Don't need a Weatherman (Ryan Lange, Feb 07)  

There was a tailwind for awhile, then a cross wind then it seemed like a slight head wind at times but not as strong. The 7 miles after I turned off the 300k route went well. Then I turned left, downhill alright, but look at all these hills around me. And then climb, can't see far but it looks like this thing keeps climbing for a long time. Climb, cramp, uh off the bike to take a few walking steps. Back on the bike climb, finally the top. Route 4 is killing me at this point, but I am still pedaling. Got into some civilization for a minute just to turn up Route 4 again. More hills, (Sonny was right) I counted the miles down to the next turn which I thought was near the control. SIKE, oh no, there is 13 more miles to the control. Ugh, pedal - uh 13 miles is too far, I need a break and since I am in mild civilization there is a gas station. Stop eat a cake like thing, a nut power bar and a Starbucks frappocinno (sp?). Back on the bike, I need that break even if it was only 10 minutes. Count more miles down to the control. Stop, talk to an older farmer like man that asks "how far have you ridden that bicycle today?" My answer at this point was something like 115 miles. He replies, "115 miles today", I say yeah and there are others out there riding farther today. Go inside get some Gatorade hit pay and get brevet card signed, time to use the restroom. Back on the bike, 24 miles left. Hwy 254 was nice, good road not too busy. Wind wasn't helping too much, but it wasn't hurting like earlier either. 16 miles to go, the last 40 miles wasn't too bad, I can do this. 16 miles to go, no problem. Wall hit me about a mile later. I was doing so well, what happened? Struggled through the back roads, paid very close attention to the cue sheet and mileage between turns. The little hills were eating me up, slowing me to 7 mph. I should have swapped the 11-23 for the 11-26. After seeing a large group on the back porch of a house and hearing gun fire (shooting clay I think), I am force off my bike to walk up a small hill. There is a dumpster at the top, I lean the bike against it, eat some miracle beef jerky and rest a moment, put the lights on as dusk is about to arrive. Back on the bike, 5 miles left. Hey, I feel better, that beef jerky paid off each and every time I eat some. I hold 15-16 mph the rest of the way in. Once on the final stretch I think it was more like 18 mph in part due to good road and traffic. I made it. Total distance 141.4 miles thanks to the 5 bonus miles I endured at about the 14 mile marker. 

When ever I do this again, it'll be too soon. I need more miles. I haven't ridden much since my groin pull. I felt pretty good by the time I got home, considering. It was an adventure and I owe 2 people a tremendous thanks. First to Shanna Armstrong for her words near the start. "You can do it, just keep pedaling", I kept saying to myself "keep pedaling" throughout the course. The next is even more important, I was riding with Brian from the point we took a wrong turn to the 1st control, where I was able to say hi to George. I worked with Brian to catch George after the 1st control. At which time I slowed to stay with George. I tried to go on and ride with Brian, but my body wouldn't let me, I at least wanted to say have a nice ride or something, nope 50 meters is too far. I rode with George through some of the toughest wind. He provides a great draft. Unfortunately when I tried to provide a draft for him, he said "it's like trying to draft off of Jason". Oh well, I tried to give him a bit of a break. Anyhow, I stayed with George for a good while until I started to fade. I found a sloped ditch to hide some from the wind to stop and eat. I caught up with George at the next control and rode with him for another 7 miles until our paths separated. Thanks for the encouragement and wind blocking George.