- Total Riders: 306
- Average Milage, All Riders: 216.4
- Overall Rank: 3
- Total Miles Completed: 427.6
- First Place, Mens age 40-45
- Time on Bike: 22 hours, 24 minites
- Time off Bike: 1 hour, 36 minutes (25 minutes early end of ride, 1 hour, 11 min. refueling)
- Total average speed: 17.8 mph
- Total average road speed (excluding stops): 19.1 mph
- Total Calories Consumed: 10,100
- Total Liquids Consumed: 4.8 gallons (pee'd only 3 times!)
- Bananas - 4
- Gartorade - 10 20oz bottles
- Water - 18 20oz bottles
- Hammer Perpeptuem - 24 270 calorie servings
- Hammer Gel - 8 2oz packets
- Ensure - 3 8oz bottles
- Monster Energy - 1 16oz can
Most riders arrive at the Thornapple-Kellogg Middle School on Friday afternoon and evening before the Saturday morning start. I was fortunate again to have my crew (mom and dad) accompany me this year to the event so that they could haul my remains back to Batavia on Sunday afternoon. Last year dad came out and hung out at the middle school for the whole event. Although I am sure he kept himself occupied, I couldn't imagine anything more boring than watching cyclists riding around in circles for 24 hours, so this year I convinced mom to come along and told them to go enjoy themselves in Grand Rapids during the ride and to meet me afterward.
(This must be the place)
(Thornapple-Kellog Middle School)
We arrived in Middleville at about 3:00 pm Friday afternoon following a few hours of steady rain. The middle school grounds had already begun their transformation into a tent city with bikes and their riders completing last minute tune-ups for the big ride the next day. Fortunately the rain let up for the afternoon which allowed us to get my tent set up close to the rider check point. The tent would essentially serve as my fueling station and house my gear and supplies. At this point, I had no idea that I wouldn't be sleeping in it that night.
(Tent city)
(Base camp)
Larry graciously agreed to help me refuel at the first two checkpoints along the first loop which is 121.6 miles. One lesson I learned real quickly last year is that if you want to stay with the lead group, you have to refuel at the checkpoints nearly instantly or you will be left behind. Those riders who have crew meet them are in and out in half the time of an Indy pit stop.
After getting settled in, my folks and I headed to Grand Rapids to check into their hotel and head out for dinner. I don't get too particular about what is best to eat before a big ride, but the better part of a BBQ chicken pizza sounded like a good idea to me.
My folks dropped me back in Middleville by 8:30 or so and then headed back to their hotel as the forecast was calling for more rain and the skies were already starting to turn dark to the north (toward Grand Rapids). I still had a lot of unpacking and setting up to do and wanted to get this done while there was still some daylight and before it started to rain again. I was able to get this done pretty quickly and finally had some down time to kick back and relax a bit before turning in. I sat outside my tent with my feet up in my collapsible lazy boy and watched as the skies to the north continued to grow more ominous.
The temps were warm and the wind fairly calm. The storm to the north was pretty impressive to watch. There were a lot of visible lightning strikes and the rumbling of thunder in the distance. By visually tracking the direction of the clouds, it appeared that the system may actually skirt our area and that all of the carnage would be to the north. I sat for nearly half an hour watching this awesome display and was beginning to think if it hasn't hit us by now, perhaps we would be spared.
Being the owner of one of the cheapest cell phones on the planet, I cannot check the weather on it. So I called my wife Joleen and asked her to punch up weather.com to take a look at the radar so I could know what to expect over the next couple of hours. As she pulled up the radar and was looking for Middleville, our casual banter quickly turned more serious. I don't recall her exact words, but they were along the lines of "Get inside, NOW"! At that very same moment, the Sheriff's department got on the PA and announced the severe storm warning that Joleen had just seen on the radar seconds earlier. Apparently, Middleville was the epicenter of the system which was to hit within the next 10 minutes or so. The Sheriff was strongly urging everyone to take cover inside the middle school while the storm hit. I reassured Joleen that I would head inside and wait out the storm.
Of course, never being one to exercise poor judgment, as soon as I hung up with Joleen I began to think (this is where trouble usually begins), where am I going to sleep? Surely I would not sleep well on the gym floor in the school ... and the storms were supposed to clear out by 12:30 or so. Maybe this storm won't be that big of a deal after all. So rather than taking my bike, gear, and sleeping bag inside with me, I thought that I would stroll inside the school, see what all the hullabaloo was about, wait for it to blow over, and then go back to the tent to get some sleep.
