Apr 19-21 - lots of catching up

Friday was quiet.  Mary and John wanted to relax for their last day here.  We, on the other hand, we're raring to go ... NOT.  We were all tired from our long day at Disney.

I spent my day mostly getting organized for the weekend.  It took a couple of hours to program the route which I then loaded onto my Garmin.  I also got the bike and my clothing organized.  Being a 600k, I needed both the gear that I'd be wearing leaving the house as well as a change of clothes for the second "day" of riding.

I put "day" in quotes, because the 600's are usually ridden as 400+200 so the second day is shorter.

Sandy picked up Lane Snapper for dinner which was accompanied by ... I'm going blank here !  It was accompanied by something ... oh yes, sauteed cherry tomatoes and Sandy's wild rice and squash. 

I said an earlier-than-usual good night, turning in shortly after 8pm, setting my alarm for 1:30 a.m.

We'd had some very heavy rain late in the afternoon.  I was hoping that it would play itself out and we'd have a dry day on Saturday, but I knew that was not too likely.

At least it was dry when we started.  I hate starting in the rain. 

The riders quickly split into various speed groups.  I was in the second group along with Jim Solanick, Bill Erwin, Christina (don't know her last name), and a few others.  Oh yes, our group included Art and Lori.  Our group later split again, Jim, Bill and I riding the day together and a little short of stopping for the night, back with the Art/Lori group of five riders

The first Control was around 34 miles but we'd only gotten half-way there before we had to stop and don our raincoats.  I also put a shower cap over my helmet.  That turned out to be my garb for the day.  It made me more than a little nervous that I was wearing everything that I was carrying so early in the day, still in the dark.  I'd have been more comfortable knowing that I had booties and rain paints in my pack, but those were in the car.

Where we stopped to put on our rain gear, the fast group had also stopped, but they got back underway before we did.  We saw them once more, 10 miles short of the lunch turnaround which was at mile 125, so they'd gained 20 miles on us plus the time for lunch, which was 15-20 minutes.

Scott Rosberg rode with Jim, Bill and me for part of the day.  He'd been dropped by the lead group on some hills and was with us through about half-way back before he picked up speed and took off, eventually finishing about an hour before us.

Christina DNF'd at the second Control.  She had mis-read the forecast and had not brought enough clothing, notably no heavy rain jacket, and couldn't keep herself warm enough.  That was a wise decision as hypothermia isn't a good thing !

It rained on and off until we got to the 125 mark for lunch, our turnaround point close to Jacksonville.  When I say "on and off" -- the "off" was light rain, the "on" was heavy rain.  We got a little more rain on the trip back south, but that pales in comparison to the trip north.  We were also working into a head-wind on the way north which helped us going south but by then it was easing. 

Jim, Bill and I stopped as often as possible to stretch, warm up in convenience stores, have some hot chocolate in a little country restaurant with a blusey singer ... we were of similar mind from a riding standpoint.  Scott always wanted to push the speed -- that's what happens when you're so strong ... and speaking for myself, I was content with a mile-eating 16 vs a heads-down 18.  It's more work wearing all that clothing.

Eventually the day was done.  The lead group, which of course included Keith and Ruth on the tandem, finished at 9:30 (these times are approximate).  Scott finished at 10:30.  We came in around 11:15.  Behind us there were another couple of small groups, including Patrick from Jacksonville who crashed somewhere in there and decided to skip the second day due to some bruising.  I chatted with him at the end (second day) briefly as he was waiting for his ride-mate who was still out there.

Patrick et al came in just before 2am.  I know that because I was heading back out at that point.  The last fellow had to DNF.  There were more DNFs, as it turned out, but I didn't know about any of them until end of ride.

I ate, showered, changed and went to bed.  That's unusual for me -- I usually shower first but couldn't be bothered.  Besides, I didn't feel as dirty as usual, since I was pretty well covered up with clothing. 

I'd planned on a one-hour sleep but then reconsidered a little, planning for a 2am departure, and slept for about 1:30.  Luxury ! 

I checked with Paul, RBA, who said that there wasn't much on the Doppler so I was hoping for a mostly dry day.  Even so, I planned for the worst or at least close to the worst -- my rain pants stayed behind.  What I didn't count on was heat, but I'll come back to that.

