Where do I start ?
This was a tough ride and I made it a lot worse.
The wind was blowing like crazy right at the hotel so I was going to try to hang with a group for as long as possible; better than riding alone. That worked out well for 30 or so miles until the fellow ahead of me was gapped. I tried to pull us back, but no luck. I was able to maintain the gap but couldn't pull myself and the two riders behind me back into the pack.
I continued alone for a few miles, the two fellows behind me having dropped further back. At about mile 35, on this lonely road, I stopped to pee and they caught up to me. I jumped onto their back and the three of us rode on.
Next up, Tim -- one of the riders -- had a problem with his left crank. Larry and I stopped while he tightened it and another rider caught up to us. As I found out later, the latest addition to our group was Dave Buzzee, RUSA # 14, one of the founding members. He and I did a lot of chatting for the next 130 miles.
The four of us worked together until we got to the Stop & Shop Control at mile 55. Tim's crank was loose again so John Preston (RBA) and I took a look at it. I pulled some electrical tape out of my pack and got it between the threads of the retaining bolt and the bottom bracket and we tightened it up as much as possible. That mostly held Tim until he got back to Jupiter at mile 260, but it did loosen up once in between (and fell off, attached to his foot by the cleat !).
At mile 58 we got onto the trail around Lake Okeechobee heading south. The next 40 miles were easy going, either with a tail wind or quarter tail. We knew that was going to run out, however, once we turned north and east. We made good time through there, not heads-down working hard, but working nonetheless.
At US 27 we turned sort-of north, but still mostly west. I was lulled into thinking that we had a slight headwind but when we went back along the same road after the Control, it proved me wrong and Dave Buzzee right. We'd had a quarter tail-wind.
We passed the lead group as they were heading south, only 2-3 miles from the Control. We were quite surprised that we were so close to them. We had figured on either seeing them sooner or that they'd already made the turn onto FL-78 before we passed that point.
We had lunch at Fish Eating Creek Campground (don't ask me, I didn't name it !), which was mile 116. Larry and Tim were looking a little hard-pressed but game. Dave and I were feeling good still.
The northbound leg of US 27 was 19 miles long. We had passed FL-78 on the way north. Now we had to ride back to FL-78, 15 miles into a soften-you-up quarter headwind. Already worn down, we then had to ride 33 miles northeast on FL-78, directly into the teeth of the wind.
It was brutal. Half-way along that stretch there was a gas station / convenience store that was our target. When we got there, Tim and Larry had to stop for an extended period of time. Dave Buzzee and I headed onward. We did one-mile pulls but were wearing down. We stopped at one point and Dave had to lie down on the grass. Did I say that he's 71 ?
We finally made it to the Control at mile 170. Dave was "fried" as he put it. He was having stomach problems. I encouraged him to rest and carry on but, as he put it he had a "bad attitude", wasn't having fun and was ready to stop. He called John, who coincidentally showed up a few minutes later, and arranged transportation back to the hotel. He was thinking that he might do the 200k the next day just as a ride -- don't know if he did.
As it turned out, the next section of the ride wasn't as windy as we might have expected. I headed off alone, expecting the group that was at the Control to catch me but I did the next 28 miles without seeing them. Actually I did the next 37 miles without seeing them but had my "slight accident" in between.
The mile 170 Control was at the town of Okeechobee, the northermost part of the ride that day. We now had to traverse the east side of the lake, mostly riding on the levee trail. As the trail wound clockwise around the lake it got closer to dusk, the wind abated slightly and I enjoyed a slight tailwind.
There was a beautiful sunset over the lake. I looked back over my right shoulder frequently to check it out. The end of the trail approached and I knew that I had to turn on lights and put on reflective gear once back on the road. I stopped a couple of hundred yards short of the end of the trail and donned my gear, turned on my tail-lights. At this point it was dusk, still quite light out but fading quickly. I looked down at my computer. I looked up and the gate was right in front of me.
The gate. All along this trail are these metal gates to stop vehicles from getting onto the trail. They do open for service vehicles. On one side or the other there's a walk-around / ride around spot. The gates are a gray metal finish, galvanized most likely. They have a no-vehicle sign but nothing large blaze orange or anything like that.
How fast was I going ? Quite frankly, I don't know. I'd been rolling for a couple of hundred yards with a slight tail-wind. 15 mph ? Perhaps. Definitely more than 10-12 and lower than 18.
When I looked up that gate was literally a couple of feet in front of me or less. I went over the gate. The bike did not. Did I somersault ? Not sure. I banged my right knee a good one. Did I hit it on the gate or the ground ? Both ? Don't know. My helmet got a good scratching. Nothing else. Unbelievable. No road rash. No shoulder. Scraped right thumbnail. No elbows, nothing.
I didn't even have time to think "this could be the end". Did I instinctively stand up to help myself clear the gate ? I don't know. The top of the gate is a little higher than my handlebars.
There are so many ways that this ride could have ended right there.
My knee worked but hurt. No grinding. It was, however, too difficult to really kick myself so I had to do that mentally.
Back to the bike which was up against the gate ... the handlebars were broken, the left side snapped at the stem. I thought -- end of this ride ! Then I thought about that guy who had one prosthetic arm, no natural arm and if he can do an entire 300k with one prosthesis, surely I can make it back to the hotel. From there, who knows.
