My first thought at the end of 2011 was that I wanted to try a century ride. It was a year away, I had plenty of time. But a century is a big deal to ride....100 miles in a day! But I had mentioned it, and that became my goal for 2012. Of course, to ride that much the first day really sets the tone for the second day, so while I was living in a dream world I went ahead and told myself that on the second day I would ride the 65 mile route, which would max out the riding options for both days. Yes, I have mental issues, but this isn't the time to discuss that.....yes it is.....no it isn't.....SHUT UP!
Sorry, the voices in my head like to argue at times.
OK, so very unofficially, I had pledged to ride 165 miles over two days. Knowing me, we all know what this means....it will get done. I had lots of time to work on my endurance and figure out what I would need to make this happen. In the meantime, I also wanted to set a fundraising goal which is the most important thing in the Tour to Tanglewood. In 2011, I raised $610 in about 5 weeks, which isn't bad at all. However, this year was all about more....so I wanted to raise more. In January, I signed up for the Tour and I set my goal at $1000 thinking that I would have a hard time getting there. I wanted to be a VIBE....Very Important Biking Entrepreneur for 2012 to really make it a banner year.
The year progressed with lots of training rides all working up to riding a full century. I completed my first one in May almost accidentally. but I had a full century under my belt. I still had a lot of work to do in order to make that happen with enough energy to spare to do a long follow up ride the next day. My work was cut out for me for sure. Through the month of June things were going great! I had ridden a very hilly metric century on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and completed more training rides than in any other month. Man, I was all set and had even completed another century ride that I survived much easier than my first. By September, I was going to be able to blast through my planned 165 miles with relative ease.
Things were going so well as a matter of fact that I had already surpassed my fundraising goal of $1000, and chose to raise it to $2000. I was having a lot of fun raising money to help those with MS, especially my Mom, Elizabeth. It would seem that nothing would stop me....but I never saw July on the horizon.
To put it lightly, July was a very rough month in pretty much all respects. I realized that I was neglecting things at home in favor of doing training rides early on in the month. I scaled down my rides accordingly, but then started with a very simple mechanical issue that caused a domino effect which almost brought my training to a grinding halt. It was a simple squeak in the right pedal of my bike. I had dealt with it before, and figured it was the pedal bearings going out. The problem was this was already my second set of pedals, and they had only been on the bike for about a thousand miles or so....about 6 weeks. I took the bike to Paul's Cycling and Fitness so that they could have a look at it. They recommended that I make the move to clipless pedals for the type riding that I was doing. I reluctantly agreed and went clipless.
The new pedals took some time to get used to, and actually they slowed me down a good bit in my average speed. But, I told myself to stick with them and give them a chance. I rode a lot on them, but after about 400 miles I started to notice a serious problem. My left knee was starting to hurt really badly on every ride. I knew it was related to the saddle height, and knee angle due to my feet being locked into a specific position now. It was time to get a fit done. This was no simple matter, and actually took a total of three visits to Paul's to get finished. I found out that my legs were different lengths, my saddle was too low, and too far back, my bars were to low, and too far away. I was a mess!!!! But Dale got me fixed up.
The fit process started in mid August, only a month away from the Tour. I was having a hard time riding 50 miles comfortably without my knee causing problems, and even those 50 mile rides were slower than I was used to. I just kept thinking that I only had a month to get ready for the big weekend, and it was looking like I wasn't going to be anywhere close to being ready for all the miles that I had planned on. I even asked my wife Toni if she thought that everyone would understand if I didn't ride the long routes. Of course, she said that they would, and she was right, but in my mind I was going to let myself down if I didn't do what I set out to do. So.....I put on my big boy spandex and saddled up. I was going to ramp up training and get ready for the long routes.
