizon within about a minute or so. All of a sudden, I remembered how small I am, in such a big universe.

That was pretty neat.

1955

I'll make this simple.

Riding with buddies after work on Wednesday, we saw a female runner (6' tall Asian knockout) and I proceeded to run off of the trail. While my buddy and I were laughing I went to get back on the trail which stepped up about 6" (more than I thought), caught the edge and went down on my left side and my head. I ended up with multiple road rashes and a broken Atmos helmet, the bike was untouched except for the new rear flasher.

Yes, I felt like an idiot, but in my defense, she is VERY HOT.

aham23

I had many great rides in this my first season of cycling, but..........

RAIN = Ride Across Indiana = One Way, One Day, 160 miles and 100 degree heat.

......was my most memorable. Later.

michaelmc

I did a ride this summer with a friend in SW France from Carsac-Aillac to Cadouin, a beautiful little medieval town with a monastery and a cycling museum with 80 or so bikes that were between 150 and 75 years old, and then had a blast racing down through the hills back to the valley. Great day.

zimbo

My most memorable ride was my 2nd race ever, a criterium race at the end of August.

I hadn't planned to start racing until next year but there were a couple of events near the end of the season that got my attention and I thought it would be good to see what racing was like so I'd be able to focus my off-season training. Everyone told me I would get dropped in my first race and that the accelerations would catch me by surprise but I really thought my training was adequate. In my first race, I didn't get a very good start, had a minor mechanical problem, got dropped, and was lapped by the field. It was humbling even though I had been told it would happen.

In my 2nd race, I got a better start and after the first turn found myself at the front of the pack. You can my full race report here, but in short I ended up winning the race in a solo finish despite having my handlebars come so loose during the race that I wasn't able to stand up out of the saddle for fear of falling over.

It wasn't the fact that I won that made the event memorable but it was the fact that I was able to stay with the group and hold my own that meant a lot to me. It's given me motivation to work hard in the off-season to continue to improve.

--Steve

cuda2k

Hip - thanks for posting this thread, made me remember that I never wrote up a ride review of Hotter'N Hell Hundred back in August! Guess I spent a good week recovering from the ride that I never actually wrote about it. I'll dig in the memory banks this weekend and write up a good story about the experience which has to be my best ride of the year. Till then, here's my list of ride reviews as is: https://thecuda.com/RideReviews.asp

Edit... ok, I lied, I just never put the HHH ride reivew on my website. Here's the added-on-to version from the Hotter'N Hell Hundred survival story thread I started back at the end of August...
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The 25th Hotter'N Hell Hundred has now come and gone. Well, I hope by now that most of the riders have wrapped up the day on the road. I'm now back in Dallas, a successful ride behind me. This was my second Metric Century, the last one nearly 11 months ago. I learned a lot from that previous ride and put those lessons in practice today.

BF member lecterman and I headed for Wichita Falls on Friday afternoon after I got out of work. I had the bike in the back of the truck and everything packed and ready to roll out. We had arranged to spend Friday night at the house of a resident of Wichita Falls who had registered as a host house for the riders. Through conversations on BikeForums before leaving town we knew that Austin BF member dstrong and a friend were also rooming at the same house.

Friday night was spent unpacking at the house, going to the consumer show at the ride start, going to get food, going BACK to the consumer show after realizing that lecterman had forgotten his HELMET! and then back to the house. The night finished with the 5 riders all sharing a good luck round of Austin made Vodka and Tonic. All the better to sleep the short night till it was time to get up and head for the starting line.

The ride kicked off at 7:04am with a cannon blast and a fly over by a pair of air force jets. Lecterman and I were probably positioned in the front 20% of the some 12000 riders. The first .6mi we literally walked as the pack slowly started to roll. After that things started spreading out a bit more, but we were still taking up 2+ lanes, with riders 5-6 a breast across those lanes. Lots of small pace line starting to get rolling, single riders out enjoying the morning rollout. Lecterman caught a faster line than I did a few miles out of Wichita Falls and I wouldn't see him again till the second rest stop 20mi into the ride where we both decided we would make our first stop. I was feeling quite strong in the morning and was enjoying seeing all of the riders out, eyeing many of the other beautiful bikes out on the road. I lost count of how many different brands I saw out there, but no, no other Gazelles out there that I saw.

Rest stop #2, at 20mi in, we took a break here and I took the opportunity to down a banana and stretched out a bit. Front mile 20-30 we turned with the wind to our backs and continued to average a strong 19-21mph. Lecterman had pushed a harder first 20, but i was still clinging to a 18+mph average over the first 20, and brought that up to 18.7 by mid ride.

