After riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I still felt very strong and had no problems with recovery so I knew my legs would be fine for another century. It all just came down to the weather in my mind. I hate riding in the rain, and will avoid it at all costs! Early in the week the weather showed rain on Saturday, October 19th....70% chance in fact. I was not going...no way, no how!
As the week progressed, I was wanting to ride another century and kept looking at the weather. The chances dropped down to around 50%, then 30% with partly cloudy skies. By Wednesday, (preregistration cutoff) it was looking like a good gamble. I went ahead and paid my registration fee and signed up for century number 11 for the year. Thursday and Friday both showed favorable weather patters developing. I figured if the ride went long I might get drizzled on, but that was about it. I could live with that.
Saturday morning arrived and I looked at the weather. Partly cloudy, lows in the mid 50's and highs in the mid 60's, with very little wind. The best part....the rain chances were in the teens as opposed to what had been as high as 70%. Yeah, this was going to be a blast! I went ahead and put the rack on the truck since it wasn't that far of a drive to get to the starting point in Northern Guilford County. I could see clouds in the sky, but it felt dry, and wasn't even that cold. I packed arm and leg warmers along with my full fingered gloves just in case I decided I needed some extra protection from the elements. I loaded up my food and hydration and set out to the rally point.
I arrived at 6:30 when check in was starting. Everything was going smoothly. I signed my waivers, got my name on the list, and picked up my rider packet, along with some pretty cool swag. Among the treats that were given to me was a pair of arm warmers....I now had two pairs with me! With check in finished I went back to the truck and started to get the bike ready, and me dressed. I gave a lot of thought to the current temperatures and decided that while it was a little chilly now, the addition of 10 degrees would make arm warmers extra equipment I would have to store. I opted to suck it up for the first hour or so and I stayed with my short sleeved jersey and bare legs. I even went with the fingerless gloves.
As I was closing the truck back up and getting ready to walk over and say good morning to my friend Phil who had just arrived, Toni called me. She was just leaving work and headed home. I remember her asking what I thought was a strange question considering we were looking at only 15% chance of rain for the morning. She inquired if it was drizzling on me? What??????? Huh?????? was she being funny? I said it wasn't and the chance of rain was quite low. She shared with me that it was drizzling on her currently, and that there was a big batch of rain coming in from Lexington. Ever the optimist I said that was too far South to cause us any concerns and that even if it drizzled I would be fine.
No sooner than I hung up the phone I started to feel rain drops on my head. Well nuts!! Oh well, I was here and it was only drizzle. I click clopped over to Phil's truck to wait on him while he was getting checked in. While I waited the rain stopped. That wasn't too bad. I've gotten the bike wetter than that just by sweating on it. It was going to be a good day! When Phil returned we chatted for a while and I told him about the drizzle. He had seen the same weather forecast that I had....neither of us thought it was going to be a problem. As we were discussing the dry day ahead the drizzle started again.
it was getting close to the 7:30 start time and I had to make a decision about my current attire. I was cold, and the rain falling was cold....but I was sure it would be short lived. I opted to stay dressed the way I was and stick it out, looking forward to the mid 60's later in the day. I was a cyclist, this was going to be nothing to sweat over.
At 7:30 we heard a whistle in the distance. There were some confused looks and we decided that this was the pomp and circumstance that would send us off on our various routes. John joined Phil and me as we left the church in what could only be described as a soaking light rain. The rooster tails were already spraying my face...but it was going to be short lived. Dry roads were just around the corner. I was glad that I had opted to bring my headlight, and swap in my amber lenses on my riding glasses. These things were mandatory in these conditions. Speaking of conditions....in addition to getting pelted by 20mph rain drops (those things sting!!), I was shivering cold. My clothes were already soaked and sticking to my skin. I could feel the water building up in my shoes...not a nice feeling 2 miles into 103 miles. It was OK, I would dry out before the end of the day. It was going to be a good ride!
