Sometimes Your Body Says Stop

And that's what mine did this weekend.

I've been battling a cold for a couple weeks. Nothing too bad, but its there. And you don't really feel like pressing it. I've followed the old rule, since its only in my head and not my chest, I've kept riding. I have better and worse days, but its hanging on and just won't go away.

When I woke up Saturday, I felt awful. I felt like I was breathing through a straw there was so much crud in my throat. Whatever I did, I couldn't clear up my sinuses. For whatever reason, I'd taken a turn for the worse. Riding Saturday was out. And I decided not to go to Marinette to do the Menominee River ride. I needed to rest and get better.

To me, its clear what my body was saying. I needed rest. I've put in a lot of miles the last 3 months. 2850 of them. And that was really starting from no on road riding (my winter work had been all CompuTrainer). I did the 200, 300 and 400 km brevets. I have 7 total rides over 100 miles. While I have accomplished a lot, I've probably pushed myself a little harder and further than what I could handle. My body needed a break, to get well and to offload some fatigue.

I felt better Sunday, but still didn't ride. Winds were crazy in Appleton, and I think I needed a couple days off.

Sometimes its easy to focus on ride, ride ride, train, train, train. Sometimes though, all you need is rest. And if you miss it, your body will let you know.

Why I do long rides?

This question always comes up. From people you know, from people who are cyclists, from those who aren't. Even from fellow randonneurs. Of all of the things to do on a Saturday or a Sunday afternoon, why are you out here doing this, riding your bike 100, 200 or more miles. What is it that motivates you to do these rides of distances that are seemingly beyond reach.

Its a question that comes up a lot. And on brevets, we typically spend some time talking about it. Everyone's reasons are a little different. I think it has to be that way, because to endure those miles, you have to be out there for your reasons, not someone else's. So after a lot of thought, here is my answer.


Its About the Experience
Two of the best experiences I have had on a bike are riding though Yellowstone and Grand Teton National parks. Too often today, people choose to treat life as a spectator sport and not something to participate in. Its easier to watch the ball game on TV than to get out, but the experience when getting on the road is so much more. Its the fresh air, the scenery, the back roads, the seeing a road as you have never seen it before. When you watch TV or a movie, you are watching someone else's interpretation of things, whatever it may be. When you are out on your bike, you are experiencing all of those things first hand.


Its About the Adventure
One of my riding mates on the 400 km (Joe) brought this up. There really aren't many ways to go on a 'big adventure' these days. A long ride is one way to break out of that every day routine, to go farther than you ever have and see things you never thought you could see, to be a participant and not just a spectator. Its the adventure of what will be around the next corner or at the top of the next hill. It goes along with that experience thing, to experience something that at least for you is a little bit epic.

Its About What I Can Accomplish
I will never wear the rainbow jersey of the road race world champion. I'll never wear the Yellow Jersey of the race leader of the Tour de France. I'll never solo to victory in Liege-Bastogne-Liege or any other spring classic. I just wasn't born with those genetics. And even if I was, I didn't take up cycling until too late, and I'm not willing to dedicate my entire life to road racing. I made other choices, and I'm happy with those choices.

But I can and have completed a 400 km brevet. I can, and next year plan to complete a 600 km ride and a full super randonneur series. If I so choose, I can complete Paris-Brest-Paris or another 1200 km ride. Are those difficult, aggressive goals? No doubt? But they are also all goals that I can complete, based solely on how hard I train and my willpower to overcome the obstacles I face. And as I complete each one, I know the accomplishment is all mine

Its About the People
This is the best reason. Randonneurs as a group are great people. All kinds of interesting life experiences. What is better than being able to spend a few hours with someone who shares an interest with you trading stories of things you have done. The events are long enough and we travel at an appropriate pace that conversation is encouraged. And that is a great way to pass a day.