I got back on the bike and rode off the trail and onto the road, now riding south to that Stop & Shop that was a Control in the morning. The route takes us south back to that store then back north to this same point where we then turn east to make the ride back to the coast. Give or take -- 10 miles south; 10 miles north, 28 miles east, 12 miles south to the hotel in Jupiter.
My knee hurt, but it worked. Part-way along that southbound stretch I passed the lead group which was heading north. Incredible though it seemed, I was only about 12 miles behind them. Shortly after they went by, Henrik followed them with the van. No doubt Dave Buzzee was in the van. Henrik would be heading back to the hotel to check-in the riders.
Adrenalin still in my veins, no doubt, I didn't feel all that bad riding one-handed. Of course there was still that slight tail-wind. I got to the Stop & Shop and John was there taking pictures. I said "no pictures" and showed him my bike. I figured that I'd quit at this point, chance having put him in my path. We talked about it. He wasn't trying to convince me what to do either way. Probably had he been thinking about the insurance aspects, he'd have suggested that I stop.
We checked out the bike. The fork was really loose at the headset. Oh oh. Had I been riding with a fork about to break ? He gave me a hand and we removed the handlebars/stem, front brake and fork. I cleaned off the fork and checked it over. There were no stress marks, no cracks, nothing. Ok, that excuse is off the table !
While we were standing there, he cell phone rang. It was Alex Hernandez, another South Florida Randonneur who'd crashed on the 300k and punctured a lung -- isn't this great ?!?
Anyway, John asked him if he had a handlebar ... yes ... could he get to the hotel ... yes ... what time do you (me) want to leave ... when I have a handlebar :) ... how soon can he get to the hotel ? that evening ... ok, we're set.
Not only had I lost another excuse for stopping, but with Alex driving 70 miles to bring me a handlebar I was now, kind of, honor-bound to keep going. When John and I were originally talking about me getting to the hotel with the broken bar, the unspoken question was always "and then what ?".
After I got to the Control, the group behind me came in and then the group behind them, including Tim and Larry. Already at the Control was Michele, someone who I'd seen before, had been riding with the lead group and was herself "fried" at this point, looking for someone who would ride slowly back to the hotel. I said ok, works for me and we headed out. By that time, however, the one group had already left.
Let's talk about timeframes. I got to that Control before 9pm. We, Michele and I, left around 10, give or take. We didn't get to the hotel until almost 3am. That was probably the longest 50 miles in my life. As we traveled east, the headwind grew and grew. It was crazy. Well after midnight and the wind blowing well in excess of 20mph. I had to stop every couple of miles and stretch. I had a totally cramped riding position with my left hand on the stem, right hand on the bar. I couldn't stand, couldn't pull on the bars. Michele was also having trouble, really dragging before we got to the coast (Hobe Sound) and turned south. That last 12 miles southbound wasn't too bad but ... well ...
I guess that we did get to the hotel before 3am because by 3:45 I was in bed. Alex was there; change the handlbars (move brakes and shifters, lights, computer mounts, re-tape bars ...); I ate; I showered; I rested. Whew.
I set my alarm for 4:30. I wanted to be riding again by 5. Michele, along with a couple of riders, had headed straight out. I said to her ... "I don't know about that" ... but I was going to stop. A couple of groups who had arrived a little before us were heading out. I don't know the exact numbers. Others were sleeping.
It's amazing what 45 minutes sleep does for me. I felt fine for the rest of the ride. I ended up having another 1/2 hour sleep at a rest stop on the way north on I95 after the ride, for safety's sake, but never felt sleepy.
The ride on Sunday was basically 60+ miles north along the coast and 60 miles south back to the hotel again. The ride north is really pretty. I rode northbound for about 2/3 of that, putting on my raincoat at one point because, well you know, then took it off again. When I stopped to take it off, who came along by Michele and the two fast riders ... ha. They'd had to stop and sleep somewhere along the way at a restaurant. Why am I not surprised ?
I felt quite good. The knee was stiff but no worse. It was swollen a little but no worse. It's actually more swollen right now just sitting here -- no physical activity to keep it from doing it's self-protective-swelling thing.
I jumped in with Michele, Chris (I think) and Paul. I guarantee you that the two guys could have done 18-20mph to the end but they didn't. We maintained a 16mph pace, give or take at times, right to the end. As we got into that last 30 miles, however, the wind picked up more and more. That ENE wind from the day before was now a howling SE wind.
We finished about 3:15 for a time of 34:15 (maybe that was 3:06 ... not 100% sure). The time limit is 40 hours so given the conditions (wind) and circumstances (stupid rider), that's not too shabby.
I stopped for a Subway on the way home. I called Sandy and said that I'm probably not going to do justice to any dinner, so why don't we simply go to the club and I'll have an appetizer and you can have your usual ...that worked for her so we held to that plan.
I got onto the internet last night and ordered a new helmet, bars and stem. I knew that there was a special that ended that day, so I might as well take advantage. I ordered an aluminum bar; didn't want to spring for the high cost of the carbon bar.
My clothes are now washed ... I've got to hang them out and have lunch. I'm going to get my knee up and iced.
What a story. As it worked its way around the "peloton" everyone was amazed. It's certainly a ride that I'll remember !!!!
Onward ...
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