Fast forward what felt like about an hour of riding. I looked down at my Garmin....2.6 miles. Wait a minute......we've been riding all this time and have gone less than THREE miles????? Oh, this was going to be a long day! I kept looking down at the distance to see when my 10 mile warm up was done and I could think about switching into the big ring. It might have been the water bubbles on the face of the cyclometer, but I swear to you I saw 8.7 miles and about 10 minutes later it read 6.4. Was I going backwards? I hate riding in the rain! My glasses were covered in water and road grit, my cyclometer was soaked and I couldn't accurately read it...at least that is a better option than I was going backwards in distance.
It seemed like it took forever to click past 10 miles, but eventually we did. I was able to shift into the big ring and start settling into my cruising cadence. We took turns in the front of our three man paceline. This kept everyone fresh, but I always felt bad when I pulled in front because I would surge and create a gap. I needed to find the right pace so as not to do that to John and Phil. It took some time, but I finally got the rhythm of the group. I also found that I really liked being on the front because I had no rooster tails to contend with. You see, that drizzle that should have passed over was still there, and was a full fledged rain at this point. Any time I was not in the front I was getting spray from the tire in front of me. My mouth tasted like either Possum or 10W-40. I figured either option was not healthy for me. I was content staying on the front as long as they would let me.
As it got brighter, my outlook started to change, and the miles started to pass by quicker. What had started as a very labored ride was starting to get fun. Hey, we were soaked, might as well enjoy it right? Well, I had come to terms with being wet, but the cold was not as forgiving. The fact that I had knowingly left not one, but TWO pairs of arm warmers in the truck made me feel like kicking myself in the chamois! I was cold, but was tolerating it well considering. We hit our first rest stop at 15 miles, or 20 miles....I don't know....it was nowhere near 103 miles, that I do know. It was nice to stop for a moment and assess the situation for the day. The rain was here to stay, and it was getting colder if anything. When we started back out, the cold breeze hit my wet clothes and instantly, I stopped breathing....yeah, it was that cold! I sucked it up, and pushed my cadence a little bit to get myself warmed up. Gradually I got to a comfortable temperature....just in time for the next rest stop at 40 something miles where I said hi to my friend Karen Wimmer. She was nice enough to open my Fig Newton package because my fingers were too wet and numb to open the wrapper. 60 more miles of this???? Was I freaking crazy? It was a rhetorical question, don't jump down to the comment section just yet.
We left the Vance Rd Fire Station and headed towards Hwy 158. This was cruel to me because we were about 12 miles from my house at this point. I could have gone home, gotten a shower, hot chocolate, and crawled into bed with Toni. I had nothing to prove by riding another century.....but I would not let myself quit. I was going to complete this ride!!!
Since we were firmly in my neck of the woods, I took pretty much the permanent pole position up front and did the pulling for quite a while. I knew the land, and I knew what to expect as far as climbs and turns and such. This worked out well, I got to ride my ride, which Phil and John were adapting to very well. We were making excellent time considering the road conditions. We were averaging about 17.4 at this point. The rain was slacking off and turning into spotty drizzle which was promising, but the sky promised that it would be raining in some fashion for the rest of the ride.
An interesting side that I started to notice along this part of the route. My elevation data was very wrong. It was showing about 100 feet climbed per 10 miles ridden. I knew that was way off and kept watching it while climbing. Most of the time it would not budge. The only possible solution I could come up with for the failure was that the pressure sensor on the bottom of the cyclometer had become plugged with water preventing it from recording the changes in pressure. I tried to blow it out but to no avail. It was just going to be wrong for the ride and I was going to have to be ok with it.
Around the 60 mile mark we had joined up with several other riders from the Burlington Velo Club. They seemed content hanging onto the back wheel of our group of three as we picked up mile after mile. As I was pondering our new additions I came upon a startling revelation. I had to pee. Not just a little bit....to the extent I could feel my bladder rocking between my legs. The only other time I have been on a ride and been this kind of uncomfortable was on the Double Down after 100 miles. This was odd for me at 60 some miles, but it was what it was. I guess I could have been absorbing the rain by osmosis or something...either way, I had to pee, and it was getting to be crucial.