It also is often said that randonneurs trade competition for the camaraderie of one another. This is very true. There is no bravado, no smugness of the fast guys. I'm sure there are some primadonnas out there some where, but by far the exception and not the rule. Every one out there is pulling for everyone else to finish and do well. There is just as much respect for the rider who finishes last as there is the rider who finishes first (many times more respect). It truly is everyone rooting for each other. And in today's self rewarding, me first world, that kind of community is hard to find.

Everyone has their reasons, but those are mine.

Crash!

I did the Chain Reaction Wednesday night group ride tonight, which has become a staple for me. Its good to do some group rides to push yourself a little, break up the boredom and practice group ride skills.

We did the Grand View loop tonight, which is the first time I've done this route with this group. Turnout was impressive with 55 total riders. In the "fun" group (the group that does 18-20 mph) we had about 30 riders or so. For the route, we go north on Meade, then west on Rock Road all the way out to Stephenville, south on 76 to work our way down to Grand View. On Grand View is the bigger hill on the ride. Not long, not terribly steep, but it does get the blood flowing when everyone is sprinting up it. From there, its Grand View to Greenwood to Quarry to Mayflower to Capitol to get back in. I think from the Chain Reaction shop its about 35 miles in total. Compared to the other ride this group does (the Swamp Ride), I think this one has a few more hills.

So we are headed down Capitol coming up on Meade getting ready to turn right and head back to the shop. We are riding in two lines, and I'm up front in the first row. Becky and I had even had a conversation earlier about how its safer to be up front on these things. So we are coming up to the intersection and to the left I see a rider on a road bike heading south on Meade. He's going at a good clip, probably about 22 mph as he is headed down the hill from where Meade passes over 41. I shout "Rider Left, stopping". I'm in the right hand line, but my partner up front, in the left hand line either didn't see the other rider or didn't hear me. So as I am clipping out and stopping, he turns right into me.

Boom!

We both go down.

Fortunately, neither of us were hurt. And no one else went down either. My foot was tangled up in his spokes and Niki had to lift up his bike and rotate it around to get me out. I have a sore elbow and I'm sure he has sme bumps and bruises too, but no road rash. Mostly I think it was pride that was hurt. On my bike I have a scratch on the pedal and lost a bar end. I think he'll need a new spoke, but we were both able to ride home.

I haven't went down in a long time, like 10 years. You never want to go down, but if you have to, its sure better to go down when you are almost stopped rather than at 30 mph. The most important thing is that no one was seriously hurt. No one was really hurt at all. Its good that neither bike was damaged or seemingly even scratched at all either--but even if so, bikes can be fixed, people not so much.

If you ride enough, at some point you are going to go down. While I wouldn't describe hitting the concrete tonight as gentle, I also realize that both of us are very lucky that its just a couple bumps. We both rode away, which is the best you can hope for.

Mackinaw Shoreline Century

I traveled up to Mackinaw City, MI this weekend to do the Mackinaw Shoreline Century. I used to do a lot of organized century rides, but not as much any more. Of course I do brevets, which consumes a number of weekends, and if I want to ride 100 miles, I just go do it. I guess at some point getting a t-shirt didn't hold the same appeal. But this one interested me because it would be a chance to go to Mackinaw, see the bridge, see the island and ride part of the Lake Michigan shoreline. So I was in.



The first thing I should say is that the ride is advertised as a century, but isn't a century. Its only 86 miles. I appreciate the Mackinaw chamber folks putting on the ride, but just say what it is, an 86 miler. Nothing wrong with that.

Anyway, the route goes generally south from Mackinaw City. Withing the first few miles you do get some nice views of Lake Michigan. Then the route continues south on what are generally roads through wooded areas. Traffic is very low until you get onto Pleasant View road, which did have more traffic and a crummy shoulder (in disrepair), so it wasn't too great to ride on. Anyway, you soon turn right to head back east. While the route is generally flat, you now have to climb over a couple of ridges to get back to the Lake Michigan shoreline. Nothing too serious, but there are some genuine hills.