I got into the main registration area inside the school and they had a TV on tuned to the weather station. There was a radar image which showed a long line of solid red just to the west of Middleville. There was also a listing of towns in its path, with times adjacent to each town. It indicated "Middleville - 11 min". Sure enough, as I watched the news bulletins over the next 10 minutes or so, all I had to do was turn around and look out the large glass windows to see the winds pick up and all hell begin to break loose.
It had to have been about 10:00 at this point, so it was already completely dark outside. The only time you could see what was happening was when a bolt of lightning flashed, and then you caught a very brief glimpse of what was going on. There were a lot of tents which were completely blown away and many of those portable picnic shelters which became totally mangled from the strong winds which came with the storm. Being the "Boy Scout" I was, I was not too concerned about my tent as we staked it down pretty good earlier that afternoon.
For the next hour or so, I did what most of the other riders were doing, just kind of hanging out, waiting to see what was going to happen next. The smart ones had already staked out a place in the gym or the hallway and were already banking some sleep. Naturally, I had left all my crap in the tent. During a lull in the storm, I ran out to check on the tent. Everything looked normal from the outside so I ran back into the school, thinking that I would still be able to get to the tent in an hour or so and get some sleep.
By now it was getting close to midnight and I was getting concerned about getting in some quality sleep, not to mention I had already been up since 6:00 that morning. It was looking as thought the worst of the storm had past (wind and lightning) and by all reports, things would be breaking up within the next few hours. So I decided to retreat to the tent to get settled in. Still raining pretty heavily, I ran to the tent, fumbled with the zipper, and finally opened the fly and stepped in ... to about 3 inches of water! Most everything was pretty well wet, including sleeping bag. I did a quick damage assessment, moved a few things to the one high and dry spot in the tent and then took my bike, wet gym bag with my clothes (which were fortunately still dry), and a 1/2 inch foam pad back into the school to find a place to sleep.
I was lucky to find a "cozy" little nook in a classroom doorway, laid out my stuff and tried to get some sleep. The lights were all full-on so I threw a jersey over my face to block it out. I have not done a lot of these types of rides, so I still tend to get some anxiety about the start. This, combined with being damp, and laying on a hard floor in an unfamiliar place, did not make for the best conditions for blissful slumber. The last time I looked at my phone before getting to sleep, it was about 3:00. My best guess, I got about an hour to an hour and a half because I was already stirring again at 5:15 and up for good by 5:30.
The Start
Although I hardly got any sleep, I was glad it was time to get down to business. The organizers coordinated a tasty pancake breakfast which would pretty much be the last solid food I would eat in the next 24 hours.
The weather had improved, roads were still damp but drying, skies were still clouded and overcast but were expected to clear, and the wind was out of the west, my guess at about 10 mph and reports were that it would build to 15-20 mph by the afternoon. So we would have a tailwind for the first portion of the 121.6 mile loop and a head wind on the return trip. Temps at 8:00 were close to 70 degrees and the forecast was for a high of 83 and sunny. We had a pretty nice day of riding ahead of us.
My mileage goal this year was to hit 400. I was pretty happy with the 375 I turned in last year, but I thought 400 was attainable by meeting 2 goals:
- Stay with the big dogs throughout the first 121.6 mile loop. Last year, I was dropperd about 5 miles shy of Checkpoint #2 at the 71.5 mile mark. I was not prepared for how quickly the supported riders moved through the checkpoints last year. I was carrying my own food and had to fill bottles at Checkpoint #1, so I burt myself to a crisp chasing them down. This year, I had Larry standing by with fresh bottles at Checkpoints #1 and #2 which should help me stay with the lead group.
- Manage time off the bike better. Last year, I spent a total of 2.75 hours off the bike, most of which was dead time hanging around the middle school licking my wounds. This year I was telling myself to stay on the bike, just keep moving it forward and take any needed recovery by easing the pace a bit.
Shortly before the start, I ran into Rick Cosaro from Naperville. Rick and I rode to hell and back on the GLR 400K last summer (that's the weekend Lake Delton, just to the north of the northernmost portion of our route, emptied into the Wisconsin river due to the severety of the weather that weekend). There's something special about spending 23 hours on the bike, 18 of them soaking wet and dodging tornadoes (in the middle of the night no less) with people like Rick who share your passion for long distance cycling. It either confirms that I have not in fact gone completely insane or that at least I am in good company riding alongside a select group of loonatics. Rick is tough as nails. This was his first time at this event.
(Me and Rick at the start)
My folks also came down for the start before beginning their day exploring Grand Rapids.
(Crew Chief - Dad)
(First assistant Crew Chief - Mom)
Another cool thing about this event is that about a half hour before the start, a bagpipe corps marches the grounds playing various bagpipe classics. It's really quite a nice touch and gets your blood pumping for the impending start. If bagpipes are not your thing, at least you won't oversleep.