I decided that the next stop we came to I would make a pit stop. John and Phil agreed, as did our other riders. We were well into the climbs now, and I was starting to leave the group on all of them....I needed to find that rest stop, and I needed to find it NOW!!! There it was...at the top of the hill. I could see the colors of the umbrella. As I got closer I realized that this was a lemonade stand of a rest stop. Just food and hydration (of which I had plenty). The only facilities were trees right off of the road, next to a house. Opting for politeness over comfort I asked where the next rest stop was. He said it was around 6 miles or so from there in Bethany. That would have to suffice...but it was going to need to be a quick 6 miles. We agreed to a stop there as John was suffering from a similar delima.
I had never been so happy to see a fire department. I rode right up to the bay door and dismounted. I didn't even bother to put my cleat covers on before hotfooting into the rest room. Ahhhhhhhh, I felt so much better now....and lighter! The rest of the ride would be a piece of cake. In fact it had even stopped raining for the most part, but the roads were still wet.
The group of BVC riders that had joined us turned out to be first time century riders. Their furthest distances had been in the 50 mile range until today. They had set out to do the 100K route, but decided to dive in and do the full century. This explained why they had latched onto our wheels and were staying back there. They needed to conserve their energy for the huge jump in distance to what they were used to. I was fine with that...we all know I love helping riders break the century barrier whenever I can. We all continued on together, with me up in front. I was having a blast up there. My face was staying dry and I wasn't taxing my brakes as I would stuck in the line. With the rain from the morning, my pads were covered with a thick slime that made the brakes worthless...and made me feel dangerous for the rider ahead of me. I was much safer up front....for everyone.
At about mile 80 we made it to Sandy Cross where there was ice cream and some good humor exchanged between riders. We were about done with out century. The rain was pretty much just a light occasional drizzle which was welcome...but we were still soaked to the bone. Oh yeah...that high of 65* that was forecast.....Don't think we ever saw more than upper 50's. It was still cold. I was still wishing I had worn my arm warmers...I thought about knocking Phil over and stealing his, but opted against it. I like riding with him too much.
It was here at Sandy Cross that we learned that the route that usually goes beyond the store, actually had to be detoured due to bridge construction. The detour was.....right back the way we came. Oh well, asphalt is asphalt and we only had about 23 miles left. This was the home stretch! We saddled back up and set off again. We had a bit of a tail wind and our speeds were climbing....I was again in the lead which made me happy. When we got into the last few hills though, the fatigue of the day started showing and we became separated more often. With the last 7 miles to go, it was decided (without Phil's input) that he would lead us in and set the pace. He said he would have been happy with the last 7 feet....not 7 miles....but he pulled us in strong as he is known for doing. We had managed to pull away from our first time century riders, and the three of us pulled in together just as we had left six hours before. We were wet and cold, but we had ridden in some really nasty conditions and checked off one more century ride for the year!
I was happy that I had signed up for this ride, and happy to have been a part of another MS ride. I'm always happy when I get a chance to ride with Phil, and it was great meeting John for the first time and riding with him. However, I was looking at my bike and myself and knew I had a lot of cleanup ahead of me. I had 103 miles of road grit to deal with. I was nasty!!!!! After getting changed into some warm and dry clothes....and looking at my arm warmers all folded up in my bag I got in the truck and headed home. It was time to get the bike cleaned up and ready for the next ride.
This is the part of a rainy ride that I hate. What normally takes between 40 minutes and an hour takes at least 2 hours to do. Instead of just wiping everything down, I have to take the bike apart and wash it all to get the grit out of the nooks and crannies. everything has to be relubed and inspected, and the brakes have to just about be resurfaced to ensure safe stopping. Its an aggravating process to say the least, but something that I know has to be done and is part of riding.
With the conclusion of the 6th annual Carolina Century, I have now ridden a total of 11 full centuries. This adds up to approximately 1260 miles in just 11 rides this year. I don't foresee repeating that kind of distance riding again anytime soon, but I have to say, I'm proud of the accomplishment this year. Especially since this is only my second full year of riding a bike. If I can do it...anyone can.....
Just be sure to wear the appropriate clothing!
Garmin Data
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