Climbing the last ridge takes you past a golf course at a local country club, and then you drop down a wooded road and turn north. I think the road was Michigan 119, but now you are near the shoreline, and for the next 20-25 miles, you are either in a tree canopy of beautiful woods or have a view of Lake Michigan. This is definitely the highlight of the ride. Probably the best part was around mile 64 and the so called tunnel of trees. Just a fantastic forested area. I was told by the rest stop volunteers that this road is much more popular during summer, so if you go then, be aware of increased traffic.

The route then basically worked its way back to Mackinaw City. At this point, only having 86 miles, I still wanted over 100 for the day. So I continued on into the City and made my way to one of the terminals for a ferry to Mackinaw Island. On Mackinaw island, there are only 7 cars, all for official purposes (fire truck, ambulance, garbage truck, etc). So you wither get around by horse taxi or by bike.

Getting off the ferry at Mackinaw Island, it was a tourist zoo. Tourists were everywhere. And so were bikes that people could rent to ride around the island. Some companies rented mountain bikes, but must of them were cruiser type bikes. In any case, I was happy to have my own bike.

I did a loop around the outside of the island. This afforded excellent views of Mackinaw Bridge and the Mackinaw Straits. There were also several interesting rock formations. Getting back to the area where the ferries were, I then went up Turkey Hill so I could take the road that bisected the island. And this was a hill. Short, yes, but probably 10-12% grade. Ouch. After passing some houses were the few locals on the island live, I was in some pristine wooded country. I then came up to an area where the British and Americans fought a battle in the war of 1812. Soon, I was back at the north tip of the island (the island is only 3 miles long). So I reversed course and went back via the middle of the island. On my way back, I diverted off on a bike only trail to see Arches Rock, a natural arch formation looking out onto the waters of Lake Huron. Once again, leading up to his area was the most beautiful forest one could imagine riding too. At this point, I was finished, so I went back to the terminal, boarded the ferry and returned to Mackinaw City. I ended up with 105 miles for the day.



I stayed overnight on Saturday night, so Sunday morning I went out for a quick ride. I rode from Mackinaw City down Highway 23 to Cheboygan. Highway 23 had a sufficient shoulder and there wasn't much traffic on a Sunday morning, so it was a good ride. Looking at a map now, there are other roads in the area, but this route worked OK for me this morning.

One of the things I really liked about northern Michigan was how many of the wooded areas are still intact. Whether these were preserved from logging or replanted, I don't know. But it really made for a lot of pleasant areas to ride through.

So all in all, a good weekend of riding. It was nice to do a century ride again. No brevet card to keep track of, no time limit to worry about. And I could get off my bike after 100 miles. Bonus all the way around.

400 KM Brevet - Gear that I Took

Wearing
Short Sleeve Base Layer
Short Sleeve Jersey
Arm Warmers
Pearl Izumi Shorts
Leg Warmers
Wool Socks
Cycling Gloves
Headband

In my Seat Bag
Crank Brothers Multi Tool
Two spare Tubes
Park Tire Boots
Park Spoke Wrench
CO2 Inflator with 4 Co2 cartridges
FibreFix Replacement Spoke
Reflective Sam Brown Sash (used after dark as per RUSA rules)

In my Top Tube Bag
Brevet Card (most important thing--no credit without this)
Cliff Bar (my bonk rations - didn't end up eating it though)
Jelly Belly Performance Jelly Beans (ate these about mile 50)
Extra Chamois Cream (used about mile 140 to reapply)
Extra Socks in a ziplock bag (did not use as my booties kept my feet dry)
Hand Warmers (didn't need, but with the cool temps, glad I had)
Extra Batteries for Lights

In my Jersey Pockets
Cycling Jacket (used the last 150 miles when it started raining and cooling off)
Full finger gloves (used in the second half of the ride)
Third Extra Tub
Hand Pump
Two packs of Gu (not used, but I never use Gu unless I'm in real trouble)
Cell Phone
Money Clip
Keys

Attached to my Bike
Extra Tire
Pearl Izumi Rain Booties in a ziplock bag (used these from Mile 97 on)

Comments and Thoughts
One of the difficult things about long brevets is all of the things you have to carry. This means bulk and weight, no other way around it. You about have to have three tubes for the distance you are going. Same with a spare tire. Weather complicates things. We encountered rain, so carrying rain gear was a must. But even if there is no rain, you will most likely be going significant night riding. And it cools off at night. So you have to bring things like leg warmers and a jacket, because 50 degrees at night is not very warm.