(Pipers crankin out a wicked cover of "War Pigs")
Following several national anthems for all of the contries represented at the event and a 10 second coundown over the PA, we were underway. The sound of more than 300 cyclists clicking into their pedals is absolute music. Strike up the bagpipes again and I nearly forgot I had hardly slept in the past 24 hours. Pure adrenaline.
On the way down the 1/2 mile twisting drive leading out of the middle school, I hung pretty close to the head of the pack, trying to stay out of traffic and avoid any trouble with other riders trying to find a position. From the gun, the pace was already pretty brisk. I don't recall the exact speed, but I'd say we were in the 23 to 25 mph range. There is only one traffic signal on the whole of this event, and it is at highway M37 which is equidistant between the middle school and downtown Middleville.
The organizers start the route with about a 10 mile looping jog on some country roads before bringing the riders past the middle school again and then across M37 and into downtown. I imagine this is done to help thin out the riders so that 300 people are not looking to cross a busy intersection at the same time.
(Workin it on a hill)
The few cyclists who I am fortunate enough to ride with on a regular basis know there are two things I cannot resist, a good piece of asphalt and a tailwind. As the lead group made its final turn onto Green Lake Road, which began a 2.75 mile straightaway toward the middle school, I got both.
Within the first quarter mile, I found myself at the front. While frying oneself 20 minutes into a 24 hour event is not particularly a wise move, I was feeling warmed up by now and, well, just a bit "frisky". So I got down on the aero bars and began to slowly kick up the pace. A couple of riders came with as we pushed the pace to over 30 mph. After the next mile or so it was just me and another guy. I think I topped out at about 33 mph before I felt myself starting to cook and eased back a bit. By this time I was alone and had built a gap of 200 yards or more on the main field as I approached the middle school.
Each year, family, support crews, volunteers and other interested passers-by line the side of the road in front of the middle school to greet and cheer for the cyclists as they pass by. Granted, none of this means a damn thing or counts for squat, but I gotta say it was a pretty cool feeling being the first rider to pass through the cheering crowd. And hell, my parents drove my ass all the way here to come and see me ride, so I thought I'd give them something to look at! Not to mention, I am always a sucker for a photo op. It doesn't matter what you can do on the bike, it's how good you look doing it, right? This is where it gets funny.
As I rode past the crowd, I was scanning for my parents who were nowhere to be found. Finally, I spotted my dad, standing at the side of the road at the very end of the crowd. And was he looking at the approaching cyclists? Noooo, he was messing around with his camera. As I passed, I called out to him. No response. ... "Hmmm, honey, what apperature setting do you think I should use?" To quote the immortal works of Homer ... "D'oh!". It wasn't until the next day, after the ride had ended, I learned that they saw me coming and surmised I must have been the guy who won the event each year so they paid me no mind. We all had a pretty good laugh about that one.
After I passed the middle school, I sat up and waited for the pack as there was no point in continuing to go alone, not to mention I needed to recover. We crossed M37, with the assistance of the Sheriff's department, and began a short decent into downtown Middleville and crossed Thrornapple River, another classic photo op at this event. As we approached the river, I was joined by Chris Ragsdale, the guy who has posted the highest mileage total in each of the last 3 years, including smashing the 500 mile barrier in 2007. All you have to do is take a look at this guys legs and you can see why.
OK, in 2008 there were hundreds of pictures posted by volunter event photographers. Thus far, I have been scouring the internet looking for any of these coveted photo ops for 2009 and alas, none to be found, which makes my whole opening yarn, one ginormous fish story!
Checkpoint #1 - 34.4 mi
After all my goofing around and as we departed fair Middleville, I settled down a bit and reintegrated the pack to recover for a time. The lead group was comprised of 50 or so riders so there was a lot of opportunity sit back and enjoy the ride. This was the tailwind section of the route as we headed east, so the pace was brisk (in the 25 to 27 mph range) but not overly labored. The ride included a pace car which escorted riders over the entire first 121.6 mile loop. There was hardly any traffic on the route which made for pretty care-free pedaling.
As we approached the first checkpoint, the pace quickened as many of the riders were wanting to get in front to meet their support crews. I stopped to get my bib punched, and then rolled up to Larry who was already waiting with fresh bottles. I quickly reloaded and got right back on the road.
This was a huge improvement from last year, where, without support, I had to fill my empty bottles with powder and make my way to the water coolers to fill up. By the time I had done this, the train had already left the station. I expended way too much energy chasing the pack down, which I finally caught, but the price for this effort was being dropped just before reaching checkpoint #2.
