We had the regular wakeup, and got ready for the ride. I heard a few rumors of the ride today, that it was steeper than Kirkwood, a ride that I absolutely struggled on. Additionally, there was a lot of former Journey of Hope members, riding along for the day. There may have been about 6 of them, most of them graduated from U of Colorado. Bruce Rogers and his wife and kids, also accompanied us. It's pretty amazing to meet him. I think I said this before, but he is one of the most humble down-to-earth guys I've ever met.
From what i heard from the ride, there's a 7 mile stretch starting at mile 11, that is monstrous, a steep, very steep uphill climb. Whatever.
My paceline, Alex (U of Illinois), Brad (UNC), Brian (Colorado) and Jason, AKA Ironman AKA Tony Stark (George Mason), cruised through the first 11 miles, easily. The 7 miles were quite a beast. I put it to my easiest gear, and just pedaled, and didn't stop. 6 miles per hour, pretty depressing speed, but the scenery was gorgeous.
After the climb, we felt pretty good, but we were a few hours deep, and only finished with roughly 20 miles...of our 110 mile day. We started to make a move on the rest of the miles, except, the terrain was pretty rough...very hilly. What comes up, must come down, and as we climbed, we eventually had some pretty fun downhills, my max speed for today was 42 mph, not too shabby. We even past the continental divide, basically meaning that to the left of us, all the rivers run to he pacific ocean, while to the right of us, all the rivers run to the atlantic ocean...I'd like to think its halfway but my odometer thinks otherwise.
We cruised though, eventually making it to lunch at mile 70. The scenery was absolutely stunning, very crisp, very green. However, the head winds were destructive, almost knocking me over a few times.
Lunch today was sponsored by Bruce Rogers and his family so we were treated to a nice roast beef sandwich and cupcakes. We were the second to last paceline (just before the sweeps) to leave Steamboat, and the first to reach lunch...you might call it luck, I call it skill. After lunch, we pedaled through it. It was tough, that early climb in the beginning absolutely destroyed us. The crew also made a pretty huge mistake which led to me bonking. There's a crew stop every ten miles that provides water and snacks. Well, they forgot to stop at the 90 mile mark. Thus, we started at the 70 mile mark, skipped the 80 mile crew stop, wanted to stop at 90 mile mark crew stop but, there was not one. We were exhausted, out of water, and on the verge of bonking. After we stopped at the 100 miles mark, the crew didn't have any snacks left. 10 miles left, I thought I could pedal through the last 10 miles. We kept pedaling, through heavy traffic highway 9, and I was bonking hard, my body felt weak, my mind was completely out of focus. I absolutely needed food, preferably sugar.
Lunch today was sponsored by Bruce Rogers and his family so we were treated to a nice roast beef sandwich and cupcakes. We were the second to last paceline (just before the sweeps) to leave Steamboat, and the first to reach lunch...you might call it luck, I call it skill. After lunch, we pedaled through it. It was tough, that early climb in the beginning absolutely destroyed us. The crew also made a pretty huge mistake which led to me bonking. There's a crew stop every ten miles that provides water and snacks. Well, they forgot to stop at the 90 mile mark. Thus, we started at the 70 mile mark, skipped the 80 mile crew stop, wanted to stop at 90 mile mark crew stop but, there was not one. We were exhausted, out of water, and on the verge of bonking. After we stopped at the 100 miles mark, the crew didn't have any snacks left. 10 miles left, I thought I could pedal through the last 10 miles. We kept pedaling, through heavy traffic highway 9, and I was bonking hard, my body felt weak, my mind was completely out of focus. I absolutely needed food, preferably sugar.
There were a few experienced cyclists in my paceline, and they knew what I was going through...bonking for 30 miles is not easy one bit...its absolutely demoralizing. I had to stop a few times, and try to ease up, but my muscles weren't too tired, I just need fuel, a little energy. After stopping a couple of times for the first time today, we pedal through it and we get to the 110 mile mark, still half a mile left to go to lodging. I just couldn't do it. We had a crew member mark a turn towards lodging, and I decided to sit back and chill with him for a few minutes, as my paceline went up to lodging. It was only a half mile left to lodging, but I was feeling really dizzy and just out of it. He see's me, calls for help, and the crew chief drives down from lodging and tries to help me. I ask for a sugary snack, and he gives me a few fruit snacks. Perfect, I recover back to about 50%, enough to get me through the next half mile, which I'll add was all uphill. I join the next paceline that comes through, we just keep pedaling. Once I arrive, everyone was a little worried about me, but I did it. I finished the ride, and I never quit...it was a proud moment. No one said this trip would be easy...and its the challenge that attracted me towards it. We get to lodging, and its basically a cabin used to house kids for summer camps. It was really nice, and the camp owners provided us a lot of food and snacks. Once I arrived, I got a few snacks in me, and enough sugar in me to help me get my stuff together and take a (cold) shower. Looking back, we booked it. We were the second to last paceline to leave Steamboat, and the first to arrive. It wasn't my legs that failed on me, I just needed a little more fuel, a honest mistake that I will make sure wont happen again on this trip. After I got my stuff together, I sat at this table, but my head on my arms and passed out...until 5:30 for dinner. Speaking to a couple of guys, I guess they were checking on me making sure I was breathing...nothing serious, I was just tired.
For dinner, we went to this restaurant where Bruce Rogers paid for the tabs. We had some barbeque chicken and corn, some good protein to help restore our muscles. I sat at Bruce's table, and he told me a few stories, about his experience at Duke Law School, and his first journey across America. Man, I was impressed, this guy was amazing. After a great dinner, we headed back, where a bunch of people on the team went out. I decided to call it an early night and rest up...I needed it. A few of us watched a movie on the plasma tv in the cabin, which was a nice way to end the night.
Sean, you are AMAZING! Hang in there! Mrs. Harwood
ReplyDelete