My goals this year are somewhat reduced compared to 2003 when I once again rode PBP. This year I want to complete a 200k, 300k, and fleche in addition to a few century rides along the way.
January 24, 2004. I set out on the Lonestar Randonneurs 200k carrying all of my rain gear and a fair amount of warm clothing since the forecast was for a generally nasty day. An 80 percent chance of rain, 20-30 mph headwinds, and severe thunderstorms don't make for a fun ride. Fortunately, most of that didn't come to pass.
I started off on the ride at a few minutes past 7:30, sliding into a nice group of riders. Unfortunately I flatted about 10 minutes later and watched them recede into the distance...oh well, I was able to join up with Dan (the RBA) and Diane a few minutes later when they passed on their tandem just as I finished changing my tire. We had a lot of catching up to do, since I hadn't seen them since the end of PBP last August in Paris. I also got a chance to quiz Dan about the rules for a fleche, handy since I am trying to organize my first fleche team. A fleche is a 24-hour ride with a lot of odd rules (example: you're forbidden to form a team consisting of the strongest riders in your village). Like most randonneuring rules, the original fleche rules were French, although RUSA has recently created an American version.
Getting back to the 200k, it was somewhat uneventful other than the unrelenting hills. The area we rode through has no long grades, although lots of short somewhat steep hills make themselves known through their cumulative effect. The weather did finally turn a bit nasty when it started raining after the turnaround (the course is an out-and-back'er). Very fortunately the heavy wind and thunderstorms did not appear, and only the first four finishers even saw any rain; unfortunately, I was one of those finishers. It rained steadily for about an hour and a half, but the temperature was quite mild so it was just a bit uncomfortable. I had my second flat of the day next to a church with a bit of shelter to change it in, so even that bother wasn't too bad. Considering that the ride was in January with temperatures in the mid 50's F the conditions were quite acceptable.
I rode much of the second half of the brevet with a rider new to both randonneuring and cycling, Kevin Churchill. Kevin impressed me with how well he rode since he had begun riding only 8 months prior to the brevet. We finished together in 9 hours 17 minutes.
As is all too usual at the end of a brevet, I was somewhat scatterbrained and drove off without thinking of my bag in the ride support vehicle. Many thanks to Kathy Smith for mailing it to me! Kathy and her husband Gary Smith provided a wonderful support for the brevet, with snacks and prompt card stampings at the controls.
March 6, 2004. I got up early for my drive up to ride the Lonestar Randonneurs 300k in Cleburne, Texas. Leaving at 3:30 am for a 6:30 am brevet start isn't normally my idea of fun, but this time it was the best of several alternatives because of family obligations the night before.
The brevet started out very well, with small groups leaving the parking area just after the start time. Mike and Nancy Myers looked to be the very first riders out, leaving on their tandem right at 6:30 am. I followed a few minutes later with Bill Fox, Rany, and a few others. The Myers' quick start was rewarded with a flat before the first control, though they quickly caught back up.
I ended up riding with the Mike and Nancy for most of the day. They're quite accomplished as cyclists, with so many 1200k's that I lost track, 5 transcontinental trips, and numerous other ultra rides. It was a lot of fun talking to them, and made the day go by very quickly. After the turnaround at the halfway point the riders around us dwindled; the 200k riders had already turned around, and the 400k riders were continuing on to their turnaround point.
The ride was fairly uneventful until nightfall. I had dropped off Mike and Nancy's pace a bit, and trailed them into the last control by probably 10-15 minutes as I tired on the hills. My stomach was a bit upset and bloated, the result of trying a new energy drink mix. You'd think I would have learned by now to stick with what works, but I saw the latest gee-whiz greatest thing and just had to try it! I had one of my best years ever last year using Sustained Energy, so of course I had to try something else this year...
I futzed around at the control, getting ready for night-riding with my reflective bits and lights and generally delaying the inevitable push to the finish line. I hadn't thought I would be on the road very long, so brought only alkaline batteries. Sure enough, though, it took longer than expected to finish so I had to change batteries before I got to the finish. I stopped in a rural driveway to change the batteries, causing lots of suspicion on the part of the trailer resident. He came out twice while I was changing the batteries, apparently to make sure I didn't take one of the refrigerators or washers sitting in the yard.
Some of the more memorable moments of the ride came when the representatives of the numerous dogs on the route chased us. The strategies employed were varied, apparently indicating the dogs' ages and experiences. Some of them chased in groups, with the faster dogs swooping in from the side while the slower members of their pack closed from the rear, while others preferred the elegance of the lone-wolf attack. One of the more creative dogs had staked out a pouncing point on the top of a steep 20 ft slope at the edge of the roadway. When I came by he dove off the top, sliding swiftly to the bottom in his attempt to intercept me. I managed to escape by the skin of his teeth, however, and pedaled on.
One of the odder moments occurred when a carload of people pulled up beside me in the dark on a rural section of roadway. The occupants consisted of two young males without shirts in the front seats (the passenger came complete with beer bottle between his legs), and three young females in the rear seat (disappointingly, they came complete with shirts). Although I was quite apprehensive about their approach, they merely complimented me on my progress, asked me where I was going, and wished me luck. I continued under the light of a beautiful full moon, looking for the finish line with their best wishes ringing in my ears.
I finished at 9:20, with a time of 14:50. I limped in with a rear tire that was mostly flat for the last 3 miles, I was nauseous, and I was exhausted. When can I do this again??!!
A couple of months before Easter, Mike Sturgill (a rider from Arizona that I met during PBP) contacted me regarding riding a fleche here in Texas. It sounded like fun, so I started talking to other riders to put together a team (there's a minimum of 3 and maximum of 5 riders per team). Despite several expressions of interest, in the end it came down to me, Mike, and another rider from Arizona, "Conti" Ken.