It wasn't till about 40mi into the ride that the heat, and the wind, started to make things harder. We started turning into the wind and the temps were getting warm very quickly. The wind was keeping the heat from getting too bad though, and for what, I was almost thankful for it. Finally, around mile 50 we turned into the headwind for the final leg back into Wichita Falls. The highlight of the final miles was the detour through Sheppard Air Force base. A monster of a B-52 welcomed us to the base, followed by a display of C-130 cargo planes, an A-10 Warthog and F-16 Falcons rounded out the military hardware out in the sun as we rode by.

Shortly after leaving the base, Lecterman and I had our only real hicup during the ride. His rear wheel was slowly going down and we pulled off the route in a residuental area just off base (thankfully with a large oak tree overhead with lots of shade!) to take a look. We weren't able to find a leak in the tube and Lecterman ended up putting the tube back in, pumped it up best he could and we rode the last 4mi in to the finish.

Afterwards we cooled down a bit, grabbed a beer from dstrong and company's supply, and headed back into the consumer show to find some much needed A/C. My stomach wasn't handling the beer all that well in the over headed condition I was in so I nursed it slowly while cooling down. I knew I had a long drive back into Dallas ahead of me so I couldn't afford to use up the last of my energy after riding 100k being sick to my stomach. Finally cooled down some we headed back to the house where we decided it best to pack up and make treads for home.

I arrived home, took what little energy I had left to unload the bike from the truck, left everything else I didn't absolutely need in the truck, and went inside... and slept.

Ride stats:

Bike: Gazelle Champion Mondial
Distance: 62.5mi
Time rolling: 3h 26m 23s
Total Time: 4h 43m
Avg Speed (rolling): 18.1mph

Weather:
7am Temp: 83 degrees.
Noon Temp: 99+ degrees.
Mostly Sunny, few scattered clouds, fewer as the day progressed.
South South East Wind 10-15+mph.

substructure

I was laid up after a serious crash and surgery for almost 3 months.
Getting back on the bike and doing just 9 miles to my mother’s house to sit and chat for a moment before riding back home. I was in pain - bad pain - but so much more excited about being on my bike. That day made me realize how much I love cycling.

Jinker

I'll have to go with the back to back centuries with my brother back in June during the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour:
https://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=203187

Quite a bit of fun, though I didn't get in enough long training rides beforehand (I'd never even done a full metric century) and ended up with patellofemoral pain syndrome (sore knees) which dogged me for a couple months. That's all cleared up though, and I'm looking forward to maybe doing a trip out west with some riding in the Rockies next summer.

Paul L.

Well, although the midnight century under the harvest moon was wonderful the ride that stands out was this years truly epic ride. Here is my ride report. There used to be a video game called 720 degrees and when you ran out of time a voice would say "SKATE or DIE!". This ride turned into a "RIDE or DIE" ride. Amazing what I didn't know I could endure before I started this ride.

https://www.lamanchadesign.com/brevet...11_13_2006.htm

DerekU2

Up until my wedding a month ago I had been riding twice every weekend with the club a few miles from my house. At first I was barely able to keep pace with the moderately paced pack, but pretty soon i found myself in the front pack as we entered the "race stretch" of the ride...

There's this one stretch of 6 ot 7 miles in particular where things really start to crank up. About 1 mile from the finish the line there a pretty short, but somewhat steep stair-step climb. Every week I'd find myself in a bad spot going into it - I'd be pulling as we approached, or I'd be too far back to make a move. If I stayed in the middle and just tried to stay with the tempo I was getting dropped about 2/3rds up. If I tried to make a move I always went too early. There was one particularly memorable ride where me and one other mid-level rider tried to break away about 3 miles from the end. We were gobbled up right on the climb. My timing was awful.

Then came the ride. One of those days where you just feel it from the first pedal turn. We were motoring along in the high 20's and I didn't feel like I was working. I took my pulls pretty early, attempting to stay fresh for a finishing kick up the climb and down to the regroup. We approached the stair-step and I had to resist the urge to go. "You always go now, it never works. Don't be stupid. Wait for someone else to make the first move, and get on it," I thought to myself.

Then I saw a twitch in the leg muscles of one of the fast guys up front. "He's going.... NOW!" I swung out of line and gunned it. Only the guy I expected to break first hadn't moved yet. "****, I'm too early AGAIN! I'm going to look like a fool when these guys all pass me at the top." Do I go back and pretend like I was just feigning the attack? I look back and I've got a decent sized gap and decide to give another kick. I see a few guys respond and my legs start to burn. He's back there - a bike length behind. I'm toast. C'mon... one more. I Kick again... I reopen the gap. I get to the top and I look back. I've got a cushion over 2 chasers and my acceleration has just shattered the rest of the pack. They're strung out all over the road. No time to celebrate now, I've still gotta hang on for the decent. I pedal hard to the line, zip the jersey, and raise my arms in triumph. I had won the race no one would admit existed...

