2011 Tour to Tanglewood

OK, I had a new bike, it was time to see how well I could ride 30 miles on it.  It was time to start training seriously for the Tour to Tanglewood.  I was now registered for the event, and had about 5 weeks to raise money and to get used to the new bike.  Not much time at all, so I wasted none of it before giving the new bike a shakedown cruise.

I set out for an out and back ride to Greensboro, which I had done a couple of times on my mountain bike.  I was pretty comfortable with the route, and would be able to compare the bikes very easily.  One thing I noticed right off was that I was able to go a good deal faster on this bike than I ever thought about on the mountain bike.  Guess that even though I was a pudgy dude, having a bike that weighed half as much was a benefit to me.  When I reached the place I normally had to stop and turn around, I found myself still feeling quite fresh.  Lets keep going and see how far I can go I thought to myself.  Before I knew it, I was well into Greensboro, and and gone about 25 miles.  Wait a minute.....that means that if I turned around right then, I would be fated into a 50 mile ride.  That was a goal of mine for later on down the road.  Hmmm, I was either going to achieve that goal, or have to call for roadside assistance.  I'm not a quitter.....I quit doing that years ago.

Even though it nearly killed me, I made it home with a total of 50.88 miles on the cyclometer.  I learned several things on this maiden voyage.  First and foremost.....it don't matter how heavy the rider is, a light bike will make you quicker.  I had been averaging around 13mph on the mountain bike, and with this trip found myself averaging over 16mph.  Simple math.....Tarmac wins.  I was tired, but no more tired than when I would ride 30 miles on the mountain bike.....Tarmac wins again!  The most important thing that I learned was that my intention of riding 30 miles in the Tour to Tanglewood was a little unambitious now considering what I had just done.

So, why is the Tour to Tanglewood so important to me you ask?  Its simple, my Mom has Multiple Sclerosis, and the Tour is a Bike MS event which benefits not only MS research, but helps with programs for those who have been diagnosed.  It was her suggestion that I ride in the Tour when she saw how I was getting into riding.  So, I wanted to do this for her, as well as others with MS.  It gave me something to strive for, and a reason to push myself on the bike.  It became something bigger than me, which I have found is my comfort zone when it comes to my activities.

With the Tarmac, I felt as though 30 miles each day wasn't going to be enough.  I decided to set a higher goal for myself, and commit to doing 50 each day, for a total of 100 miles!!!!  Sure, I had done a 50 mile ride, but repeating that the following day is a whole different story.  My legs were toast, and my hiney hurt.  In fact after a ride like that I would usually have to take a day off from riding.  I still had work to do in order to achieve my goals for the Tour.  I was going out once or twice a week on the Tarmac going for long rides of about 50 miles each time.  Other days, I would ride the mountain bike for shorter distances after work.  This seemed to be a good training plan as I could tell my endurance was getting better.

On September 3, 2011, I went out on what was to be a 60 mile ride just two days after a 50 mile ride.  I was running out of time for the Tour and needed to prove to myself that I could ride the distance, and do it back to back.  I left out that morning feeling pretty good, and found myself riding through 3 different counties.  When I was about home, I thought I had some more left in me, so I went to go and visit my Mom who was about 10 miles beyond my house.  With that side trip, I ended up totalling 80.88 miles on a single ride!  It was an achievement that wouldn't soon be repeated.  In fact, it wasn't until April '12 that I would see that kind of distance in a single ride.  I was ready for the Tour....I had to be.

With a lot of planning and training behind me, here I am at the start of the opening day.  I was more than a little nervous I have to say.  This was the first time I had done back to back 50 mile rides.  To make matters worse, there was a strong chance of rain that day, and it was quite chilly.  I didn't have any cold weather gear since I had only ever ridden in the summer.  Oh well, I was there, riding for Mom, and that was what mattered.  I made the full 50 miles that day, and did it in 3 hours flat which was a best time for me.  I guess that the drizzle and cold prompted me to hustle.  I bypassed two of the five rest stops in the interest of time.  Unfortunately, all that speed came at a price.  My left knee was blown out.  I could hardly walk on it.  In hindsight, I had my foot positioned incorrectly on the pedal, which caused undue strain on the ligaments.  That evening was all about recovery and nursing the knee....I had another day of hard riding ahead of me.

I don't know how, but I managed to limp to the start line for day two with an ace bandage wrapped on my ailing knee.  I had a hard time walking still, but found that I was still able to ride if I soft pedaled on my left side.  So, I set out on what I was anticipating being a 30 mile ride for the sake of my knee, but hoping that I could make the 50 mile route.  The further I went the more the pain would come and go.  There were times it would feel fine, and I would start to do power strokes on that side, which would ultimately lead to pain again.  My sense of commitment made me choose the 50 mile route knowing that I would not give up.  An interesting thing happened on this day in the town of East Bend.  I came up on a cycle wreck moments after it had happened.  There were three bikes on their sides, and two people still on the pavement.  It all started due to a blow out, and the rider behind the stricken bike could not get unclipped from his pedals before falling over.  That led a third rider to quite literally run him over, causing her to topple over throwing a chain, and dislodging a wheel.  I stopped to render aid in the form of a frame pump for the cyclist that flatted.  The clipless rider was OK, and I helped put the third cyclist's bike back together.  I followed her for a while to make sure that the bike was OK.

At the end of day two, I made it to the finish, and had logged two back to back 50 mile rides to benefit MS research.  My knee was actually feeling better by this point, but it was probably just numb after all the hellish climbs back into the park.  At any rate, I was done, and had succeeded in a goal that just a month earlier I had not even considered.  I realized that there was just something special about being on a bike, and being able to do things that I would have never thought possible.  Even though my "training" was over, I decided not to put the bike away.  I wanted to continue to ride, and to go further...seeing more and more of North Carolina by bike.