During the winter doldrums, as the cold winds blows, snow drifts high, temps drop to zero, minds will wander. Distances seem shorter, hills are almost non-existent, ahhh, to be a legends in our own minds! While planning and surfing around for new adventures, and favorite rides this few past off seasons, I have discovered the world of randonneuring. This is ultra cycling with it's own unique set of rules.The granddaddy ride of them all is Paris to Brest to Paris, about 1200K. To qualify one must ride distances of 200k ,300k, 400k, 600k . Of course each ride is on it's own day. These rides are timed events must be completed within a certain amount of time. Complete 200k in less that 13 1/2 hours, that's a 9.5mph average.....Piece of cake...Right!
So here I am in Fredrick, Maryland, all excited because I'm going to ride in my first Randonnuer event. This is a 200k, with the route being about 129 miles. Well the weather took a turn for the worse. It is about 40 degrees, has rained all night, and will rain all day. What a brilliant idea this has turned out to be! With less than 400 miles of training for the year, and to few hours on the trainer,I deemed myself ready(or not)..... I'm off.
We meet at the Waffle House in Urbana, Maryland. There are about 30 riders here milling about. preparing their bikes for the ride or eating a hearty breakfast.
Most are out of Washington, DC area, others from Mid Central Pa, and some fool from LeRoy NY. Cheryl's plan is to try and not succumb to boredom, and maybe a little window shopping at the local mall. Of course if she really becomes that bored she can entertain herself with images of maiming and torturing me for this endeavor. Come 7am the pre-ride safety talk begins, and we are off.Western Maryland has it's own unique terrain. True to form, all bike ride routes always seek out every uphill rise available. Why ride the easy road when the harder, more challenging road, is available. The ride is billed as 8100 ft of climb. Let me be the first to tell you ... they lied!!!! The first 40 miles are a constant series of rollers that climb and drop 200+ feet each. These are all 5-10% grades. The countryside looks splendid, all the spring bulbs are popping up adding nice color. This area is about a month ahead of us in spring weather. There has been a light sprinkle all morning, and the winds are chilly out of the NE. At the first control (30 miles), I bump into a fellow FANY rider whom I rode with last summer. He's surprised to see me there. he lives near Reading, Pa, an hour up the road. Now the warm up is over. We enter Thurmont, Md, the home of camp David. Cheryl and I rode here two years ago in the civil war century. A great ride that took us up into the Gettysburg Battlefield, but this ride is not that easy. Thurmont is at the gate way to the Catoctin Mnts. range. You guessed it, that's a 1350 ft rise over the next 8 miles average grade is 6-8% with a couple of spikes beyond 10%. Overall I'm climbing this fairly well thanks to the new climbing techniques I've worked on over the winter. What a difference this new training makes. I'm actually passing people going up this mountain. There is nothing like the fragrance of a pine forest in the rain. Such a rich earthy fragrance of pine, earth, leaves. The entire ride up the mountain awakens all my senses. We are also riding in a cloud for the top half of the climb. At the summit comes the thrill of a fantastic downhill. Re zippering up all my shirts and jackets didn't help fight the cool breezes on the way down. Did I ever scream down. My motto is over 25 mph with curvy, twisting road approaching, is to take the whole lane. The shoulder is far to dangerous to be on in a curve with a car trying to squeeze you out. Besides most cars go slower thru the corners than I do. I love the feeling of speed on those skinny little tires.
Near the bottom of the hill the rear tire feels a little squirmy. After looking at it, the tire looks squat. I stop at the top of a roller...yup flat tire. Upon further review, I had picked up a piece of glass. Rainy days are notorious for flat tires. I repair the flat and continue on. I have a quick lunch at the store where the control is located at State Line Pa. I'm about 1/2 hour behind my projected times so I don't waste to much time. Now onwards towards Antietam battlefield. this is 30 miles of hard, quick, steep rollers. One after another , after another for what seemed like forever. The profile looks like teeth of a comb, straight up and down.... most exceeding 10% grade. 30 miles of this did me in. This part of the course is where my lack of miles and bike shape really showed up. Most of the riders I spoke with on the ride had 1000-1500 miles in and had been riding in 40-70 degree weather for more than a month. Most of my 400 miles were in the two weeks leading up to the ride. 40 degrees would have been considered a heat wave at home. When I arrived at Antietam, I was whipped. Unfortunately there were still 39 miles to go. A couple of chocolate milks, then hit the road again. The next 39 miles where longer climbs, so at least I could get a rhythm going.This is also where I enjoyed about 7 bonus miles. I must have used my other left, because none of the roads I encountered where on the cue sheet.I did stop a woman at an intersection, and she helped point me in the right direction. She said" 2 miles up this road, make the first left...go to the top of the hill ( Of course a hill) another left at the monument on the cue sheet and I'm back on course. It's not the extra miles that hurt...it's the elevation gain that hurts. Of course I ended up riding up the STEEP (18%) side of the hill. This is where I hooked up with another rider and we pulled each other back to the end. The pizza shop never looked so good.
I did it!!!!!! It wasn't pretty but I did it.
Cheryl was there and I chowed down some pizza and a couple of recovery drinks(read beer here). The Cycling community is a pretty close knit bunch. At the end of the day we have all covered the same ground and relish the stories being told. Also a few of those from this group, know riders up my way. A few of the names mentioned I recognized or new. Small world after all.
My first official , sanctioned 200 k. It sure was nice to be done.
Overall my totals were
136.83 miles
12.9 avg moving speed
8636ft Elevation gain
10h36m ride time
12h15m course time
Now on to Florida for 7 days of blissful riding, starting off with a century on the first day there...can't wait.
We drove to Richmond, Va. before packing it in for the night. Yes it sure was another great day on the saddle.
No comments:
Post a Comment