Checkpoint #2 - 71.5 mi
After leaving checkpoint #1, most of the main group remained intact (perhaps about 40 riders at this point) as the route now turned to the south toward checkpoint #2. We now rode with a pretty strong cross-wind (from the right)of 15+ mph so the real work was now beginning. The pace slowed to 22-24 mph as the pack proceeded in an echelon to duck the wind.
I'd like to tend to think that I am a bit more on the cautious side of most roadies. When I ride solo, I generally hug the white line on the right side of the road and I really want to have nothing to do with traffic. I never assume that passing motorists see me or will adjust thier speed to avoid me, especially when there is also oncoing traffic.
With the winds from the right, just like the geese do, the echelon spreads from the right side of the traffic lane to the left. With 40 riders in the lead group, this can get to be a bit of a problem as most are trying to duck the wind, and in some unfortunate situations on other rides, I have seen riders extending into the oncoming traffic lane which is not a good situation for anyone, especially when the terrain is rolling to hilly. Fortunately, this group was well mannered and riding was contained within our lane, but only about the lead 10-12 riders were able to enjoy a wind break from the echelon. Remaining riders pretty much fell in line near the center line. Wanting to stay out of the wind as much as possible, I tried to keep my rotation within the lead 10-12 positions. The consequence to this was that I had more frequent pulls at the front which I didn't mind.
By the time we hit checkpoint #2, you could notice that the cool of the morning was fading, the humidity was building and the temps were on the rise. The overcast skies were now clearing and conditions were predominantly sunny. This was by no means going to be an overly opressive weather day, outside of some wind conditions, but as I stopped at the checkpoint, I could definitley feel the engine was running warm. Without the road breeze, sweat was quickly flowing, clouding my glasses and stinging my eyes. I had also gone through a full two bottles since the last checkpoint.
I quickly got my bib punched and proceeded to look for Larry to refuel. Like clockwork, he was waiting a short distance up the road. I took on two fresh bottles as well as a Camelbak filled with Gatorade. This would be it for support as Larry was primarily providing support for his wife and other family members. We had figured that he would not be able to make it to checkpoint #3 by the time the rest of his clan was refueled. So this would need to last me for the next 50 miles or so back to the middle school. I thanked Larry and pushed on up the road.
(Checkpoint #2 - 71.5 mi)
(Checkpoint #2 - 71.5 mi)
Checkpoint #3 - 96.2 mi
As the lead group departed checkpoint #2, we became a bit disorganized and the pace slowed a bit. We were now heading back west toward our third stop in Delton and into headwinds. Because the terrain was rolling to hilly and many sections were forested, the wind did not seem nearly as bad as I was expecting, given the reports were that they ranged from 11-22 with gusts to nearly 30.
Within the next 5 minutes or so, everyone was pretty well back together by now but the group was shrinking. We were down to 25-30 at this point.
We all worked pretty well together in terms of everyone rotating to take turns pulling at the front. By this time, we have completed about our average Saturday morning group ride distance of 70-75 miles, but at a much faster pace. Although I was generally feeling pretty good overall, you tend to start feeling the impact of the ride at this point. This I believe is where the mental part of endurance activities can either help you or do you in. If you start telling yourself you are starting to feel fatigued 3.5 hours into the event and then come to the conclustion that there are still more than 20 hours to go, you can defeat yourself pretty quickly. Best not to think about that now. Keep your head in the game.
Perhaps the highlight of the 3rd leg was when Chris Ragsdale unexpectedly peeled off the front and turned around. I later learned he spotted a turtle crossing the road and went back to help it to safety. Pretty cool. Although I didn't see that one, I did see a large snapper crossing the road earlier in the ride and boy, those things are slow, and big! I'd bet running over that wouldn't tickle. In a game of bike vs snapper, I would imagine that snapper would take honors. Snapper vs car however would have not such a favorable outcome.
We rolled into checkpoint #3 at the Delton Public Library at mile 96.2. This stop, like the others before it was hurried. Upon arrival, I had already finished the entire contents of my Camelbak and one full bottle, with only one remaining which was supposed to last me the remaining 25 miles back to the middle school. Based on my fluid consumption, this would not do, so I quicly filled one with water so that I could stay well hydrated for the last leg of the day loop. I grabbed a couple of bananas as well and was also carrying Hammer gel to provide supplemental calories.
I noticed a number of riders who had support crews picked up musettes (a frenchy term for feed bag) and were already stocked and on their way. This is the point at which most of the lead group had now dissipated. I passed a number of riders trying to hook back onto the lead group, which was down to just 5 at this point and after a few minutes of pretty strenous effort, I finally latched back on. After I swallowed back down most of my internal organs which had jettisoned, I looked down at my computer because I realized we had just turned the 100 mile mark. Total elapesed time was 4.5 hours. This was by far the fastest century I'd ever ridden at an average speed of 22.2 mph.
