Ride of the Century

Today history was made! Deanne and I completed our first century ride: the Charles River Wheelmen's Spring Century that started in Wakefield, MA. Understandably, Deanne was pretty nervous about it after her accident at the Blazing Saddles century last summer. I tried to stay with her for moral support, and was doing pretty well for the first hour until a series of mishaps caused me to lose her. First: I hit a bump and my water bottle launched out of its cage in the back. I went back to get it and the cap came off and I lost a whole bottle of sports drink. Damn. Someone rode ahead and told Deanne and she came back to find me. We stayed together for a while, but then we had to cross this highway and she made it through and I had to wait for like 10 cars to go by, and in the meantime about 20 people got in between us. Then, I came upon a group of people off of their bikes in the road and I panicked: it was like deja vu from last summer when we found Deanne lying in the road after her accident. When I asked if everything was ok, it turned out they were just trying to figure out which way to go, and I picked the wrong way. After a couple of miles I realized something was wrong, so I stopped and asked a couple out walking their dog and they got me back on track. But by now Deanne was long gone.

So I just chugged along and at around mile 50, this guy and I kept passing each other. I got tired of trying to stay ahead of him, so I settled in behind him and figured at least he'd keep me from going too fast. I never did get his name, but he had scorpions on his jersey and shorts, so I named him "The Scorpion". At one point  he decided to draft off of me, so I tried to move a little to the right, but misjudged and went off the side of the road and on to the dirt shoulder going about 18mph. I was clenching the handlebars screaming, "OHHHH SHIIIIIITTT!!!", convinced I was going down, but miraculously I just slowed to a stop. The Scorpion passed me and asked if everything was ok, and I tried to play it cool and said "Yep, just stopping for something to eat." But I don't think he believed me. I think the screaming tipped him off.

After that, I decided to just stay safely behind him and at one point we realized we'd been riding on a really busy road for a really long time without seeing any markers. We pulled off to a gas station and sure enough, we'd missed a turn a few miles back. Sigh. But we figured it out and found our way back.

I noticed at around mile 80 that the Scorpion was slowing down. Then it got to the point where I was pedaling backwards so I wouldn't run into him. What to do? Offer to go in front? It seemed rude to ditch him.  And what would I say? "I know we've spent the last 30 miles together, but it's time for me to move on. It's not you, it's me." How awkward. Thankfully, he pulled off to the side and took out a Cliff Bar. I said there was a water stop up ahead, but he said he couldn't wait anymore and waved me on. Phew! No guilt. It was nice while it lasted, Scorpion.

I made a big mistake and didn't stop at the last water stop. I was almost out of water and totally out of Gu's, but I felt good and thought I could get by for 20 miles. Bad idea! First, it ended up being quite a bit more than 20 miles for me, it was hot, and at around mile 90 I started to bonk. It was a horrible feeling and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to control my bike. I felt so light-headed. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Anyway, I slowed way down, took deep breaths, and stayed behind someone else going at an easy pace and he brought me in. It seemed like forever, and I ended up with almost 111 miles. I was going to try to run for like a mile afterwards, but nope! I felt lousy and went to get a ham sandwich and lemonade instead.

Overall it was a great experience: the route was beautiful and I felt good for most of it. I think I did parts of it too fast, and I totally messed up on my nutrition/hydration. But, live and learn. I'll do better next time!