Feb 23 - how long is this ride again ?

I was perfectly fueled and hydrated for a 200k.  That was my problem.  It was a 300k.  That and the fact that there were some stages of headwind on the way back.

Backing up ... I left the house at 2:30 as planned and the NAV took me to ... the wrong place.  In the middle of nowhere south of Clermont.  Luckily I could use the "points of interest" search and found the hotel 12 miles north. 

It was supposed to be a hot day but it wasn't too bad, with clouds blocking the worst of the heat until shortly before lunch.  I'd been riding with Terry, both of us quite happy to maintain a reasonable pace.  He got his first flat.  His tires were so-so and he had some on order.  We got rolling again and soon caught up to one of the groups that had passed us while we were at the side of the road.  Paul had setup a tent affair at the 71 mile Control and we stocked up for the next 24 miles of wind-fighting (we were heading south and the wind was from the south-west). 

Terry got his second flat.  At that point we concluded that he'd be better off taking my spare tire.  It's not in great shape either having ridden behind my saddle for a couple of years without any UV protection.  There were cracks showing where the tread meets the sidewall but it was still much better than what he was riding on. 

The sun was then out in full force.  Between that point and lunch at 95 miles, Terry ran out of gas in a major way.  He was ready to DNF, couldn't drink or eat.  I convinced him to sit for a time -- after all, he had 5 hours to get back to that 71/119 mile Control (it was an out-and-back ride).

I headed out.  With the wind behind me, I put my head down and was humming along at 20-22 plus mph.  I got to Paul at 119, told him that I wasn't sure about Terry, did some stocking up and left.  Soon afterward there was a westbound section and I found that I too was out of gas.  My 18-20 dropped to 6-8 on those westbound sections.  It was blisteringly hot, at least 90F with no services available.  At mile 149 I found a Sunoco convenience store and lingered there for about 10 minutes drinking and chomping ice to cool myself down.  That was only part of my problem, however.  In retrospect I should have grabbed a sandwich.  The pb&j at the lunch stop hadn't made a dent in my needs.  I soldiered on for the next 10 miles back to the BP, stopping a couple of times along the way to let my heart rate go down -- heat, dehydration.  From that point it wasn't too bad as it was then starting to cool down a little ... just a little.

I finished up at 7:21.  I'd spent almost as much time doing the return trip as the trip out, in spite of having the wind partly with me.  That was strictly due to lack of proper fueling.

I'm concluding that the only time that I really have fun on these rides is on the 2nd and subsequent days of 1200's.  That's not true.  Terry and I had some good riding yesterday before the sun killed that.

I talked to Paul at the end and he said that Terry had made it to the 71/119 and was looking ok at that point.  I expect that I'll hear from Terry today with and "I made it" message.

The NAV did equally dumb things getting me home, but I did get home at 9:45.  I'm now feeling more normal but I did get up a couple of times during the night to have something to drink, something that I never do.

Today ... I've been doing some neatening up here in the den; I've been to Mass and I'm just about to have lunch.  The day is speeding by.  I think that we're having dinner at the SYC.

Onward ...