Checkpoint #4 - 121.6 Mi (Thornapple Middle School)
The next 25 miles was pretty uneventful. Our group of six, proceeded to the north to finish the final leg of the day loop. About the last half of this fourth leg was also the final portion of the 23.7 mile intermediate loop we would be riding next. So midway into the leg, the terrain became quite familiar as I had ridden the intermediate loop four times in 2008.
I always find it more reassuring to be riding a familiar route as you are generally better prepared to measure your effort, know what to expect in terms of terrain and can better guage your progress to your destination.
Our lead group of six rolled into checkpoint #4 at the middle school at 1:30 in the afternoon, completing 121.6 miles in 5.5 hours at an average speed of 22.1 mph. My first goal of staying with the big dogs for the first loop was accomplished. These guys were good.
I had no intention of attempting to stay with this group for the intermediate loops. By the time I had gotten my bib punched and rolled to my tent to begin to refuel, they were already back on their way out again. I quickly mixed a few bolltles, dunked a towel in my cooler and wiped all the crusted sweat/salt off of my face and rolled back out on the course, trying to stay true to my second goal of keeping the bike moving as much as possible without stopping. At this point, and throughout the remainder of the event, this was a solo ride with no drafting.
Intermediate Loop (23.7 mi)
The next portion of the event invloved a 23.7 mile loop around Yankee Springs Recreation Area and Gun Lake. It's quite a scenic ride, but with a fair amount of climbing and hills. You are supposed to complete this loop as many times as possible before the mid-loop check point closes at 8:00 pm. Last year I completed 4 of these loops before the cut-off so I was shooting for 5 this year.
The first portion of this loop followed a stretch of state route M37 which was a fairly high traffic road. A very wide shoulder provided a good buffer between traffic and the riders. After this section, the route continues to veer to the south to a less busy and fairly wooded Yankee Spring Road. The road has a gently decending slope as it takes you south into the Yankee Springs Recreation Area. On my first loop, I was surprised at how difficult this stretch seemed to be, even with the winds out of the west, a fair amount of break from roadside trees and brush, and the gentle decending slope, I struggled to maintain a decent road speed. I didn't seem to be passing many other riders and was generally uncomfortable throughout this section for most of the afternoon.
Checkpoint #5 was at the southern end of Yankee Spring Road, just before you turned to the west to enter the Recreation Area. It was situated at what appeared to be a private residence with a semi-circular gravel driveway. You really needed to work to keep from wiping out if you came in too fast. The volunteers throughout this event are simply fantastic. They provide a lot of encouragement to the riders and genuinely enjoy themselves, and I would say especially so at this check point. Many would ask how you were feeling, whether you needed water, oranges or bananas, and they even had someone standing at the side of the road checking traffic for you as you exited.
After another mile or so to the south, a right turn put you at the entrance of the Recreation Area. This was definately the most scenic portion of the route. The terrain was fairly hilly and heavily forested with a good mix of deciduous and tall pine forest. There are a couple of nice decents which bring you down to Gun Lake, the lowest section on the route. It was realy cool seeing the sun sparkling on the lake as you watched it through the pine trees. Because of the low terrain and forest, there was hardly any noticable head wind during this section, even though wind speeds were probably 15-20 mph at this point of the day.
The road through the park jogged you to the north, and after another short jaunt to the west, you are routed onto Patterson Road, which is a 3.5 straight away to the north, almost all being a gentle uphill climb with a couple of ball busters thrown in to make it interesting. Most of this leg is fairly exposed, so there was a fairly strong cross wind from the left. In 2008, the winds were more out of the south, and I recall really enjoying this section quite a bit because the pavement was pretty smooth and I was able to carry a pretty good pace, despite the uphill slope. For whatever reason, I felt pretty strong again on this portion of the course and looked forward to this section on each lap. I rode most of it down on the aero bars and because of the decent pavement, I was able to maintain a smooth pedaling rythym and good speed.
The last major turn on this loop was on Green Lake Road to the east, which is the same one I fried myself on at the start of the day. The breeze was still blowing from the west so road speeds were easily 25 to 27 mph tucked down on the aero bars.
(Getting "punched" at the middle school check point)
My first 2 laps on this circuit, from about 2:00 to 5:00 pm were without doubt my lowest point of the ride. The fast pace of the long morning loop really tapped me out more than I realized. I periodically suffer from knee problems and hot foot and both were beginning to set in at this point. Despite the onset of some physical discomfort, it was my mindset which had really taken a dive. I began thinking to myself that I was only 6, 7, 8 hours into this thing with still so many yet to come. I was thinking about how nice it would be to take a shower and settle in for a nice long nap. I was questioning what the heck I was trying to accomplish. I even entertained just packing it in and waiting for my parents to pick me up the following morning.
