Jun 6-9 - Shenandoah 1200, 2013 edition

Each year is different.  coming into the Shen this year I figured that I wasn't in as good shape as previous years.  That's based on how I felt during rides up at the cottage the previous weeks and also with the knowledge that I hadn't had any decent riding for the prior 10 days.

I fully expected rain days one and two, based on the forecast.  It didn't quite work out that way, but close.

There were supposed to be 13 riders; one cancelled.  During the ride we had 3 DNF's so that the Shen maintains its reputation of being a tougher-than-normal ride.  Any ride with 50,000 feet of climbing in 1200 kms is going to be tough !  The "norm", if there is one, is the PBP-like 30-35,000 feet.

The three DNF's were one from Quebec, quit during the first day due to a chest cold and rainy conditions that made things worse; a Swedish fellow (not from Sweden now though), who ran into stomach troubles late on the first day (I'm thinking pushing too hard ?), and John forget-his-last-name who just ran out of time.  John DNF'd last year too but that time with stomach troubles.

Finishing the ride were me and Hamid, Navy John (recently retired, don't know his last name), Ed who I'd met at the Dawsonville 400k in April (Ed DNF'd the Shen last year due to a broken derailleur), GB/Bud (Lithuanian from San Francisco area), Cathy from Colorado (did Furnace Creek with Catherine), and Bill Olsen.  Somehow my numbers are off by three people ... perhaps I'll resolve that as I continue writing !

Day One

As usual, I was dropped early on.  I was riding at the back with John who ended up DNF'ing.  Rain was threatening but not falling.  When I got to the Gettysburg Battlefield Control, everyone was basically still there; I got my card signed and headed off with Hamid and Bill.  Hamid was riding a little faster and made it to the second control before me; I was a little ahead of Bill; John had dropped well back by that point.

I got to the first Control ahead of last year.  I'll have to check, but think that I was an hour faster.  I attributed that to it being cooler.  Last year it got very hot after Gettysburg and I fell well behind the other riders, getting to the second Control a couple of hours later than this year.

From the second Control to the Sheetz gas station Control, Hamid and I were roughly at the same pace.  Bill was a little behind.  We'd see other riders at the Controls, so they weren't far ahead.

Am I missing a Control ?  Perhaps.  I'll have to look at the cue sheet later and see.  At any rate, we pulled into the overnight at Bridgewater around 10pm.  That's my best time to date.  The first year I got to the overnight in Harrisonburg before 10 but this new Control is further by about 8 miles.

After the first Control we had rain on and off, sometimes moderately heavy but never a downpour.  I ended up wearing my heavy jacket as a result, mostly open at the pit zips so that from a heat standpoint, it was bearable.  It wasn't cold enough for leg warmers but we were wet !

Day Two

As I told Hamid, the second day is a long one.  We'd had time overnight for three hours sleep as we left at 2am.  Two other riders were looking for company -- Ed and GB -- so we headed off together.  Navy John was ahead of us, having left 1:15 earlier.  He doesn't sleep much !

We got to the first Control, the info Control at Deerfield (the fire station door is white, just in case you're wondering), at 6am.  We'd passed the convenience store at 5am where I'd warmed up the prior year at 6am, so the day was going well.  My heavy coat was in reserve as it wasn't too cold and wasn't raining.  After Deerfield we lost GB.  We found out later in the day that he'd gotten two flats.  Unfortunately he was at the back when it happened -- we do tend to get strung out somewhat on these roads -- and had no idea what had happened.  We're all big boys though and have to take care of ourselves.

There's a short stretch on a State Road before we turn off and last year I stopped at a BP station just off route for a breakfast sandwich.  This year that station was closed but a new restaurant was open right at the turn and had lots of options.  Hamid, Ed and I probably spent more than a half-hour there having breakfast and relaxing.  It started to rain a little but didn't last.  I think that I might have donned my heavy jacket, but it came back off shortly afterwards.

We're now in the vicinity of Linda & Alec / South Buffalo Road and worked our way through that under cloudy skies but no rain, getting to Buchannon well before noon.  I think that was where GB caught up to us and we headed to Roanoke as a four-some.  The temperatures were still moderate & cloudy as we hit the Blue Ridge Parkway after Roanoke.

I guess this was perfect for me.  I motored up that BRP climb never having to stop.  At one point it started to sprinkle and I stopped, donned my helmet cover, but then it stopped again and I never went any further.   GB caught me at that point but as I started riding again, he fell behind -- not far, but behind.

I could see a rider ahead ... who ?  I hadn't though thought that there was anyone ahead, other than Navy John who I didn't expect to see again this ride !  Well, that's who it was.  He was struggling up the climb.  I got to the end and waited.  John came along and we chatted.  GB came along and they left together.  I continued to wait.

After a time, I realized that if Hamid was really crawling up the BRP like John, he could literally be an hour behind.  Not quite, but it could be significant.  I decided to continue.

Onto the Floyd Highway 221S and 19 miles of traffic to the Floyd Control ... it started to rain heavily.  I donned my jacket and passed a rider under some trees who waved to me.  I thought that it was John, but it turned out to be GB since I then caught up to John.  I rolled into Floyd just a little ahead of him; GB shortly afterwards.  It was around 5pm.  Lo and behold, along came Hamid and then Ed shortly afterwards.  We headed off together towards Mt. Airy, all downhill for 40.something miles -- not quite !  It always takes a good four hours to do that stretch due to lots of climbing, rougher roads, short steep pitches etc.  We hit the top of the Willis Gap descent with some light in the sky which made the descent much safer, in my opinion.  I'd gotten there the same time last year as well but had a tougher day.