We started our fleche attempt from Austin, beginning at 8 AM. There was a headwind and stormy weather in the forecast, but the temperature was pleasant. As we started through the turns on the cue sheet, it became apparent that our mileage checks were off. I prepared the cue sheet using the odometer on our car, and it became obvious that it had understated the distance by about 5 percent. Still, a 400k become 420k fleche was doable, we just had to be careful of keeping up with the turns.
We made it to the first control at Kempner with no problems, going through some really pretty areas. The only glitch came when I almost crashed going through a low-water crossing. There was about 3" of water flowing over the roadway, and my bike slipped over on some moss growing on the pavement. I managed to put a foot down, though, and the only price was a wet shoe--a hint of things to come.
Shortly after leaving the control, the weather turned nasty. We stopped on a hilltop and looked at the obvious rain pouring down about a mile away. We dug out our rain gear. I went ahead and put on tights, booties, and a jacket, while Ken and Mike settled for jackets only. As the rain hit, it really pounded down for a long time. Lightning was booming all around us, but since there was no shelter available we continued on.
Ken started dropping back as the rain continued, hanging out a few hundred yards back for a while but then gradually slipping back further. Mike and I got to the control at Hamilton where my wife was meeting us as the neutral support. We started eating and drinking and trying to recover from the constant rain and wind, waiting for Ken. Ken finally got there 10-15 minutes later. He was really beat, with a white face and clearly exhausted. We waited as he tried to recover. As time passed, Ken had problems getting any kind of nourishment into his body. We finally had to start because of the rule about a maximum 2 hour stop on the course, but Ken was clearly having problems. He wasn't eating anything while riding, and had trouble eating at the control.
Ken seemed to recover a bit on the next section as we headed toward Clifton. The rain finally stopped, having continued for about 8 hours. The evening looked like it was going to be a pleasant one, but we didn't have much extra time if we were going to finish. We stopped for a quick meal in Clifton, and were all able to eat a sandwich at the convenience store/fast food restaurant.
We started down the ride again just after full dark, with lights and reflective gear brightening the evening. I was really impressed by Mike's generator hub and light setup. I have seldom seen brighter lights--they seemed to flood the roadway with light. Ken continued having problems, slowing to 8 or 9 mph. Despite Mike and I taking turns pushing him and giving him a draft, we could only speed him up to 11-12 mph. As we neared the next control it was becoming obvious that finishing wasn't going to happen because of an inability to meet the time requirement since we were riding slower and slower. Ken's inability to eat or drink anything to nourish himself had accumulated over the day into a massive calorie deficit that he just couldn't get through.
Finally, my right-hand shifter failed and my rear derailleur dropped the chain down onto the smallest cog. I tinkered with it a minute but finally gave up. I could shift between my three front chain rings to give a bit of range, and that was enough to get me to the next control at Glen Rose. We abandoned there, calling my wife to come get us (she had taken a hotel room for the night, since all of the nighttime controls were open 24 hours). We stopped after about 175 miles at about 1 in the morning.
I decided to do a fall 200k put on by Lone Star Randonneurs as a wrap-up to my summer's riding. The weather was really nice as we started riding, with pleasant temperatures, almost no wind, and the prospect of a clear day.
I rode with the lead group most of the way to the halfway point at Bluff Dale, although I had slipped off their pace when we got to some of the hills. Reaching the control as that group was preparing to leave, I re-stocked on food and drink as Bill Fox rode up. Bill had just finished the Boston-Montreal-Boston ride three weeks earlier, so he was riding a bit slower than usual. He had several physical "issues" during that event, and had not completely recovered.
Bill and I rode together as we started back to Cleburne. I really enjoyed talking with him and hearing stories of BMB. Bill started slowing on the hills, finally walking a couple of them. We stayed together through the next control in Glen Rose and a few miles beyond, but I finally went on as a tandem and single rider came by. Bill was able to continue on, but was having trouble with cramps. The day's temperature had increased a lot, reaching the mid 90s a little after noon.
I stayed near the tandem and single for several miles, but finally let them slip away as I started to cramp up. I didn't bring any electrolite replacements, and the loss of fluids, sodium, and other elements were making me suffer. My hamstrings were the first to cramp up, but my periodic standing to ease and stretch them out became less effective as my quads started to seize. Finally, my hands started cramping as I tried to hold the handlebars. I stopped once to stretch out, but mostly just tried to keep a minimal pace moving in a forward direction.
I finished in 9 hours and 10 minutes, close to my normal time for a 200k, but I sure didn't feel normal. I heaved my bike into my car and left after a quick chat with Dan Driscoll, the RBA. I picked up a fast food sandwich and fries and left town as I headed back home.
Despite slamming down several drinks and loading up my food with salt I started cramping again after about a half hour. As my legs seized up I steered the car onto the shoulder and then into the grass--continuing driving wasn't an option! I was fortunate enough to find a nice shady spot to stop at. I staggered out of the car with my legs screaming in pain, finally ending up flat on my back in the ditch. As I looked up at the blue sky and overhanging pecan trees, I saw a buzzard immediately circle in my direction. I was definitely road kill at that point, and wasn't sure if I could continue.
After about 30 minutes, I finally was able to get up and walk around a bit as the cramps eased. I got back in my car and drove another 20 minutes until the next spate of cramping occurred. Again I stopped, but this time I was able to remain upright (an option encouraged by the presence of many, many fire ant mounds). Pulling my cell phone out of my pocket I called my wife to tell her I'd be delayed a bit due to extreme agony. After another half hour, I continued on, stopping several times to perform pre-emptive stretching. I finally got home around 9 pm, turning a 2.5 hour drive into a 5 hour excursion. Finally, done with an event that was "only a 200"!
Mark
copyright February 2004.