Before I got to Sugarloaf, the climbing at the beginning of the day, the rain started again.  Heavy at times, it meant climbing buttoned-up, riding in my own personal sauna.  I hate that but there was no way around it.  I had a lot of rain between there and Polk City which is about half-way.  At that point I had a Subway -- it was now 7am -- and a well deserved hot chocolate.  I only ate half the sandwich, putting the rest in my pocket and nibbling on that through the rest of the ride.

Next came the "dreaded" Van Fleet Trail.  20 miles of dead-flat and straight with nothing, repeat nothing, to break the monotomy.  This is the 5th time that I've ridden that trail -- once with Hamid, once with Hamid and Paul, the first time with Alain & Vita and Terry and twice by myself. 

There was a tiny tail-wind coming south before Polk City and I was afraid that once we had daylight I'd be fighting a headwind all the way to the end of the trail, but I lucked out.  Later on the wind would pick up, but not yet.

Leaving Polk City, I figured that any follow-on riders must be at least 1/2 hour behind me or further.  I figured that the next riders to leave the hotel would probably be around 4am and since I was riding very slowly, they'd catch up with me before long.  In the 5 hours that it took me to get to Polk City, they could make up most of the gap with group riding vs solo, especially if they didn't encounter as much rain as I had.

From the trail head, it was another 10 miles to Mascotte, the next Control.  By then the sun had come out and I had to figure out what to do with my clothing.  I stuffed the pack and velcro-tied the heavy jacket tightly, using the little bungees to hold it on top of the pack.  Leg warmers, long sleeved jersey, light jacket, spare food, wallet and cell phone and some sundries filled the pack.  I was loaded down, with a bunch of climbing still to come !

At Mascotte, I had a chocolate milk and nibbled on the sub.  Onward.  It was 30 more miles to the end.

For about 2/3 of that, I was riding amidst a time trial race.  There must have been a hundred police and sheriff vehicles covering every intersection.  I was afraid that I might be turned around, them not wanting my on the "course", but there were occasionally cars as well so how could they stop me ? 

At one point as I was riding along, I could have taken a water or Gatorade from an outstretched hand, them thinking that I was one of the riders ?  Who would do a time trial weighed down like me ?  Hey, it takes all kinds !

Where are my pursuers ?  With a sinking feeling, I realized that they were probably going to catch me almost within sight of the end -- a true Tour de France peloton chase-down of a break-away group.  How disheartening !  It's not fair !

That last 30 mile stretch was mostly heading north and east, mostly into a head wind although mitigated by the climbing of the steep long rollers.  Eventually, however, I was headed towards Tavares and the end with its sort-of descent to the lake.  I kept looking over my shoulder ... no one yet !

Well, guess what -- I pulled into the motel without being caught.  I'd also avoided any more rain activity -- that came later, as I was driving home.  I'm sure that some of our riders caught more rain.

Without being caught ?  Well, as it turned out, no one was going to catch me.  No one left until 6am and several people had dropped out, including Keith and Ruth, inexplicably.  Perhaps they wanted to save themselves for the Texas 1200, but that's two weeks from now, so I'm not sure and Paul had no idea.

Paul figured that the next riders would be arriving around 5pm.  I got in just after noon.  That's quite a gap !  I'm sure that Scott, at least, would be faster, but who knows.  It will be interesting to see the results once Paul gets them posted.

Paul let me use his shower, since he had a motel room.  I waffled and then accepted.  It would be nice to drive home clean.  We sat and chatted for a bit and then I headed out, getting home around 3pm.

I had a short nap and then went to Mass for 6pm.  We had pizza for dinner.  I was in bed about 8:30. 

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It was a good ride.  Had I brought one more piece of gear for Saturday, I'd have been a little more mentally comfortable that I wasn't going to get cold, but it worked out.  The ride on Sunday was ok too -- I did a good steady ride -- the rain slowed me down both days, but what the heck.  In perfect weather with good company, the first 400k is easily do-able by 9:30 to 10:00 p.m.  I wouldn't likely leave before 1am even then.  With another perfect day, the second could be done in 9 hours rather than 10+, so a perfect ride -- for me -- would have me finish a couple of hours earlier.  I finished in 32.something; with a perfect ride that would have been 30.something.  It wouldn't take too much to break 30 hours -- I haven't done that with a 600k yet.

Next up, 400k in Dawsonville with 20,000+ feet of climbing.  That's next Saturday !  Yikes !

Onward ...