I didn't do a minimalist packing, but I didn't go crazy either. As it turns out, I could have left the hand warmers and extra socks at the hotel. But if it would have rained more, I probably would have been very happy to have those. I did not have any flats or mechanicals either, so I had no need or any of my spares. But you have to carry that stuff. It was good to have both sets of gloves. I used the normal set for the first 100 miles so I didn't feel overheated, and then switched to the full finger gloves later. My jacket is one of the bulkier items I carry, but you have to have it.

Is there anything I wish I would have had? Not really. A GPS, so we wouldn't have missed those turns, but that is something you attach to your bike, not something you carry with you.

That is what worked for me. Lots of other people have their lists out there for what to carry on a long brevet, but for now, that is mine.

The Longest Day - GLR 400 km Brevet

On Saturday, June 6, I completed the GLR 400 km Brevet out of Delavan, WI. And for those of you that no your history, the title is not coincidental. I am fully aware that that Saturday was the 65th anniversary of the true longest day, D-DAY.

A ride of 400 km would be the longest ride I had ever done. Its 250 miles. I had done the 300 km brevet three weeks earlier, so i thought my fitness would be OK. But I knew those extra 60 miles would be hard. There would be more hills. The weather would play a factor as it always does. And there would be more night riding. A significant challenge for sure.

The weather. Always an issue on these things. Early in the week the forecast called for partly sunny and 67. By Friday, it had deteriorated to a high of 56 with a 70% chance of showers and thunderstorms. Still, I decided to go and persevere through.

We started out at 6:00 AM from the Super 8 in Delavan. Temperature was about 55 degrees and the sky was clear. There was a wind from the east of about 10 mph, and this was good since it would give us a tailwind on our first leg. There were 18 riders at the start. We quickly formed into different groups based on the speed everyone was comfortable with. I was in the second group, a group of 4. In front of us were two riders. We did ride with them for about the first 10 miles, but one of them had completed Race Across America, and it was clear that he was a different category of athlete. Still, our group of 4 settled in and we maintained a brisk pace of 20 mph on the first legs.

The first 150 km (97 miles) is the same route that is used for the 300 km. In fact, the first 100 km is the same route that is used for the 200 km, so we were all familiar with the roads and the controls. The rides to Edgerton and Verona were uneventful. Unlike the 300 km were we battled a headwind the whole way out and every mile was a struggle, the miles just clicked off. After Verona, we got into the hills west of Madison. Some of these are tough. On in particular I remember is probably only a quarter mile long, but pitches up to probably 15%. All you can do is work your way up them.

We arrived in Sauk City around noon, and took a little bit longer break to refuel. While we were stopped, the rain started drizzling, so we put on our rain gear before heading to Baraboo. The rout to Baraboo was tough. Very Hilly. At mile 112, there was a very difficult hill that was 2 - 2.5 miles long. It had three sections that pitched up around 12%. I think all of us were spent at the top of it. By this point, it had stopped raining, so some of the rain gear came off. However, i left my booties on because the temperature had dropped down to about 45 degrees, so it felt pretty cold. But the booties kept my feet warm.

The ride from Sauk City to Baraboo is very scenic. Wooded hillsides are the norm. In Baraboo, we had a sandwich at a Cousins subs that was attached to the convenience store that was a control. Coming out of Baraboo, a light, steady rain had started. It wasn't a deluge, but it made the roads slick and made things cold. We headed through Devils Lake State Park, which was the most beautiful part of the ride. Just terrific wooded country, From here, we took the ferry across the river at Merrimac and headed into Lodi, our net control.

