Chad's spot for various thoughts, musings, poetry, ideas and whatnot

Monday, November 10, 2003

Tearin' it Up

Well, my cycling season has now officially come to a close. This last weekend me and my fellow cactus people went down to Claxton, Georgia to ride in the "Crusin' in the Country" weekend. For me, that meant my fourth attempt at the century distance. I've completed the 100 mile trek each year in under five hours and last year I was the first 100 miler to finish. My goal this year was to try and finish in under 4 hours and 30 minutes. This was a yet unrealized goal for me. I have gotten close when I rode with a larger group early in a century but I've never done better than 4:36 when I've had to ride over 30 miles alone. I didn't have anyone to ride with this year so I was doubtful that I would accomplish the goal this year.

Still, though, I set off with the goal in mind. For the the first 20 minutes or so I rode well but not anywhere near the 22.6 mph average I'd need to have to complete my goal. Then my legs began to feel better and my speed picked up. At around 45 minutes I was caught by one of the mythical "speedster tandems". What a blessing that was.

When you ride century rides, you sometimes hear more experienced riders talk about these two-person tandem bikes that are like manna from heaven sent by God. The reason they are so great is that they provide an unbelievable draft and since two people are pedaling they tend to go very fast. The thing is, I had never seen one. I have seen tandems but they were usually riden by a couple of older folks who were having a leisurely ride around the course. They were great to draft behind on a downhill but they died on even the slightest incline. On the flats, they usually drafted off of me and just barely at that. This time, though, I got caught by a speedster tandem. Two older guys just hammering along. For ten minutes I sat in their draft on the flats at 30 mph! When we hit a hill, I'd go to the front and pull at around 23 and let them rest. This lasted until the 22 mile rest stop where they pulled off for a break. I keep going thinking they'd have no problem catching me. I never saw them again. The good thing though was that it finished the job of loosening my legs up and getting me to the point where I could sustain a 25 mph average on the flats with the tailwind I had.

At the 50 mile rest stop, I caught the "fast group". It consisted of four guys who were off the front. I integrated in and found that they weren't really all that fast. Three of the four seemed to be drafting one guy for the most part. As I worked in, it seemed like they were all pretty content to let him and I do all the pulling. That was all well and good until we hit the first real hill. I took a regular, strong pull up the hill and they cracked. If they had been taking their turns pulling I might have sat up and waited but they were wheelsuckers and so I dropped all but one of them. It turned out that the other guy who had been pulling had done basically the same thing I had and was about as fed up with their lack of work as I was. So the two of us rode off and started working together.

At 65 miles we turned square into a 15 mph headwind. I checked my average speed and we were at 23.1 mph, well above the average speed I needed to make my goal. We had a lot of time in hand and now just had to hold onto it. So the battle was on. For the last ten miles my legs were cramping up and I was totally on the rivet but I kept turning the cranks over. We were taking 7 minute pulls and I kept thinking, " I need to just let this guy go and I'll finish on my own." Still every time I finished a pull, I'd sit in his draft and recover and have enough to pull through on the next time around. It turns out he was doing exactly the same thing.

The result was that I finished with him and did the century in 4 hours and 27 minutes. Since I started after him, I had the shortest century time for the second year in a row. I spent the rest of the day cramping up from my efforts. I've never hurt so badly after a ride, not even when I rode 200 miles in 11 hours. I don't think I'll ever attempt such a feat again but it's a great feeling to have done it.

Now, I get to rest for three weeks. The only time I'll spend on the bike will be for fun MTB rides with the "On Your Left" posse and my daily commutes to the college. Whew!

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