Cathy Switzer and I drove down Friday, passing through periodic rain showers and arriving to frigid weather. Hey, this place is three hours south of our homes, it's supposed to be warmer! We had a delicious steak dinner at a local restaurant, then retired to our motel room to watch rodeo on TV and hit the sack. We were up early the next morning, in freezing weather, to head 20 miles inland for the start of the ride.
We signed in, and noted that there were 38 people signed up for the 103.9 mile ride, and about 100 riders total for all the rides. A low-key event. We lingered at the car, putting on just about all the clothes we had brought on the trip. I had worried about fitting my thick wool socks into my cycling shoes, but managed to get them in, along with a pair of triflex over-socks and most of my toes. (Now I know where they came up with the phrase, "this little piggie stayed home".)
We started out in a dense fog, with about 10 feet of visibility. Paul Vlasveld passed us and was swallowed up in about three blinks of his rear light. My face was frozen. The fog condensed into moisture on our clothes, bikes, and bodies. I could see it dripping off my helmet, and Cathy told me it was dripping off my chin, but I was too cold to feel that! Once we got going, however, we started to warm up, even if the outside air didn't. It hovered between 34 and 36 degrees for the first two hours of the ride.
We each had these huge gloves on our hands (I had three glove layers, myself), and could barely shift our bikes, much less feel anything. We had to stop a couple of times so I could find a tissue in which to blow my constantly running nose. But we kept moving while I helped Cathy unzip her pit-zips. That's a video I'd like to have, the two of us rolling towards each other while Cathy raises one arm and I make a clumsey grap at her zipper-pull, missing, and we roll apart, then come back together again to try once more. What a sight!
When we got to the first rest stop, it had warmed up to 47 degrees, but the coldest 47 I've ever felt. It was too cold to stay still, so we grabbed some food and kept on going. There were a variety of other people on the ride, some had no gloves, or no eye protection, one fellow had no socks or leg-warmers! He rode fast, but then, wouldn't you? He had to stay warm somehow!
The terrain was absolutely beautiful. On the wildlife count we chalked up a bobcat, a golden eagle, three deer, and a tarantula. Not to mention the cows on the roadway, but Cathy intimidated them back off of the shoulder.
At the halfway point, it was a balmy 49 degrees. The rest stop had my favorite food - powdered sugar-coated mini donuts! And PB&Js. Many who had signed up for the century decided at that point to just do the 70 miler. Some cited the cold, and some the climbs yet to come as their reasons for shortening the ride. I tried not to listen, I didn't want to know what was ahead. Cathy and I gamely continued on.
It was about this point that Cathy's lack of conditioning caught up with her. She hadn't done a long ride since completing all five passes of the Death Ride in July. I started beating her up the hills. Now that was an odd sensation! The temperature wavered all afternoon, once getting above 60. But it could move 10 degrees either way in an instant, and never did seem very warm. We had one extended climb after lunch, but it was beautiful and relaxing. What countryside! The two of us rode peacefully and quietly through it.
After what seemed like hours, we finally saw another human life form, a SAG vehicle. The driver confirmed that we were in the "laughing group", the tail riders on the course, but we had already guessed that. We assured him we were okay, but as he drove off, a seed was planted in Cathy's mind. When we hit the next hill, the seed was nourished and grew. "Umm, what if I left you...?", she gingerly inquired. I assured her that nothing short of her untimely death would keep me from completing my goal of at least 100 miles that day. In fact, I suggested, if she were to SAG in, she could come pick me up at the 100 mile mark, saving me riding the last four miles. ("Four miles, how big a deal is that?", you ask. Well, I knew I'd miss the cutoff time, and I was hoping to still get some food at the BBQ, so saving the 20 minutes or so might make a difference.)
When we got to the third rest stop at 3:40, it was already packed up and gone. After all, the course closed at 4pm! But the SAG driver took Cathy, and refilled my water bottles, and I headed on. It was the 90 mile mark. I was hoping the rest of the ride was all downhill, since my altimeter had already registered the advertised climb for the ride. At first it looked that way. I had a lovely view of a bank of dark clouds, preceded by a beautiful rainbow - what a sight! I was sure it was beyond the end of the ride, and just enjoyed it's beauty. Then the road turned uphill, and I had work to do. A few cars passed in the opposite direction, with bikes loaded and happy faces waving their encouragement to me. A couple miles later, the wind picked up... a headwind, of course. It grew stronger, and began throwing things at me. At first I thought it was hail, but it turned out just to be raindrops that hit so hard they bounced. A few blowing raindrops soon turned into a torrential rain! I was forced to stop and pull out another jacket. My rainjacket was with me, but buried so deep I didn't want to take the time to dig it out, so I just put on a windbreaker. I only had five miles left! But five miles of climbing at 7mph and descending at 14 mph into a gale force wind! I was getting soaked! My legs were instantly soaked through my tights, but I had so many layers on my upper body that the rain had not yet penetrated them all. But, gee were my legs cold!
Three miles left! I saw Cathy's big, green truck pulling up. With my lobster-claw gloves, how could I signal to her that I had three miles left? Fortunately she rolled down her window, so I just shouted it to her. Then she escorted me from behind for those last three miles. At 100.26, she found a safe place to pull over, and we loaded my stuff and headed for the BBQ. As it turned out, she had gone through the storm in the SAG wagon, and knew I was in for trouble. She hurried back for me so fast that she was driving in her helmet and cycling shoes! What a friend! We made it back in time to be offered the last of the hamburgers - burgers that never tasted so good! - and hot chocolate. The support staff was friendly and accomodating to the very end. I'd like to do this one again next year.
I'm totally psyched from achieving my goal for the year. I'm not yet sure what next year's goal will be, but I'm determined not to lose the fitness I've gained this year. A big thank you to LeRoy and Cathy, and all those club members who helped me reach my goal (especially Sondra, Bob Thompson, Donny, John T., Super Daddy, and Jeanne and Linda). I couldn't have done it without you!
Jenn