The main part of this story is I started a cycling team with my friend Adam. Because the ride starts and ends in the Bavarian town of Frankenmuth, MI, and because of the time of year, we named ourselves "OktoberFast". We tried to get in the spirit of this time of German celebration, and tried to combine it with a cycling term. We were planning on riding back to back 100 mile days in efforts to get 200 in over the course of one weekend. We were excited at the chance to ride so many miles for a good cause! Remember, I only had about 6 weeks to train this summer, thanks to a pothole and a soccer ball.
So with that being said, you have three choices. If you are short on time, just read the short story below. If you have more time, read the long story. If you are bored out of your mind and need some reading material to fall asleep with, read both stories. Proceed to the ****** below if you want to skip over the long story.
Saturday: Absolutely silly winds headed directly into my desired direction of travel at 20mph for the first 50 miles. This zapped most of our energy. Got chased by the same dog twice. Finished the day with 100 miles. 16mph average, 8 hours in total, 6.25 hours of actual saddle time. I didn't hurt myself.
Sunday: I know I let down many people on this day. A beautiful road course, a little cold, but the winds were subtle. Yes, I said I would do 100 miles on back to back days. Well the old legs only had 75 miles in them on this day. The ride director said that Saturday was so hard it was the equivalent of riding 125+ miles. So there, that's your 200 miles (125 + 75). Sunday total: 17.5 mph average, 6 hours in total, a little over 4 hours of saddle time. I didn't hurt myself.
Monday - Wednesday: Can I get a wheelchair?
The long story:
Saturday: Woke up tired and cold, no thanks to 40mph wind gusts that nearly blew my house (2 person tent) down. Adam and I got started late because of a late sunrise and it just took too darn long to eat me some breakfast. The ride started out cold and windy, and remained windy. It was not pleasant having steady 15-20 miles blowing into your face all morning long. Now I know what most of you GDLS folks are saying: Stop Whining!!! Well good point.. but I feel justified in my whining. It was haaaaard!!!!!!! Adam and I were so ready to be done with our westward travels into the wind. All we could think about was making that turn at the 50 mile point to ride back with the wind. At one point, we had to slow to 10-12 mph because we were so fatigued. However, somewhere within the first 20 miles, both Adam and I missed a road sign. Well, this led us down the wrong way, but we didn't know it at the time. About 1 mile into the wrong turn adventure, we saw a golden retriever sitting in his driveway. Now granted, most goldens are beautiful dogs and are very gentlemanly (or lady-like). Well on this day, this golden seemed to have a lot of Doberman in him/her. He/She started chasing us, chomping at the bit, nipping our ankles, and foaming at the mouth. He/She was sprinting fast, and could keep up a very fast pace. Even riding at 24-25 mph, he/she was keeping up. It wasn't until 27mph that he/she was finally out of breath! Phew! That was close. Well in about another 4 minutes, we realized that the road didn't look right and no one else was around. So we turned around and headed back to the last checkpoint. Well guess who was waiting for us again. Queue up angry dog, act 2. We got the same treatment again, just going the other way. A lot of people had said they are going to tell this story for years after we explained what happened. :)
Adam and I finally made it around to the halfway point, and enjoyed the wind at our backs. Unfortunately, the roads weren't the best at this point. Some were washboard-esque, and others were that new 'pea gravel' road that seemed to be just recently glued together. Fine to drive on, but not the best for skinny bike tires. It made for uncomfortable and slower riding in spots. Finally we found the lunch stop at mile 87. We were a little upset that lunch happened so late into our ride. However, we were well fed. The last 13 miles weren't easy, there was cramping and plain old exhaustion to fight off. And because Adam and I aren't into 'doping' or any fun cheating methods like that, we let our (lack of) natural abilities carry us to the end. We arrived back at the start having ridden 99 miles. We turned around, rode up the street, and sprinted back to the finish to get 100.5 miles on the day. 8 hours total time, 6.25 hours saddle time, 16.5 mph average. I didn't hurt myself.
Dinner consisted of ribs, chicken, pizza, cheese cake, and 2 lagers compliments of the Frankenmuth brewery. Liz and Adam's wife Courtney, came up and visited with us. They ate dinner with us, and we went shopping in Frankenmuth afterwards. We ended the night with a fun game of Farkel ( a dice-based game). More tent camping ensued.
Sunday: Not quite as much excitement. However, breakfast was very entertaining. They hired a pancake flipper guy, except he literally flips the pancakes to you. I saw some pancakes being thrown through the air 30 feet away to a lucky recipient. Any dogs that were around must have thought they got to experience a slice of heaven. Also a late start thanks to a late sunrise, this route was 1000 times better, and we enjoyed some fun hills, open road, a plethora of slower riders to pass, and relatively little wind. It was a bit colder on this day, and Adam realized that perhaps he should own something to ride in besides just shorts. I think we barely saw 60F at midday. This day also had it's fair share of difficulties: fatigue from the previous day, leg cramping, upset stomachs, debris in the road/bike paths, bodily temperature changes, sweat-laden clothing, and punishing hills. We were able to take a ride on a new path (as part of the rails to trails initiative). It was roughly 8 miles on this path.
There were some positives though. For about 10-15 miles, we were able to slip in behind a tandem. We learned that this was only the first week that this couple had been riding this tandem. They didn't even have cleats (or clippy shoes as I call them). They were only wearing tennis shoes. At any rate, they were extremely fast. I don't remember seeing much below 22mph on my computer when we were following them. Unfortunately for us, they were only doing the shorter route. We also had less wind to deal with; this allowed for faster speeds. We consistently rode in the 18s, 19s, 20s, and 21s. We were finished extremely quickly; we were back sometime around 2pm after leaving around 8am. It felt good to be done so quickly, even after riding 75 miles. We had 6 hours of total time, over 4 hours of saddle time, and 17.5 mph average. After the ride was over, I proceeded directly to the massage corner. After applying a little charm, I think I must have been in the chair for 45 minutes (come on people, there were 5 therapists to 1 rider!). After packing up camp, we did some more shopping in Frankenmuth. I picked up way too much candy and got a couple of liquid suds to drink.
Monday: Is this what it feels like to be 70 years old? Warning: do not attempt walking after riding 175 miles the next day. Would not recommend, even to my worst enemy.
Tuesday: So maybe this is what it feels like to be 60. Lots of things making cracking noises when I walk or move positions. Walking up stairs still somewhat challenging. Wishing I had one of those upright personal motorized walking thingies (who actually knows what they are called?)
Wednesday: Feeling relatively much better. Maybe this is what 40 feels like. Getting around much better, able to participate in GDLS Wallyball.
Thursday: Hello body I'm used to. It's nice to be back. Got 25 miles in on my bike. Got a chance to play goalie in my soccer game.
Friday: Week must be catching up with me. General feeling of tiredness. Writing this message to you while doing my part at the HoneyFlow farm.
************ End long story *************
Even though I didn't get to see my "Power Partner" (friend Pam with MS who attends these events), it's still encouraging to know that the raised money is going towards finding a cure for Pam and people like Pam.
Even though the ride is still over, if you feel compelled to give some more, here is my fundraising homepage:
Alternatively, if you know a family that is affected by MS, perhaps you could forward this link along to them.
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