Feb 6 - a great day on the bike

What more could you ask for ? A great group of riders; Great support from Tim, Dan and others; Great weather. Well, perhaps if there had been a little less wind; perhaps if I hadn't gotten that flat 6 miles from the end ... but those are pretty minor.

I left the house just before 3am, getting to Eau Gallie Blvd & I95 with enough time to gas up and get a muffin before heading to the causeway and over to the meeting place. My timing was perfect, with some people milling around already and Tim doing the check-in. I recognized many faces, all the usual suspects, was pleased to see Hamid, Alain & Vita, Terry and Judith. As it got close to departure time, Tim had a few announcements -- the Osteen Maytown Road (aka shake and bake) was in even worse shape than last year; construction on Riverside in NSB, follow the detour; Kennedy Parkway would be closing due to the shuttle launch, use US 1; he'd bought enough food for the pre-registered riders, would get more given the size of the crowd. At 5am we set out.

With the west-to-east wind predicted at 22mph with gusts to 30mph, I was fully expecting the first half of the ride to be tough, since it runs from east-to-west and north. My experience is that east winds tend to blow from the south, if you're sheltered on a north-south road and west winds tend to blow from the north in that circumstance. Yesterday was no exception, however, the trip north and west only had a few spots where the wind really did its best trying to stop us from moving forward. Likewise, the west-to-east 22 mile trip on the Osteen Maytown road had some sections where we had a tail-wind, and some where the wind wasn't a factor.

On the southbound leg, where there was shelter the wind behaved as expected, blowing at our tail. The last part of the day's journey, however, is on Merritt Island on Tropical Trail and with the waves splashing only a few feet away, the cross wind pushed at us, making it hard to hang onto the road at times.

In the final analysis, however, the day wasn't about the wind, it was about the people. With a mass start in the dark, it's hard to link up with individual people, unless you are trying to stay with the "hammer" group at the front. That's not my style anyway. Perhaps, if I trained for that, I could keep up. I set my pace depending on the terrain, the road surface, the wind and how I'm feeling and let the chips fall where they might. In the roughly 30 miles and two hours riding northwards along the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway, I was alternately with Hamid; Alain & Vita, by myself, with a couple of recumbents or with other riders -- recognizable but nameless (to me). Hamid zipped ahead at one point and caught up to Alain & Vita; I kept my pace. I don't do a lot of accelerating on these rides, unless there are hills, in which case my acceleration or deceleration is only in relation to others :).

Shortly after turning west I found myself alone. That only lasted for a couple of miles and then somehow three of us were together -- Hamid, the cardiologist (don't remember his name) and I. Then two recumbents were with us and we five rode mostly together to the second and third Controls (the first Control is the start). As usual, Tim was at the second control; Dan Wallace was at the second. Dan had done the pre-ride with Tim (and others, I believe) and ran the Controls at our most north-west point and at Veterans Park in Titusville. Tim ran the first (start) Control, the 2nd, 4th (lunch at Riverside Park in NSB) and was there at the end to mark us in. He puts a lot of effort and time into this -- there will have been riders coming into the end at least to 10pm, I expect, since the last riders got to the lunch stop almost three hours after our group.

After the third Control, we headed north for a few miles and then started east. We caught up with Alain & Vita at the third Control and although we had a staggered departure out of that control, before we turned east we were all together along with another couple of riders -- Brian and Boris.

My Grand Bois tires are a dream ! They smoothed the shake-and-bake road out into a few bumps. The road isn't rippled -- no tires can deal with that -- but cratered. Think of a flat surface with little 1/2"-1" deep craters that are 2"-4" in diameter, as dense as a mess of freckles. That surface is enough to jar your teeth, with 23mm tires inflated to 100-110 psi. With the 28mm Grand Bois at 60 psi front and 80 psi rear, the uneven surface disappears. I well remember Tim commenting on a rider whizzing through that section last year with 32mm tires and took that to heart. I did get another flat, however, with no visible cause. I'll check that tube later today and see if I can determine the cause.

As we traveled the 22 miles from west to east, my tires allowed me to roll along at 20+ mph. Boris and I kept pace for a while and then as we got to smoother road just before we met up with U.S. 1, we somewhat regrouped. I pulled ... no, pace-set ... from that point to where we left U.S. 1. The wind was alternately from our left and quartering from the front left. I don't believe that those behind me gained much from drafting, but we were a close knit bunch anyway. Alain & Vita had not caught up by that point and they, along with a couple of others, got to the lunch stop a little behind us. About 2 miles before the lunch stop we came upon the hammer group heading south. It was large -- perhaps 18 riders -- this is somewhat typical of the 200k and 300k brevets, where a large group makes it from start to finish. On the 400k and 600k brevets, those groups quickly break down into smaller ones, people eventually settling into a pace that will enable them to finish the ride without being 100% wasted.

The hammer group would have been about 10 miles ahead of us at that point, as well as the time spent at the lunch stop. To put that in perspective, they'd gained about an hour on 8 hours. If our average speed was 16, theirs was 18. With some consistent drafting, that's not unreasonable and not unexpected.

Terry Shuya was at the lunch stop and six of us set out ... Hamid, Terry, Brian, another fellow, Lori and I. It was Lori's first 300 ... that was me last year. She deserves congratulations. We made it to the end together although late in the game Hamid was dragging a little and of course I got the flat. I was blamed for the group just missing 6pm, but hey -- I waited for the other five at the second-to-last Control while they all used the restroom. I guess that it serves me right !

I remember the ride from last year by stage -- going north along the ICW, trying to keep some cyclists in sight because I couldn't read the cue sheet in the dark, on my first 300k hoping that I'd make the grade. Next, going west, encountering frost on the ground, me underdressed, getting chilled, able to read the cue sheet but not caring any more, going into a convenience store and warming up my hands which had lost feeling. Riding alone along the Osteen Maytown road, then with spirits picked up, keeping up a good pace going northwards on U.S. 1 and picking up Hamid, who drafted behind me into the lunch stop. Drafting Hamid almost to the end, him just having been through open heart surgery, then almost bonking in the last 15-20 miles. Last year we got in just after sunset; this year we got in at sunset. In the final analysis finishing is all that counts coupled with camaraderie on the road.

It's a sport of personal achievement, personal goals, not competitive, so they say. For the most part it's true, although for some, the personal goal goes way beyond completion. For me, the personal goal is to finish with ample cushion time, riding what I consider to be a reasonable mile-eating speed. I finished yesterday in good shape, physically. I could have continued and done a 400 or 600 -- but in those cases I would not have been eating or drinking properly and of course when you're mentally working towards 300k, if you were then told to turn around and do it again, well ... what can I say ?

I came straight home without getting anything to eat. Sandy, upon my phone call, was rustling up food for both of us. Crab cakes, peas, sweet potato ... boy did that hit the spot. Of course, five minutes later I was eating again and then crashed, but not before having set my cell phone alarm for 3:30 a.m. -- I didn't want to miss the shuttle launch !

The shuttle didn't go. Up until a few minutes before, there was still a 30% chance, so we went to the beach (I got up Sandy at 4:15). We waited out most of the 10 minute launch window and then someone came down to the walkway and told us that it had been postponed. We get to do it again tomorrow morning ! That's good, by the way, since it was cloudy and I'd rather have clear skies.

So ... it's now 6:34. I've been up since 3:30. I'll go to Mass for 7am and then perhaps I'll have a snooze ! I have to make sure that I don't start snoozing at Mass !

Onward !