I got a few smiles and nods as folks crossed the line. We still had another 40-50 miles to go in the ride, but the rest was just a friendly jaunt. I couldn't wipe the smirk off my face. When I came home and told my wife (then fiance), she just laughed and shook her head. I had been telling her of my frustrations with this section all season. She surprised me later that night with some fresh baked cookies in celebration of my "win."

To date, I haven't repeated my triumph, though it's been about 6 weeks since I've ridden with the guys. It doesn't matter - on that one day I was unstoppable.

Will G

A group of airline folks decided they would do an "Airline Ride Across America" to raise money to build memorials for the flight crew members killed on 9/11. Basically 3300 miles in 33 days starting in Los Angeles and passing through Shanksville, New York and finishing at the Pentagon. 1 day dedicated for each of the 33 flight crew members that perished. I decided I would join them for the 180 mile ride from Abilene to DFW. The most I had ever ridden in one day was 71 miles.

The ride started out of Abilene at 7am with temps already in the mid 70s and would reach the med 90s by late afternoon. Most of the route was on Interstate 20 (we did have sheriff/trooper escort) and occasionally on the service road. Coasting in the right hand lane down Ranger Hill on I-20 doing 45mph while trucks were passing us in the left hand lane doing 65+ was different. I hit 110 miles and started getting leg cramps due to poor hydration. Sat out 30 miles in the support RV while rehydrating and finished the last 40. The last 40 miles and 2+ hours was complete with 6 car police escort through Fort Worth on Interstate 30, Highway 121, and Highway 183 in the middle of evening rush hour traffic to finish at a hotel south of DFW airport. Another dozen riders joined us in Fort Worth. And, oh by the way, it was dark. Flashing lights, speeding cars, leapfrogging police vehicles, and some crazy guys on bikes in the middle of it all being chased by an RV. A plethora of thoughts and images pass by when witnessing and participating in this strangeness. Those thoughts and images ranged from "This is so cool" to "I'm going to end up as road kill."

It was a great ride for a good cause. Met some of the family members of those that we lost and some guys who had rode a long damn way and had much further to go. The wife and kids were waiting at the finish. To top off the surreal aspect and weirdness, I find my 8 and 13 yr old sons playing pool, in the bar, at 1030pm, on a school night. All in all, very memorable on many different levels.

sandy_pangle

My most memorable ride was much shorter than the ones mentioned here but just as pleasant and probably far more gratifying......

It was about 3 weeks ago and after a long summer of hammering on the bike and always trying to beat my best time on my training route, my wife and I were camping in Townsend Tennessee to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Townsend is a beautiful area that borders the Great Smoky Mountains. I got up and fixed a nice breakfast got dressed in a pair of long workout pants a sweat shirt and tennis shoes and hit the road on my wife's comfort bike . I had taken my MTB but decided to don the tennis shoes and be a total tourist this morning. Yup...no ride gear...No cleats...No anything but a helmet.....I was 4 notches below a "Fred".

Townsend has a bike trail about 10 miles long that runs up and down the main road in town. As I peddled along on the comfort bike at a blistering 11 mph pace, I just enjoyed the sounds of the birds in the trees, the sight of the fall colors as they washed the surrounding mountains, the cool mountain fall air brushing across my face, the smell of the many different breakfasts as they were cooked at the various campgrounds along the way. I reflected on how much I love my wife and how many good times we have had together. I thought about just how alive I was at that exact moment. It was total sensory overload.

Then it hit me that this was the first time this year that I had actually gone out with no goals and no purpose. I was just out enjoying a bike ride! Oh I knew that by the following weekend, I would once again be abusing my 48 year old bones as I attacked hill after hill , but for that moment, I was just enjoying being alive and riding my bike! I think we all should do this from time to time. It's unbelievably theraputic.

It's really strange how after riding almost 3000 miles through some of the prettiest scenery in the world (the North Georgia Mountains), that my favorite ride was this. It helped me remember my days as a child when a bike meant freedom. Life is great!!!!!

lsits

I'll have to say the TOSRV was my most memorable in 2006. Back-to-back centuries on May 13th & 14th. Read about it here:

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p..._id=33418&v=79

Be sure to click the NEXT button to read about the second day.

curiouskid55

My 15th place finish at the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix at the end of the season contrasted against withdrawing from the first race of the season after three laps.