In Lodi, we were greeted by our local RBA Jim Kreps. Its always good to see the RBA out on a ride checking up on how people are doing. However, Jim had bad news. There was a line of thunderstorms moving in expected to hit our area between 5:00 and 7:00 PM. But at this point, what were you going to do. All we could do was refuel and head out towards Columbus.

The stretch from Lodi to Columbus was mentally the most difficult one of the ride. We were now heading into that east wind across flat, boring farm fields. The wind was not as bad as the 300 km, but it was blowing pretty hard, around 15 mph. And we were all tired from having already rode 150 miles and climbing numerous hills. So our paceline was pretty ragged. We did take a couple of short stretch breaks just to get out of the wind. Finally, mercifully, Columbus appeared. We were now at about mile 174, so just 75 to go.

In Columbus, right across the street from the control was a Burger King. One thing that all of us noticed was how much we were eating during the ride. It was a lot. This was probably due not just to the riding but also to the cooler temperatures. Our bodies were having to burn more calories just to stay warm. A double cheeseburger was mighty appealing at this point. So all of us went over to Burger King for dinner. Yes, its not the healthiest food, but it probably was about 1000 calories. And after that, I didn't feel hungry or behind on my eating the rest of the ride. I needed a lot of calories and I got them.

The other good news in Columbus was there was still no rain. In fact, the clouds did not look as threatening and the roads were dry. By a stroke of luck, the rain held off, even clearing up a bit after dark so we could see the full moon. This was magnificent news. Riding in the dark is hard enough. Riding when it is also raining, yuck.

We headed out towards Lake Mills, thankfully heading south so the wind was not nearly as much of a factor. Sunset came and we turned on our lights and donned our reflective gear. Riding to Lake Mills was for the most part uneventful. But in town, we did miss a turn and ended up wandering around a bit until we figured out where we went wrong. We backtracked, found our turn and found our control. At this point, everyone was tired.

The route then took us south through Fort Atkinson, where we missed another turn and had to backtrack some again. And then south some more to Whitewater. We wandered around a bit in the dark and finally found the control. This was nice because they had an indoor seating area, so we took a bit of a break here. And we were only 20 miles from Delavan.

One of the amazing things about these rides is people see you and they ask you where you are going. And then you tell them you are riding 250 miles in a day and they just can't believe it. This happened to us in Whitewater. I think the two girls working at the Citgo thought we were nuts (and they may have been right).

About 10 miles after Whitewater, I was feeling pretty low. My energy just felt very low and I was very tired from riding all day. I had a bag ok Skittles with me and I ate those, and immediately I felt better. I didn't have legs to spring up hills, but I just felt better. Unfortunately, about 8 miles out of Delavan, we made another navigational blunder in the dark. We missed a turn and went about 4 miles past it until we realized we were going the wrong way. So we backtracked, sound the right road, and started heading into Delavan. When we got to Delavan, everything was so quiet. The Wendy's and Perkins across from the Super 8 were closed. And I was never so happy to see a Super 8 sign in my life. At 2:53 AM Sunday morning, we had finished.

We signed our brevet cars and left them at the front desk. We congratulated each other and then proceeded with the business of getting some rest. I went up to my room, took a quick shower and went right to bed. It had been a long day, and I was ready to rest.

With our navigational errors, we accumulated quite a few 'bonus' miles. At the end, my computer read 261.75 miles. Wow. What a total. That is better than I do most weeks. Our ride time was 16:32, for an average of 15.8 mph. I think that is actually pretty good considering the distance and terrain. Our total time was 20 hours 53 minutes. We probably could have improved here. But what the heck, we finished. We were the second group in. What more can you say.

I'll right some more posts about my experiences. A ride this long deserves more than one post.