Ulitmately I realized that I was there because I enjoy riding my bike ... a lot, and that I thought it would be foolish to give up after asking my parents to sacrifice thier weekend to support me. I have also found that the memories of particular rides, the sights, sounds and smells, last way longer than any discomfort or pain. It never takes long to block out how cold it was, or how rainiy it was, or how you blew your knee out. But the memories, the experience ... priceless!
Another thing that helped to bring me out of my funk were memories of some of the randonneuring rides I have enjoyed over the past several years. Randonneuring is essentially long, unsupported rides, not for competition but for fun and fellowship. These rides generally vary in length from 200K (124 mi.) all the way to 1200K (746 mi.) and follow a specified route with regular control stops along the way. In these types of events, its generally more important to focus on the journey rather than it's endpoint. During these types of rides, I have learned from others that you should never focus on how many miles left to the end. Why concern yourself with such worthless pursuits! It doesn't get you there any sooner. Instead, I tend to think in terms of how long until the next rest stop. If you are able to break the ride into managable pieces, its amazing how the miles become less important, and before you know it, your are getting close to the finish.
So with all of this thinking, I decided it would be a good idea to start following my own advice. Although I was struggling during the heat of the day, I began thinking of things to look forward to within the next hour or two. Things like finishing a lap, coming up to a favorite part of the course, or dowsing myself with a cold wet towel were all little things, but they all were enourmously helpful in keeping my mind off of another 15 to 18 hours on the bike.
This proved very helpful in the long run and by 5:00 to 6:00 my mind was much more focused on enjoying the moment and looking forward to the next part of the ride. By 7:00 I had completed my 4th intermediate loop and was feeling pretty good that it appeared that I would have no problem completing a 5th. All I had to do was get to checkpoint 5 again by 8:00 before it closed. As this was only 7 to 8 miles away, there would be no problem getting this done.
Each intermediate loop took about and hour and 15 minutes or so to complete, so during my 5th loop, I knew I would be crossing the mid-point of the ride at 8:00 pm. This was encouraging in a couple of ways: 1) this would be the last time I would be riding this particular loop so enjoy it, 2) there would be fewer hours remaining than already expended, 3) darkness would be coming soon which offered a new and welcomed change in the ride, and 4) I would begin riding the night loop, which offered yet another change.
In the waning miles of my 5th loop, 8:00 finally came. To this point, I had not paid any attention to my bike computer other than monitoring speed. By now, I was beginning to focus more on milage and progress toward the overall goal of 400 miles and by the mid-point, I had logged 230.
Night Loop (7.5 mi)
The night loop is not particularly interesting. It's basically a rectangle with the middle school located at the mid-point of one of the long legs and is pretty much flat with the exception of a pretty nice downhill on about half of one of the short legs followed by an equally unpleasant climb on the finishing leg. The road is open to traffic on this loop however, there are hardly any cars on the roads with the exception of local traffic. The sheriff's department had officers stationed at all four corners as well as 2 more at the road which bisects the rectangular course to stop traffic for the riders.
Being on the edge of the eastern time zone, it doesn't get completely dark until shortly after 10:00 pm, especially because we were riding on the second longest day of the year. By the time I had completed the intermediate course, it was about 8:15. Althought there was still plenty of daylight, the sun had moved below the tree line and the onset of darkness was becoming apparent. As a result, the staff at the middle school were requesting riders to begin using thier lights. I had mounted mine earlier that morning because I did not want to be wasting time fumbling around with this activity at night when I was already tired. Just a few days earlier I purchased a Light and Motion Stella 200 lithium ion light which puts out a great beam of light and has a 10 hour run time in the medium setting. This worked perfectly for this event because it lasted until daylight without needing a charge.
Although the entirety of the remaining portion of the ride would be spent riding around in circles all night on a short course, I was glad to have been done with the hilly intermediate loop and on to a loop with a generally flat profile. I was done with looking at scenery and being in tune with my surroundings and was hoping to get myself numbed into a zone of concentration where I could dull out time and discomfort.
It was a beutiful night for riding. Temperatures were coming down as expected, although I don't think we ever made it below 60 degrees, winds were still noticable from the west but definitely died down as the evening progressed. Skies were clear.
