The cell phones and alarm clock all started ringing about 4 in the morning. To say we were a bit slow moving would be generous. Luckily we had setup our jersey’s with our race numbers, honor cards, and in memory cards the night before. All we needed to do was get everything on and head down to the minivan. There was no point in taking a shower since we were getting ready to head out for a 90 mile cycling effort. We called down to the valet and had the van pulled around and ready to go when we got downstairs with our bikes and gear. Since the course was in a new location this year and we had been warned about parking so wanted to get their early. It was an amazing accomplishment that we got out right when we wanted to at 5. The ride was fairly long out of town leading us to suspect that we missed our turn or something before we came across a tour bus ferrying riders. All parking was about half a mile from the Dripping Spring High School in a local park. We ended up there so early that we tried unsuccessfully to take a nap before heading out.
The actual start/finish of the challenge was about a half mile from where we parked so we rode our bikes up to the line after stopping in to the registration booth and restrooms. This year instead of one start finish with parallel corrals for the riders to line up in there was one long start chute with the lanes marked as sections of the start. So the starting line was actually one long road that wrapped the school. Since we were there fairly early we were able to get right up to the front of the lane and right behind the Ride For the Roses qualifiers who got to start off first and were joined by Lance. Since the first turn out onto the highway was sharp and narrow the start was staggered by four minutes for each group of about 100 riders. I’m guessing those in the back of the line didnt get started till well after the first group let out. As usual there were announcements about the route and words of encouragement from the PA announcer before the anthem was sung and Lance said a few words to the crowd.
One thing of note is that our team, Grab My Wheel, was up for the Austin team jersey award but we were beat out by another team. To be honest their jerseys were nowhere near as nice as ours were, or even as nice as another jersey that we thought was going to beat us out. I guess the fact that they had 130 members and raised 50K may have factored into their jersey win. Oh well, there’s always next year and we’ll have another new jersey to enter.
Our group finally got onto the road about a quarter to eight and we headed back to the park where we had started and through the field of parked cars and straight into the hills. They hadn’t been joking when they said the course would be hilly. Within 10 minutes of starting we were flying down the hills behind the park at over 20 mph before short quick climbs back up and another dive down the next hill. It would be a continuing theme of pounding up a hill and screaming down the other side all afternoon. Along the first few miles were herds of longhorn cattle watching us pedal by. The first challenge came early and was harsh as we rounded a corner on a downhill to find a bridge overrun by water. There were people off their bikes calling for everyone to dismount and walk across. Some, like Ron, Paul, and I, were able to get off in time and others went straight into the water and slid over to crash or barely caught themselves in time. It was a pretty messy situation but luckily it was the only occurrence. After I had walked across the bridge I mounted my bike and burned myself badly trying to make it up the steep hill on the other side. It was just bad luck that one of the first and steepest climbs occurred right when we had to start from a dead stop. Luckily it was a short hill but I still pegged my heart rate and never really got the same rhythm I had the first few miles again. I caught up to Paul and Ron after a couple miles and knew that the day was going to be long and brutal.
Another hazard we faced which was new was cattle guards across the roads over the course of the ride. I had never seen these before and the best way to describe them is a lattice of about 7 or 8 steel beams parallel to each other running longway across the road with a pit underneath. Needless to say you didn’t want to hit them at the wrong angle because you’d easily loose a tire, not to mention a couple bones as well.
Each hill found me popping off the back of whatever group we were in and I’d catch up to Ron and Paul after we got to the top. I just had no speed going up the hills and was barely making a decent speed up the hill. I’d say over the course of the ride my average was 5-10mph only on the uphills followed by speeds of 30-40mph downhill. It was monotonous, brutal, and extremely scenic. The countryside really did live up the the descriptions that Lance gave at the fundraising dinner with gorgeous views of mountains, valleys, hills, farms, and rivers as we rode beside and over each. At the first rest stop Paul wanted to have his bike checked out because he thought something was rubbing because it felt like it was dragging. Ron and I suspected it was more of the hills than the bike, which seemed more likely when the bike was given a clean bill of health. At that point we had only gone 15 or 16 miles and were averaging a pace under 16 per hour so we knew that we were in for a long, long day. There wasn’t much that could be done though since I knew I couldn’t manage much more and Paul was about the same. Only Ron would’ve been able to go and maintain a faster pace but he had decided well before that he was there to have fun and ride with all of us.
My knees began tightening fairly early in the ride and I could tell that things were only going to get worse. The smart move after riding on the hills so far and knowing the harder ones were still ahead would’ve been to switch to the 60 mile course at the turn off. I had done that last year at the 70 because of my knee and this year it was both knees bothering me on a course that was light years harder than the previous. I talked this over with Ron as we were riding and he knew what I was thinking and said that it would be smart but he thought I could do the 90 and knew that I wanted to do it too. My regret last year was that I pulled off the 100 mile course, even though at the time and during the ride it felt like the right decision. At the finish line however I felt fine and over the course of the week after I wasn’t sore at all which told me I hadn’t pushed myself hard enough or far enough. I didn’t want this year to be the same way.
There were a series of hills before the 60 mile turn off/rest stop which wore me out and when I caught up to Ron and Paul I stopped and gave them the thumbs up that I was going to do the 90 as they kept on going. They both had said that they couldn’t keep hanging back and finally gave in when I kept saying to go ahead and take off. I understood I was holding them back and wanted them to have fun and not spend the ride looking over their shoulder waiting. Also I’ve gotten fairly use to riding alone and don’t have a problem with doing it which many people seem to. I did a pretty quick rest stop refueling and eating my salt tabs. I did really well managing the nutrition and hydration this year which I credit to the half-Ironman training and the previous Challenge experiences. I had a salt tab every 30 minutes, an ibuprofen for my knees every hour, alternated between water and Cytomax swallows every 10 minutes, and finally a power bar or some other food at the rest stops.
After that rest stop I looked down and saw that I was just under halfway to the finish which helped me feel better about my decision to go on. I felt really good being on my own out there for some reason, probably because I was keeping my own steady pace rather than trying to catch up and slow down with each hill climb and recovery. Within a mile there was a sign saying rest stop 5 miles which I thought was strange considering we had just had one. It turns out that it meant that I wouldn’t be riding alone long. When I got to the rest stop I skipped it because I had just had one but it turned out that Paul had needed to stop and they had stayed there for a lot longer than I had stayed at mine. Within a mile of that rest stop I saw Ron and Paul in the distance and though I didn’t catch them before the next rest stop I never lost sight of them. It turned out that they were slowing in speed closer to my average that I was maintaining now that I was riding alone. I did manage to tack onto the back of a paceline every once in a while while still fresh from my rest stop though I would get popped off the back with the next hill.
My knees were hurting worse and worse with each hill and I developed a strategy to try to save myself as much as I could. At the crest of each hill I would drop into my biggest gear and gain as much speed as possible on the downhill till I couldn’t pedal any faster. Once up to speed I’d stop pedaling and get into an aero position and coast as far up the next hill as I could before I’d have to pedal again. So between each set of hills I’d get a brief respite and rest my knees before having to climb yet again and have them burn more and more. At the next rest stop I pulled in within about 30 seconds of Ron and Paul and beeped the bunny horn surprising them both. I think having them out there to catch and having them in my sights for so long helped push me faster than I would’ve without seeing them.
Next up the final miles and finish (hopefully posted faster than this recap went up)
