Riding those miles on a perfect day is still challenging, but what made this an epic and unforgettable ride (in a negative light) is the fact that we had near unprecedented wind this particular weekend. We had high winds at the end of the week & right through the weekend. Winds of 25-35 mph were reported on Saturday & Sunday. What made this ride a torturefest is the fact that it takes place in rural Illinois where there are no trees to provide shade or wind shelter. In most cases we had opportunity to stop at a gas station about every 25 miles but in one stretch we didn't have that for about 40 miles I think it was.
There were maybe 7 riders doing the 300k and a few more who did the 200k. I had a cycling friend promise to ride with me. He's completed the brevet series before and has a lot of miles on his legs. So I planned on drafting behind him and maybe helping out by leading...if it really did him any good. That whole plan changed when the winds gave us resistance from the start. He thought they would die down, but I knew we were in for a windy day based on the previous few days of high winds.
We started off at 6:00am and right away about 4 guys pulled off the front and were obviously going to roll at a higher rate of speed than Jim C. and I planned. So we just kept our own steady & comfortable pace. As I recall, it seems that the first couple hours were ok. It was overcast, but warm so conditions were tolerable. The wind then became very noticeable. Anytime we were traveling south we had headwind, but it also came at us from an angle. This prevented me from getting much shelter from Jim's draft. I felt like I was working just as hard behind him, which was discouraging and caused me to doubt how long I could keep this up. When we traveled west we had crosswinds, which makes it hard to steer and stay in a straight line. It's bad when a strong cyclist is working hard to maintain 12 mph on a flat road. We endured this for hours, which was like riding up a hill for 80+ miles. It was insane!
Saturday was not only windy, but it was sunny and got up to 85 degrees. Most of us here in STL weren't conditioned to ride in this heat...just yet. So we had to stop more in order to stay hydrated. I've had bad luck with this in the past so dehydration was something I knew I needed to avoid for this ride. At mile 75 or so we encountered an out-of-town participant who opted to ride the 200k vs. the 300k 'cause he was "spent." We all know our limits & I guess he found his.
Nutrition/Hydration:
On this day I had a plan to change my hydration plan a bit. In the past I relied on Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem and it worked for me. But since the 24-hr adv race I have been kind of sick of the thought to even drink it. So on the bike for the 300k brevet I stuck with water and plenty of calories. I've been eating the Little Debbie oatmeal pies. I remember loving those as a kid and I think they still taste just as great. Reading an article about John Stamstad gave me this idea. The major change I made was to purchase drinks at the rest stops instead of food. If I got my calories in fluids I'd also take care of the hydration needs at the same time. In the past I'd refill my 2 bottles but fill up on crackers, Fig Newtons, etc. Instead, this time I filled up on fluids besides filling up my bottles. I purchased YooHoo, apple juice, low calorie Gatorade (regular Gatorade messes w/my stomach), Vitamin Waters, soda in one case, chocolate milk, etc.
So Jim & I kept pushing on. I'm a talker but the wind even stopped me from doing that much of the time. ;-) All I heard for hours was the sssssshhhhhhwwwwwwhhhhh of the wind in my ears. It was driving me crazy.
I'm not sure what mile it was but we reached a small store/restaurant in a very, very small town. At this point, Jim C was not looking good at all. I know he was dehydrated. He's as tough as a rock so his look of exhaustion and confusion worried me a bit. We entered an air-conditioned local restaurant to grab a burger. I think we drank 2 gallons of water, sodas, and chocolate milks. He only ate 1/2 his hamburger so that was a big sign he wasn't feeling well. But after a nice long & refreshing stop we were both energized to finish this thing. We still had several hours left to go but we knew we were heading more in the northern direction which meant a likely tailwind. Finally, we did get to benefit from the the tailwind in short spurts, where we soared easily at 24 mph along smooth pavement. We relished this!! But it seems that the tailwind was maybe 20% of the ride & head or cross wind was about 80%.
7:00pm and we figured we had about an hour to go and that we'd arrive back to our cars just at dark. This was true. It was a 14-hr day that felt like double that.
Today, 5/1/09 I saw on the news that Springfield, MO was 185 miles from STL. That's when it occurred to me, "Wow, we rode our bikes THAT far?"
**REFLECTIONS**
On the ride while I was riding behind Jim, the strong one, it made me think about Jesus in my life. In a way, Jim represented Jesus to me.
Jim lead the way, was in charge of the directions, watched traffic & warned me of cars.
Jesus guides my path, gives me direction in life, and cares for my well-being.
Jim endured more pain so that I could ride stronger and be helped along by his strength.
Jesus has paid for my sins on the cross. Even though I deserve death He died in my place.
Although Jim was in the front taking the brunt of the wind, I still felt the resistance & pain.
I'm not immune to disappointments in life and the pain of loss, but Jesus eases the anguish with his comfort and hope.
Another thing I reflected on was the issue of "patience." I am no stranger to hardships, which have imparted an element of perseverance in my character. But at the same time I've grown up with a slight temper and a lack of patience. After my mom died I resorted to tantrums. Adults can throw tantrums too ya know! ;-) On a tough ride I've been known to yell out in exhaustion or complain about the conditions. I've cursed at the wind, the heat, the bugs, and my own failure to perform. My last episode was a 6-hr mountain bike race I competed in October 2008. It was grueling. I guess I'll have to post that experience here as well before I forget it.
Anyway, I complained a lot less during this 300k. I did more self-talk and tried to distract myself so I wouldn't focus on the misery. I rode more "steady" in body and mind. I was more at peace internally, basically just accepting the conditions as they were. My marred nature is to complain incessantly about conditions that I can't change, which makes no sense. All it does is infuriate me. I've always believed that people can change, regardless of their age. That's one of my goals as I take on these physical challenges. I want to become physically AND mentally stronger. I like to reflect on life during my rides/races/adventures, which makes it a meaningful journey.
Although I feared I wouldn't be able to walk the next day...I did attempt my first 5k race (on foot) since last summer and I did surprisingly well. I maintained a 9 minute mile pace which shocked me. I recall my thought during the race at about mile 2. I was so tired and felt like quitting but I reminded myself I was tough enough to keep going because of what I had accomplished the day before. It was a good feeling.
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