Early on, I figured my biggest challenge on this portion of the ride was to resist the temptation to make unnecessary stops. Given that I was turning laps every 22 to 24 minutes, it became easy to stop by my tent to refuel or to find something to do other than stay on the bike. I was hoping to limit stops to refueling only, which, with 2 bottles, should be about every 4-5 laps or so.
Most of what kept me going on the second half of the ride was the initial goal I had set and crunching the numbers needed to attain that goal. With 230 miles down at the mid-point, I told myself that I wanted to get to 300 miles by midnight, and if I were able to achieve this, all I had to do was complete a "simple" century in 8 hours to meet my objective. While an 8 hour century is a cake walk for any seasoned roadie, I have not frequently been faced with this task immediately following the completion of 3 centuries, so I didn't want to leave anything to chance. In fact, based on my physical condition at the start of the night loop, I was seriously concerned about getting to 300 by midnight (17.5 mph pace for 4 hours, more including any stops).
After the first few laps on the night loop, I was able to settle in and find a good rythym. Surprisingly, I was very focused, again, only fixing my attention on the next several hours and reaching my midnight objective. I was fatigued, but not yet feeling tired from the previous night's lack of sleep. I found myself passing other riders at pretty regular intervals and not being passed by others. I think my mysteriously fresh legs were driven by some sense of urgency about getting to task. As midnight fell, almost to the minute, I turned 300 miles.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
While I was feeling pretty good about hitting this milestone, I was expecting that I would settle down a bit, knowing that barring any unforseen disaster, I would reach 400 miles by 8:00 am. Another 100 miles was again too daunting a task to comprehend with 8 hours remainaing so I got to doing some math again. 100 miles on a 7.5 mile loop boils down to about 13 laps. So I basically finished the next 100 miles with a countdown. With the completion of each lap, the magic number decreased by one. Before long, I was counting down from 10, then I reached single digits, and before too long, 8, then 7.
By 3:00 am, I was finally starting to feel sleepy. This became evident following a couple of close calls, one on a corner and anouther where I started to run off the road for no good reason. One of the things that was really starting to get to me was the blinking of other riders' tail lights. These were required in addition to headlights however, normally, group night riding ettiquite would dictate that tail lights be fixed and not flashing. On the other hand, the rules indicate that tail lights may, but are not required to be flashing. I would have to say that most riders opted for flashers that night and some of these things are crazy bright, and some also had a strobe effect. So I became a bit entranced wathching all the pretty dancing lights to the point it was becoming hypnotic. There was even a guy that had spokes which were illumineted and flashed a variety of different colors which was totally cool to watch. I thought for a moment that I had really gone off the deep end but I remembered seeing this same guy during the 2008 event.
(This is what things looked like to me at 3 am)
Due to impending body shut-down, I determined that it was time to implement my emergency plan. At the completion of my next lap I mixed fresh bottles, and then reached into my now nearly ice-less cooler where, bobbing on the top was a still frosty-cold can of Monster Energy. I slugged down half of it in the next several seconds, put it on top of my cooler and pushed back out onto the course. Talk about rocket fuel, this thing really lit me up, nearly instantly. I was alert again and the legs really took off. I finished the second half a few laps later and hoped that I was not going to crash in the next hour or two after the sugar/caffiene high wore off. I didn't feel drowsy for the remaining 5 hours of the ride.
As the early morning approached pre-dawn, the temps were getting a bit chilly so I donned some arm warmers to retain some body heat. On the one downhill portion of the loop you could see a layer of fog beginning to form and there was at least a 10 degree temperature drop as you plunged down to the fourth corner of the loop. As uninviting as climbing was after so many hours in the saddle, it was refreshing to climb back out of that hole where temps increased again almost as fast as they dipped on the downhill portion.
My 100 mile lap counting game was working well for me and soon 7 went to 5, and then 3. I was getting pretty excited that I would have a good opportunity to exceed my original 400 mile goal by a pretty good margin. This I found to be very motivating and helped me stay focused and retain a good pace. I would have some very fast laps at 20+ mph, and then slack it back a bit for one and then go hard again. I reached 400 miles just before 6:00 am as daylight began taking over night. With just over 2 hours to go, I figured I would be able to get in at least another 4 laps if I maintained my pace or even a bit slower. Moving into daylight was also a welcomed change as there was hope that my suffering would finally end soon.
On my second to final lap, I ran into (not literally, but it sure could of happened that way) a young guy named Keegan from Indianapolis who joined me for a couple of laps. This guy had the build of a pro tour rider and I recall seeing him earlier during the night mixing it up with the fast group. I think this was his first time at this event and was on pace to win his age group (as it turns out, he finished first in his class, a mere 75 miles ahead of the 2nd place finisher!).
