gun-n-gal

This last week-end was the MS150 in the Detroit area. I was able to do the whole ride! Thanks to all of you guys who helped answer my questions and give me support during my training.

Day 1 the wind was blowing about 15-20mph and of course it was a head-wind. I was never able to hook up with anyone to ride, everyone seemed to be going much faster than me, so I fought the wind the whole way myself. Final average speed was 13.5 mph. The first 15 miles or so, was hilly, but mostly downhill.

Day 2. Much nicer day, never got over about 82 degrees and a very light wind. Today I was able to get in some pace lines and ride. What a rush! I had never rode in one before, couldn't believe what a difference it made in the energy required, and how much faster I could ride. Average speed at the end of the day was 15mph even with some really wicked hills the last 15 miles.

Anyone who is thinking about trying a MS150 should go. They are wonderful folks and the support provided was second to none.

Still haven't gotten my pictures back yet, when I do, I'll post some of them if I can figure out how too.

Thanks again for all your help!

DnvrFox

Congratulations. A real achievement. Please post the pics.

OctoberBlue

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing those pics. I'm riding the Cleveland area MS 150 in exactly a month. Gun-n-gal, how long was your longest training ride before the Detroit MS 150? Did you do any 'practice' back-to-back (2 day in a row) long rides to prepare? Sounds like your ride was excellent!

The Terminator

Congratulations! Good work!

Raedeke

Congrats - I just finished up the Great West MS150. Nice challenge of overall skills. Good flats for the first 40 miles and then up to Estes Park. About a 3,000' climb with a real nasty spot at the top. Had to get off and walk for about half a mile... just got too steep. Even the cars where crying for mercy.

But as they say what goes up, must come down. And shortly after a good 10 mile climb right at the beginning of the day, we had a great 25 miles of down hill canyon style. Scooting down at about 40mph and was still gettting passed.

If you're looking for a great all round ride that gives you a good mix of everything, this is the ride to take.

Next year it's "Triple Bypass" -

R

Prosody

Congratulations on completing the ride. Sounds like you had fun.

gun-n-gal

Octoberblue:

My longest training ride was 64 miles. I did not do any back to back long distance rides. Not sure if it would have helped or not. I was not feeling too bad on the second morning. Hooking up with a paceline on the second day made all the difference in the world. Still can't get over how much easier it made things!

I did take the final 10 days before the ride very easy to let these 46 year old legs recover and rest from training. That also helped, you can't underestimate the need for rest.

Hope you have a great ride, and meet lots of new friends.

pel-o-ton

Congrats gun-n-gal! I had thought about doing the MS-150, but they forbid trailers, and I am training to pull my dog to Mackinac later this year (DALMAC). I opted for AABTS's Helluva Ride instead - obviously the weather was the same as yours! What a great day Saturday was! May have some interesting photos of the dog and some of the props found in Hell.... if they come out decent I may post.....

Happy cycling!!

joeprim

Good for you! I'm thinking about one in Sept.

Joe

caadman

Hey there Gun-n-gal, congratz!! I remember back in the winter when you originally posted about that ride...Good to hear you had a great time and got to expierence the riding in a peleton or pace line, yeah isn't it great!! so much better when you get in one that is riding your pace and you can truely benefit from it, rather than either leading it or falling off the back because you can't keep the pace or are to strong for the pace being set!! That's the key to energy conservation on the bike especially on long rides....I was in Indiana last weekend for the Rain ride across the state, and in the last 20 miles of that ride, I got in a group that could stay with me, and we just cruized in, way better than the previous 40 miles or so when I was out on my own setting the pace..So I'm glad you got to expierence that..

Yes you're soo right, never underestimate the need for recovery and rest in our sport, it's critical!! even if you're a pro!!

Best of luck with the rest of your riding season!!

Benjamin

gun-n-gal

Pel-o-ton:

Where was your ride at? There was another ride going on that was going in the opposite direction on Saturday, was that part of the helluva ride? I checked out the LMB website for organized rides for last week-end and didn't see anything posted that should have been in the same area. What's the deal with helluva ride? How far is that one?

superman055

Congrats, I wanted to do the MS 150 in Grand Rapids but I had just started riding and would have died, I should have went down to Detroit and joined you I did 80 miles Sunday just for Fun.

mightypudge

Awesome job!

gun-n-gal

Superman:

I hear ya on the Grand Rapids ride. I thought about doing that one also, I was afraid the Detroit ride would be too hot in July, but there's no way I could have been ready that early in the season with the lousy weather we had this spring.
I did hear some folks say the Grand Rapids ride was really hard this year, and the weather was bad. Thing I picked the right one.

pel-o-ton

gun-n-gal,

The helluva ride starts in Chelsea - we went thru Dexter, Hell, Gregory, lunched at Portage Lake, then thru Grass Lake and returned to Chelsea. I'd be surprised if you saw any of us, especially going in the opposite direction of the MS ride on Saturday. I am not sure what the MS route was (other than beginning and end points), but you would have had to drop quite a bit south to intersect our route(s).
The ride has several routes, ranging from 15 miles to 100 miles for the roadsters, and one or two for ATB's as well.
Rumors are there were 2 casualties - a girl hit by a car (no word on injury), and a man suffered a fatal heart attack on the 100 mile route (I have not been able to confirm either of these....).

Grendel

Congratulations on your ride!

I remember our conversation in an earlier thread while you were training for this ride -- I'm glad you had a good ride and that now you can share that experience with others!

Now, post those pictures...