The only solace I had at this point was that my fundraising had really kicked into gear. I had surpassed my new goal, and had raised a total of $2300 to benefit MS. I had made Gold VIBE status, and was even asked to speak at the VIBE dinner at the end of August. Talk about an honor!!! My first year as a VIBE, and only my second year as a rider, and I was getting singled out for what I was doing. The speech went well, and even pumped me up a little more for what was ahead of me.
From the end of August until Sept 15th, I rode as much as I could, staying between 50 and 65 miles on each ride. I was feeling good, and occasionally my speed was coming back. I knew that I was riding nowhere near the distance I was hoping to get in the Tour, but I wanted to peak on that weekend, so quicker paced smaller distance rides were the order of the day. My last training ride was on Sept 12th in order to give myself time to recover before the ride that counted. I felt good, but very apprehensive about what was to come.
The weekend was finally upon us and the weather forecast was nearly perfect. Highs in the low 80's and lots of sun. It just doesn't get any better than this. But, here was where I put my legs where my mouth has been for so long. Could I do it? Could I pull off a century ride having not done one since the middle of June.....three months ago!!!! Nervous....you can say that, but I was confident. I was also very proud to have my wife joining me in her first Tour.
At 7:30am, the century riders saddled up and started on their journey into Davidson County through places like Midway, Wallburg, and Welcome. I started out strong with all the anticipation in my legs, but I had to tell myself to be careful about burning out too quick. Even so, I averaged nearly 20mph in the beginning of the route until we fell into a groove after about 15 miles. By that point, I had met up with a local banker by the name of Stu who had been riding close with me the entire time. I figured it was time to join forces and share some company along the ride. We took turns pulling each other for most of the route, and our speeds were still very strong in the 19mph range which is very good for a ride of this length. I asked what his plans were for the rest stops and he said that he only planned on stopping on the extra loops which I could deal with, so a partnership was formed. It worked out well, because I had the cheat sheet for the route taped to my top bar showing the mile markers where rest stops were, as well as when we broke from the main course.
As we got into the second half of the route, Stu started talking about his legs feeling rubbery which he wasn't liking very much. I tried to do more than my share of pulling to help him along, but it wasn't too long after that when he paid me one of the biggest compliments that I've had as a cyclist. He was coming out of the draft position and moving in front of me when I said I was happy to stay in front to let him rest. His response....I can't rest back there, being in the front is the only way to slow you down. We remained in this formation for the rest of the day which allowed him to ride at his pace, and forced me to conserve energy for the next day. It was a win for both of us.
The funny thing about the century route is that there is a bonus loop at the end where you get your last 20 miles. It is not covering much new territory, in fact, you visit the last rest stop twice!!! You also start that loop at the entrance to the park. After 80 miles we were ready to be done, and when we saw the park road, and the traffic direction pointing us in, we felt a little strange passing by knowing that we were in for another 20 miles. But we did it, and maintained our pace at an average in the 18's which is still very strong for a ride of this length.
While at the last rest stop....for the second time....I spoke to Derrick Huff, one of the big wigs with the Central NC Chapter of the NMSS. I jokingly expressed my unhappiness with the ride data that was provided for us. Based on the route summary we were given, I was planning on just under 2000 feet of climbing to be done on this route which seemed very easy considering the distance. According to my cyclometer, we had passed that amount of climbing before we hit the midway mark. In fact, when it was all said and done we did more than 5000 feet of climbing which is more than I did riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the MOUNTAINS! We joked about it, and just carried on with the ride. It was an unexpected turn of events that I set a record for climbing on this ride....not just a distance record.
After a little over 5.5 hours of riding, I had ridden over 101 miles and officially joined the Bike MS Century Club! I had done it....and even better, I still had energy for Sunday's route and knew that a metric century would be no big deal at all. The best part of all is that Toni had not just ridden the 18 mile route as she was thinking, but rode the 40 mile route and did it with no problem at all! I'm so proud of her!!!!! We ate some well deserved food to refuel, and got some swag to bring home with us. Then it was time to visit Mom and tell her how it went and then off to home to get the bikes prepped for Sunday's ride. Toni was even saying that she was going to ride the 24 mile route! Awesome!