I am not, by any stretch a very talkative guy (except for those voices in my head), but was surprised that this seemed to be more of the norm at this event. I suppose many, like me, prefer to suffer in silence, and conserve as much energy as possible. It was great having the opportunity for some light banter in the final moments of the ride. Keegan and I completed a full lap together, and as we approached the school checkpoint, I think the event clock read shortly after 7:00 am. We both decided that the next lap would be our last, that it would be difficult to complete 2 more in less than an hour. We both took our own sweet time, doing a lot of soft pedaling and rolling, enoying the fact that this would be the last time we had to see this part of the course (hell, I had already seen it 25 times, that was enough!). I even joked that we'd better slow down even more, so we made sure we didn't get back with time remaining for an additional lap. And wouldn't you know it, we did finish that final lap with just under a half hour to spare and would have had the opportunity to go one more. I didn't take either of us long to determine that was just not going to happen, so I thanked him for his company and headed off to my tent to assess the damage.
Aftermath
After spending 24 hours riding your bike, on one hour of sleep in the last 50, there are, as can be expected, some subtle impacts to body and mind. These became pretty pronounced, even before darkness fell the previous night. Things such as the inability to walk in a straight line (I clipped a doorway walking into the middle school; I did apologize however, as it was my fault), difficulty in re-mounting your steed after a stop (if you can't swing your leg over your bike, better to swing your bike under your leg), and by far the worst was the stooping and squatting motion required to enter the tent, a real "I've fallen, and can't get up" moment.
I turned my bib card into the officials in the middle school who totaled my final mileage at 427.6. My bike computer read just over 430 (did I get lost?). And then it was right to the showers to wash off the stink!
The local McDonalds sponsors the post ride breakfast. It was real difficult returning to solid food after what was a mostly liquid diet over the previous day. I choked down an egg McMuffin, minus the sorry escuse for an egg they put tween those muffins, which just sort of dried up in the back of my throat. Shortly after breakfast, they gave away some door prizes and then had an awards ceremony. Based on my third place finish in my division last year with 374 miles, there was a pretty good chance of making the podium again. Interestingly, they actually made a podium this year. It was quite humorous watching people try to step on and off of that thing based on how everyone was hurting.
It's pretty neat because when they announce the top riders in each group, they also say what town and state they came from. All the more cool because when they announced the winner of the mens 50-54 category they called another guy from Batavia, IL, Paul Carpenter, who put up a whopping 443 miles!
As the award ceremony was wrapping up, Paul came over and introduced himself to me. Very nice guy, who from the sound of it, may have previously hailed from England. I had never met Paul before, even though we live in the same town and both share a passion for long distance cycling. As it turns out, on many of my early morning training rides, I frequently crossed a lone cyclist heading west out of Batavia, almost at the same point each morning. Each day, we'd extend the cordial wave and continue on about our ride. Well as it turns out, that was Paul, who I learned rides his bike to Northern Illinois University each morning, practically every day of the year. Paul, I also learned, is a real glutton for punishment, and appears to be committed to riding solo RAAM next year.
So Batavia, had a pretty good showing the Naional 24 this year with Paul and myself ranking 2nd and 3rd respectively. The overall mens winner, Chris Ragsdale, has done this decisively in each of the last 4 years, posting an amazing 480 miles. A true machine.
The drive home was quite relaxing as I stretched out in the back seat and enjoyed some much needed sleep. My parents and I took a pit stop at a rest station shortly after entering Indiana. Starting to feel hungry for solid food again, I downed a bag of licorice and all NEW jalepeno Cheetos. Good to be back on my normal diet again.
After getting home and checking in, I checked out again for several hours with some quality mattress time. Somewhere between Indiana and my livingroom floor, every muscle in my body siezed up in some way, to the point it took what seemed an eternity just to get up off the floor, with lots of intermittant grunts and groans in between. Needless to say, Monday morning was not a bike commute day. I hobbled around for a bit throughout the day, but by Tuesday, I was pretty much back to normal activity. The only post-ride effects which endured, was some light numbness in my toes, which lasted for weeks following the event.
While I enjoyed this experience tremendously, I have still not decided whether I would consider putting this one on my event calendar for next year. Without 24 hour crew support to maximize every minute on the bike, I am not sure there would be the potential for significant improvement over this year. On top of that, I really aspire to do Paris-Brest-Paris in 2011 and would like to get a full brevet series in during 2010 as I hear the entrance standards will likely be increased and all I can determine now is that the more ACP rides I do, the better my chances.
Finally, I cannot say enough about the quality of this event in terms of its organizers and countless volunteers who work tirelessly to support all of the paricipants. They execute this event flawlessly and are true ambassadors for cycling and down right good living!