We were in Mt. Airy before 10 ... planned another 2am departure.

Day Three

Somewhere during Day Two, Hamid started running out of steam.  Not seriously so but I was having to wait a little.  That was more obvious on the steep pitches getting back up to Floyd.

The worst part of the ride back to Floyd, however, was the heavy rain and cold.  I was truly worried that I'd made a fatal mistake (ride fatal, that is), by leaving my rain pants in my drop bag.  I was convinced that the rain was over.  Climbing up to Floyd wasn't a problem; I was worried about the 10 mile descent to Roanoke !  if it was quite cold and raining, I'd miss the fun of that descent but more than that, I'd freeze.  

We must have spent an hour at Floyd warming up.  Navy John was there too, even though he'd left before us.  DNF John was also there, the terminus of his ride the night before.  He'd gotten to Floyd really too late to make it down to Mt. Airy in time for its close.

Fully dressed, heavy coat & leg warmers etc., I headed back out.  Navy John let too, similarly garbed.  Hamid opted to wear none of that, figuring that it was all wet anyway.  In my books, most of the time, wet clothing is better than none, but that always depends.

According to the Doppler at Floyd, we were in for a wet one.  Well, 1/2 hour down the road I was stopping to take off clothing.  Further on, more came off.  The sun was out and the sky was clearing.  Soon it was completely blue -- what happened ?

The descent to Roanoke was great; richly deserved.  We stopped at the Arby's just after the descent and got sandwiches.  I was only planning on a drink, but what the heck.  We headed out again and were back to Buchannon in good time but it was starting to get hot.  John had dropped back to find a restroom, saying that he'd see us in Buchannon.  He did, getting there as we were getting organized to leave.

Hot, hot -- 90F -- Hamid was crawling.  We got to Lexington and found an Italian ice cream shop.  Hamid asked if we were going to get in around 9pm ... not, says I, if we keep this pace of 3 hours to 30 miles !  That would make it midnight or later !

Just as we were about to leave Lexington, John went by, opting not to stop for ice cream.  It turned out that he stopped at a Subway just down the road but we didn't know that.  We figured that he was ahead of us to the overnight but he actually was an hour behind due to that stop as well as an Arby's at Staunton.

Once it cooled, Hamid started to hammer.  I let him get well ahead, which turned out to be a good strategy.  Once he's tired, he tends to ride faster in the lead than when he's following.  I found that when he's following, he tends to drop back.  If I slow down, he drops even further back.  If I speed up, he keeps pace, but way back.  I used that strategy the next day too.

Well, we made good time on that last stretch, getting to Bridgewater before 10pm.  John, Ed and GB came in a little more than an hour later.  Bill and Cathy were well back from that.

I wanted to leave at midnight after an hour's sleep.  Hamid wanted to leave at 2am.  We compromised at 1am.  I knew that 1am meant that I wouldn't break 80 hours but it was more important to finish together, safely.

Day Four

Up and out, it's a long ride into Harrisonburg and down to Broadway, basically 20 miles.  By that time, we were ready for sustenance and hit the 7-11.  As planned, I bought a sub, ate 1/3 of it and packed the rest.  I ate another 1/3 in Edinburg and the last 1/3 at the top of the Gap.  Coffee and a yogurt completed the picture for me.

Hamid had a sandwich, eating all of it, and a couple of donuts, some hot chocolate which was probably better than the off-tasting coffee !

Away we went again, eventually getting to Edinburg naturally before anything was open and got to the top of the gap just as the sky was getting light.  That made the descent safer.  I was warm; the heavy jacket not needed nor the leg warmers.  That won't be the case in California in two weeks, but that story has yet to be written !

It's a long ride along the rollers on Fort Valley road but obviously we did finish that up.  Then there's a road called Mountain Pass, I think, and at the top I stopped to try and understand the background din/racket -- it was Cicadas !  This is the year 17 mass coming-of-age and it might be hard to carry a conversation with the noise.  It was amazing.  There were a few more spots before Front Royal where they were also in evidence, but I don't remember anything beyond that.

Onward, ever onward, we finished up at 12:30 for a time of 80:30.  Considering that Hamid has DNF'd twice, that was wonderful for him.  It was great for me too; I have no complaints.  I felt good, not wiped out, we cleaned up, had some beer, had some lunch, had some more beer -- this isn't drinking, you understand, it's replenishing burned calories and relaxing sore muscles :).

When we rolled into the motel, Marcel (Quebec) was there awaiting Matt with the drop bags.  The Swedish fellow rolled in shortly after, having ridden just the one day.  Others came in later, including DNF John (sorry for the monikers) who had ridden just the one day with Bill.   Bill, as usual, being the last to arrive, pulled in around 8:45.  10:00 p.m. is the time limit.  Lots of time !

I now hold the record for the most consecutive completions of this ride, a dubious distinction.  Many, once having conquered, won't return.  Half the riders this time, however, were repeats but of course that includes DNF John, trying to finish; Hamid, also trying to finish and Ed, to make it without a major mechanical.

Here's a question -- which is an easier road, one called Something Valley or one called Something Mountain -- neither !

Onward !