What a ride

First off, I played Julie's tourney on Friday. Folded a lot, missed some flops, doubled with a short stack, then shoved again a few hands later with 77 and lost to Colin's river Q, he had AQ. Ah well. Nothing too interesting to report. I love Julie's basement though, it's like a meat locker down there.

So Sat and Sunday I did the MS-150 Pedal to the Point bike ride. What a blast. Day 1 (75 miles each day), I pedaled along at my own pace, a little worried about my knee, which usually acts up around 20-ish miles. I stopped at every rest stop, which was about every 10-12 miles, and stretched out, ate a couple orange wedges, and re-hydrated. The ride was well-supported with cars/motorcycles up and down the route, checking intersections, watching for breakdowns, or helping with medical situations. The lunch break was at the LCJVS, and I rolled in around 10:30. Ate a good lunch, freshened up with more SPF-50 sunblock, and pedaled out. I had trailed behind my team by about a half hour by that point. They all had fantastic bikes or were in better shape, or both. A handful of our 20-person team opted for the 100-mile first day. Joe, a 56 year-old retired teacher and cross country coach, did the 100 miles and finished as fast as many of the fastest 75-milers. Just nuts. I was by myself just about the entire trip, but talked to many people along the way. I also had Jim Morrison, Eric Clapton, Janis Joplin, and Robert Plant to keep me company, even though my iPhone started the day with a 50% charge. It did die pretty quick, especially with the GPS app I was running to chart the ride. (SEE DAY2 MAP HERE) I lost GPS signal or the battery went dead around 60 miles. I averaged almost 13 MPH even with a few stops where I forgot to pause the app, which is pretty good, although the people with nice road bikes were doing like 18 MPH.

There were over 2500 riders, I am pretty sure. Our group raised the most in the "schools" category, with over $6300 in donations. There were riders of every type. I saw people on mountain bikes, beat-to-shit Huffy's, tandems, and even heard there was a guy on a unicycle, but didn't see him. He must have been going faster than me.

So after lunch, the heat really started to get to me. At around 50 miles, I was beginning to think I wouldn't make it. I began squirting water on my head, neck, and chest, which really helped, and I took a few impromptu rest stops where others had stopped. Many were at the top of big hills. I only walked up 1 hill where I got a slow start. I got passed by a guy with 1 pedal. Twice. He must have stopped ahead of me somewhere, because after he passed the 1st time, he rolled by again later. Nice bike, but he must have busted a pedal, or was just up to the 1-pedal challenge. I also saw a guy with 1 leg. You go man.

So, I finished day 1 at around 3:15, in the rain, which was a welcome relief. Didn't pour, but I got about 45 min of it. Most of my team was done 2 hrs earlier. I wasn't there to race, I just wanted to live through it and finish. I honestly thought there was no way I'd finish the 2nd day. It was supposed to be just as hot.

After the ride, we hung around the Rodeway Inn pool and drank a few. I got a ride back home because I had to take care of the dog. I washed my riding clothes and slept in my own bed, which was nice. Asleep by 9:00, I was up at 4:30 Sunday and back in Sandusky at 6 am. We all had breakfast at Jolly Donut. Mmmmm...

Just after starting, I immediately felt better than I had the first day. Partly mental I'm sure, but I was making killer time compared to the day before. I also wanted to kick out as many miles as possible before the heat turned up, which it seemed to early on Sunday, around 10:30, which is when I got to the lunch stop, which was about 10 miles further than day 1. I had a bruise show up out of nowhere on my left forearm, I'm guessing just from leaning on the handlebars so long.

I ate a smaller lunch, because I knew it would feel like my body temp was higher from the digestive process. I also shortened each break. Getting back on the bike after each break was a little scary. You feel wobbly and the road feels spongy. Takes a while to get your bike legs back.

So, feeling pretty good, I decided I was going for it. No way I was gonna quit. 2 stops after break, there was supposed to be another stop 2 miles up the road, so I decided to skip the closest and hit the next one in a few minutes. My water bottle was empty and it was getting HOT. Someone the day before said the road surface was 110 degrees. So after a couple miles, no rest stop. I asked another biker and he said they had changed it (and told no one) and set it up another 8 miles down. Ugh...no water. So I trudged along, and took my time. After finally getting there, I really soaked myself with water, drank a couple extra cups of Gatorade, and stretched out good, before applying more sunblock. With 11 miles to go, I rolled out of the last stop feeling pretty refreshed. The last leg wasn't bad at all, but I did run into a couple from the team who'd stopped to fix the 3rd flat between them that day. We hit the finish line around 2:30 pm. Woo! I really didn't think I'd do it. 2 days, almost 160 miles total ride miles. Sweet.

Now I'm hooked. I feel fine today, just a tad sore, but not bad at all. I'm gonna hit the bike path by my house and get a 20-miler in before going to the movies with the CPMG crew tonight. I'm also planning my next ride, probably 38 miles on the towpath this weekend, and another 75 miles in Sept for another charity. I raised over $400 for the MS Society.

Some other notes...I need new, quality riding gloves. The pair I have, I bought for my solo road trip to Vegas back in 2007, and they are in bad shape. I also need better riding shorts. I've washed this pair about 6 times and they are falling apart. They are padded, but boxer-style, which beats the spandex look. I also need some different shoes, even sneakers. My Keen sandals were fine for normal weather, but when they get damp, my feet really slide around on the pedals. Another thing...helmets suck! I understand the need for safety, but mine just cooked my brain all day.

There was a team called "Flight Options" that passed me a few times, and I even rode with for a while. They were mostly pilots from what I could gather, and they were crazy, cool, and having a ton of fun. They were in great shape. The fastest in their group would ride ahead, block intersections, let the group pass, and catch back up with them. Then it would be the next guy's turn. They did it well.

I also missed the team photo, along with 1 other team member. I was off filling up my water bottles.

My biking app says I burned well over 9000 calories over those 2 days, so I guess I can eat anything I want for the next few weeks :)