I got my mojo back!
August 9th, 2010 | 
Author: First of all, this ride through Waxhaw doesn’t have "rolling hills"; they are bloody mountainous climbs on horrible roads! And whoever thought that going up a massive hill climb at mile 30 was funny, is a bad bad person. But I digress for the moment.
To start with, I didn’t want to do this ride. I wanted to do it when I signed up, but by the next day I’d changed my mind. The failure from the last ride was still wreaking havoc on me and I just didn’t think I’d done enough to actually make it to the end of this one. There was some lightning and a bit of rain the night before and I was really wishing it would just pour down and cancel the whole thing out. It was like wishing for snow so school would be cancelled.
When a washout didn’t seem to be in the cards anymore, I convinced myself that I could just do the 30 mile track and that would be fine. I could hobble along and get through that no problem.
But as I drove through the early morning fog (at 5:30am no less) the heavy hand of guilt and shame was upon me. After I’d checked in and unloaded my bike I began to see plenty of people who were 10, 15 and 20 years older than me saying they were going to do the 65 mile ride. That made me feel a little guilty. If they were going to do it, I needed to do it too. So I jumped into the middle of the pack and took off with the group. And when I hit that fork in the road, I went with the 65 mile option.
To say the roads in Waxhaw are bad is a catastrophic understatement. For the first dozen miles they’re just fine, but then get rough. The road is strewn with massive potholes on each side of the lane. It’s a bob and weave maneuver to keep the wheels out of the ditch. And when you aren’t swerving madly to avoid potholes, the road is a mangled washboard that shakes the fillings out of your head and rattles your eyes. It’s a struggle just to keep hold of the bike and you can’t build up any speed.
And let’s not forget the farm dogs that think its good fun to come chasing after you as you go past their porches. Curse those pesky leashes, those are for the weak! "My Rottweiler don’t need no leash! He’s a good dog!!"
I serpentined my way to the first rest stop and I figured I needed to take every opportunity to rehydrate and eat. It was a very hot day with plenty of humidity. It was nowhere near as bad as the Y2Y weather, but it was no joke.
I had my banana and drank plenty of Gatorade. I even spent a couple minutes stretching. I would have broken out the full Yoga moves but that seemed excessive. And people were watching.
So I took off right as another group of riders left and pedaled on with them to the next stop. It was a nice pace and I was feeling really good. We hit the next rest stop and I grabbed some more bananas and Gatorade. This ride was starting out just like the last one which is what scared me. I was feeling fine and riding nicely then too.
I set off and ended up tailing a couple Mojo Riding guys (they have cool riding outfits. They know how to accessorize!). I blended in with Rick and Paul and we swiftly pedaled onto the next rest stop. They’d ridden in the 24 Hours of Booty last weekend and have done the MS 150 previously (and will do it again in September) so we talked about cycling and plenty of other things. After the first 20 miles the groups usually string out so far that you end up riding alone so I was happy with the company. I also heard about Rick’s multiple crashes including landing on his head so I was a little fearful at this stage. I was beginning to think he was a marked man and riding alongside him might be hazardous to my health. Live on the edge baby!
And then we hit that damnable hill at mile 30. And no, I’m not blowing this out of proportion and saying a little bump in the road is Mt. Everest. This was a big bloody hill. And let me also say that many people mock the "triple" or the super granny gear, but when it comes to hills like that I’m so glad the bike had it. I hit the granny gear and passed everyone on the hill. I remember last year I struggled to get past 4mph. I was going so slowly I thought the bike would stall and I would tip over. This time I powered up the hill at a blistering 8mph (hey, twice as fast is twice as fast!) and passed dozens of people as I made my way to the top. Mock my granny gear no more! I won’t say the hill was a piece of cake, but it was so much better than last time. Even Rick and Paul made comment about my progress and coveted my low gearing when we got the next rest stop.
I was feeling really good at this point and we were just past halfway. The strain on my legs going up that hill had been minimal and I didn’t feel like they were going to give out on me. The three of us set off again for the next rest stop which had plenty of hills we had to climb before we got there. But I wasn’t too fearful. After using the low gear for the worst hill on the course I was ready for the other. And I did use it too. Several times. Go Go Gadget Super Low Gear!
By this point, Rick, Paul and I were cruising along at a nice pace and I had no doubt I would be able to finish the ride without any problems. In fact, even though this is one of the worst and toughest courses I’ve done, I was having more fun on this ride than any of the others. I could have easily pushed myself and done the course at a faster pace but I didn’t see the point. I could have shaved off 15-20 minutes off my current time but then I would have been by myself and my legs would have been burning. There’s no fun in that. This is what I wanted to be doing, pedaling along, talking to some other guys who just like to go biking and seeing some new scenery. Despite the roads it really is quite scenic out there. Lots of farms, open land and corn fields.
And when we got to the end I felt great. Ironically, I felt like I could have done the 100 miles. But instead I went a 100 yards and dove head first into a hamburger and a couple of hotdogs! For a ride I didn’t want to do I really enjoyed it. And I really think it was because of the Mojo Riding guys, so a big thanks to Rick and Paul for letting me ride along with them. They’ve been riding a lot longer than I have so taking their advice of setting a good but casual pace and taking the time to stop and recharge was very wise.
And a huge thanks to the American Red Cross. Their support on this ride was fantastic!
Now that I’ve redeemed myself, I might actually do the Cotton Picking 100 again…
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Posted in Biking
NOOOOOOOOO!!!! No cotton pickin’ 100!!!!
GAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhh
Wait, will there be Fuel after???