Pedal Wench

I've done 5 centuries this year, and Ride The Rockies in Colorado. However, without a doubt, the most amazing ride was providing bike safety for a Breast Cancer 3-Day walk. Traded my carbon Record road bike for my mtb, with platform pedals, decorated with pink ribbons and a purple horn, so I could ride along side the walkers who were walking 60 miles over 3 days, keeping them safe at intersections, calling for medical and sweep vans when needed, and just cheering them along the best I could.

El Diablo Rojo

From the Ft Davis stage race Ft Davis Tx:

Stage 1 TT:

There was a pretty hefty head wind going out and I saw Craig Virr (ex jr national TT champion) at the start and he told me not to go out too hard because it was easy to blow. So I kept my RPM's in the 95-110 range and my HR around 150 on the way out. I caught my minute man pretty quickly, within the first 5min, so I thought I was doing pretty well. On the way back with the tail wind I was flying. My computer had me at around 44min but I crossed the line at 45.57! I was in 12 place but I was pretty disappointed by my time and the fact that Jason Farrar, another one of my teammates beat me by 1.13. Again I was hoping for a top ten but I was confident I would make it up Sat afternoons RR/Hillclimb. I was a long way out of first as the cat 5 TT winner did a 41 flat, which would have put him in the top 15 in the cat 3 field.

Stage 2 16 mile RR/Hill climb

I felt good, I took a short nap and warmed up well. I got to start line and told myself that this was my race and nobody was going to beat me. The attacks started from the get go. I was mid pack and couldn't find a way through so I slid to the right side of the road and got to the front. This turned out to be my undoing as I punctured within the first mile. I later learned from the guys who have done this race before that the far right side of the road is full of stickers. It took me 3 minutes to get a new wheel and start rolling again. Now that was bad, here's the good. I didn't give up. I put my head down and drilled it for 1 hour straight. My ave hr for that hour 152 (zone 5a for me is 153). I didn't catch the tail end of the field until the base of the climb. Over the next 6 miles I passed 27 riders and got back 30 sec on Jason. Finished stage 2 in 20th place and 18th on GC. Now if you subtract my 3 min for the wheel change I would have finished in the top 5. I think I could have podium stage 2 because just subtracting the 3 minutes doesn't take into account the energy I wasted just getting back on to the bunch. As bummed as I was about the puncture I was very happy about my mental toughness. The guy in the wheel truck walked up to me on after the stage and said that was hell of climb I put in. He said I didn't think I'd be seeing you up here so soon!

So now onto stage 3:

I wanted to stay with the leaders and make up some time. I figured I could get into the top 10 today if rode up front and stayed with Seth and the GC leader. Just before the base of the climb I got on the front to set Seth up and we hit the base of the first climb. The GC leader went with us but within the first 500meters I knew my legs were shot. My hr was in the 160's and I just didn't have it. I slid back and the majority of the field passed me. I slowed down and got my stuff together and slowly started to pick guys off. We had a huge descent right before the turn around and must have passed 5 riders on the way down which now put my into the top 15. I actually had a harder time on the way back on the rollers than I did on the longer climbs. On the final descent Drew (another teammate) and I caught a couple more guys and we paced in together. I finished stage 3 in 13th place which made me feel pretty good considering that at the start of the climb I slide back to the mid 40's.

I made up a couple of spots on GC in this stage, jumped from 18th to 12th. If you take out the 3 min I lost on Sat I would be comfortably in the top 10. Even though the final GC doesn't reflect it I'm very happy with my performance this weekend. BTW the 35+ 4/5 field started 10 min ahead of us this morning and passed 95% of them...bodes well for next year!

This is really an incredible race. The organizers and the locals were just great. They have this race down and everything went off with out a hitch. The results were fast and accurate (maybe my TT time was off a bit ) the racing was tough and scenery was beautiful. If any of you in the South West can make it out next year I really recommend doing this one!

NomadVW 

I've done 13 or 14 centuries this year, a few races and then some great rides of distances from 50-150km. It would be very hard to pick a ride that really just set the tone for the year. Japan has some beautiful cycling in the country roads that are hard to beat. But the ride that "finished" the season for me that set the tone for the coming year was a 2 hour circuit race I did this month. I posted the race report on it in the racing forums, so some have already read about it.

PS> my place listed in the blog entry was 14th, but I later found out that 3 of those riders were on relay teams, so my actual placing was 11th.

https://www.cycleiwakuni.com/blog/index.php?id=74

Hipcycler

Nomad....
Nice report.
It's as close to a race like that I'll ever get.
Enjoyed reading it.