Sunday morning I was still laying in the bed, and Toni was up getting ready for her shower. I heard her ask if it was raining. Raining? Can't be, there was only a small chance in the forecast for the evening. I got up and went to the front door. CRAP!!!!! Not only was it raining, there was water flowing down the street there was so much rain falling. It was pouring! Now, I hate to ride in the rain because I don't like the cleanup on the bike, and don't like all the extra wear and tear on the components due to the grit from the road being splashed up into every nook and cranny. I was already saying to myself that I got the long ride done and that Sunday was a much lower key day. Everyone would understand if I didn't ride in these conditions. But then I saw something strange....Toni actually still wanted to go. I mean genuinely wanted to go, and not just for me. In fact, she wanted to ride!!! What has happened to my wife? She wants to ride in these conditions after doing her longest ride EVER just the day before. Well, that sealed it....what Toni wants, Toni gets, and if she was willing to ride, I had no excuse not to.
By the time we got to the park, the rain had turned into a heavy drizzle, this was much better than the full on downpour from this morning. We had a friend who lives in Alabama running forecasts for our area and told us that more than likely the rain would be slowly moving out of our area within about an hour of the start time. My thoughts...the bikes were already soaked, might as well go for it. Its like jumping in a pool, once you are wet, you might as well swim. In comparison to the 2000 riders from yesterday, Sunday's participants looked like a large club ride. There might have been about 200 or so riders...proof that the mental institutions will never have to close down.
As luck would have it I saw Stu again as Toni and I were slogging our way to the start line. I asked him if he was riding the 64 mile route today or was taking a shorter one due to the weather. His reply....doing the 64 if you are going with me. Well, that sealed that....I was doing the 64 and I was doing it with Stu. We would make it through together. I gave Toni a kiss and wished her luck on her ride, and Stu and I took off into the rain. By the way, there is nothing quite like riding in the rain with no fenders on your tires. You douse yourself with water, and get a constant spray in the face from those in front of you. Drafting was not going to be a good idea today and that was figured out early. It was for the best because speed was not a good thing on these roads with road bikes. Grip was greatly reduced, and brakes became spongy gobs trying to stop a greasy wheel.
The ride went well, and smoother than I thought due to the weather. There was very little traffic out on the roads which was very nice. We went from Tanglewood out through Lewisville, Forbush, Yadkinville, and came back through the Brandon Hills Vineyard area, Courtney, and West Bend before returning to the park. Over the course of 64 miles we stopped only twice for quick breaks. This was great because our speeds were much slower, and the only way to make up time was to bypass the stops. The good news was that the rain decided to clear off about an hour before we were done with the route. The roads were just starting to dry about the time we got back into Clemmons...but return we did. We completed our metric century for Sunday, and in just two days, I had achieved all of my goals for the 2012 Tour to Tanglewood with $2300 raised, and 166 miles ridden. Just to add icing to the cake, Toni came in the second day with 24 additional miles under her belt with only one mechanical malfunction. She was hurting, but she had done it....with a two day total of around 65 miles!!!!!
It was time to load the bikes up and take them home and give them full baths. There was road grit everywhere on both bikes and they were just generally nasty! In a surprising twist, Toni actually wanted to do some of the less glamorous stuff on the bike like washing it. She is slowly becoming a cyclist, even though I don't think she realizes it just yet.
In all, it took longer to clean the two bikes than it did to ride either of our routes on Sunday. It was a full day, but a good day. And now the bikes are sitting back in their part of the garage waiting for the next set of goals to be dished out for next year. In the meantime, I'm taking at least a week off from cycling as my reward for a ride well ridden.
Garmin Links to both days
Thank you to all that donated to both Toni and me. All of that money is going to support people just like my Mom who has had MS since 2003!
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