How to Conquer the Coast when you're not really prepared...
Conquer the Coast 2016
Let’s see, I gained 50 lbs, haven’t been riding outside much (longest ride was 28 mile Pville wildlife ride sometime in August), and then……….Aug 27 I got sick. Not just one or two days I feel yuck sick. Really sick. Email to the boss I’m-not-coming-to-work sick. But mostly I was worrying because of the extra 50 lbs and not training. I came very close to not making a hotel reservation, but the weekend before (still not fully recovered), I did it. Now or never!!!
There was some doubt as to whether Buzz would fit in Steve’s latest toy, a Hyundai Veloster. He put the rear seats down and said “It’s 4ft by 4ft”. Well, Buzz (without wheels) was 52 inches from aerobars to back of the frame. But, I put him in the nylon bike case, Steve rolled up Friday at noon, we loaded everything else, and then Buzz on top. It worked out fine. Got to hotel just before 4pm, checked in, hauled stuff to room and turned on AC (they turn it off at this fine establishment between guests). Went to Brewster St. Icehouse for packet pickup where we were greeted with a long line of other riders. Once I got the waiver signed and got in the line, it moved quickly. Steve fetched me a beer to drink while in line. The line moved quickly though, and I got my wristbands, tshirt and jersey. Sat down to finish drinks and then I went to order some early dinner food. Well, no oysters. Gal said they’d been out since August. So, I ordered nothing. We made the executive decision to call Water Street to see if they had oysters and it was a go. We love that place anyway, and we overate, of course. But it was early, we were back to the room by 7. I reassembled Buzz, put on my helmet and shoes and did a quick spin around the parking lot. Good to go! Lights out by 10, but unfortunately the room never cooled off very much, and the AC was very LOUD (even with my Mack’s earplugs). So loud I didn’t even hear Steve snoring. Naturally, as with all nights before I have to be up at a certain time, I tossed. And turned. And tossed & turned. I think I finally fell asleep about 4:00, and the alarm was set for 5:30. I woke up even before the alarm, looked out the window, hoping there was a fierce lightning storm, delaying/canceling the ride. Nope. Clear skies and no hint of rain on radar..
Now, I had packed everything I had on my list. Unfortunately, due to the fact I haven’t BEEN RIDING, I forgot to put endurolytes ON the list… and I also didn’t notice that I failed to reinstall my rear taillight (I recharged the batteries several weeks ago and forgot about it). Got dressed and went down to breakfast room soon as it opened at 6:30 to have coffee and my blueberry larabar. Met another couple riding, then another (from Pflugerville, even!) and yet another who said they were also riding to the ride start, so they invited me to ride with them. Good thing, since I FORGOT MY DAMN TAILLIGHT. (fortunately, in our ride packet, Whataburger had supplied those red-blinky-dot lights). Back to room, one last bathroom break and oh yea! I should pump my tires!! I put on my HEB 70SPF sunscreen, grabbed all the stuff and headed down the stairs with Buzz and found my riding buddies. It was just over 2 miles to the (new) ride start, we got there right at 7:00. I said good morning to Jack and then John Chung. It was already warming up and extremely humid. Since there was nobody holding me back, I planted myself in the first group of riders. There was a surprising number of pre-ride announcements to keep my head from having too many “You’re too fat! You’re undertrained! You’ve been sick for a full two weeks! You didn’t get but an hour of sleep!” thoughts….On the flip side, I recalled the first time I did this ride-on 2 hours sleep (never mind I was well-trained, and probably 40 lbs lighter) Finally, the National Anthem and… we were off!
Not even a mile into the ride, you climb Harbor Bridge. As the name implies, it is a bridge over CC harbor and is nearly as old as me. 243 ft. high and more than a mile long. The right 2 lanes are blocked off for us and the left lane has motorized vehicle traffic. Lots of people like to stop at the top and take their photos (good thing we had TWO lanes), but not me, you could hear people yelling “no stopping on the bridge!” I didn’t have any difficulty getting up and over (wahoo!). Always a weenie on the descent though. The second “oh crap! I forgot that” moment was as we were crossing Nueces Bay. Since I’d been so sick and even had fever during the episode, I’d been taking 2 ibuprofen plus Tylenol each morning. Well, today I forgot. As we rolled into Portland, the pavement was wet and there were some small puddles, so it HAD rained there earlier. As you exit to Portland, there is a short but rather steep climb to the Moore Ave intersection, but fortunately, officers were letting us through and we didn’t have to stop at the top of a hill on wet road. The first rest stop comes way too soon (like mile 8?) so I never stop there, just rolled on. So far I was doing pretty well. My drink-during-ride bottle was the 26 oz Polar filled with SKRATCH which I had frozen in the room’s fridge. Enough of it would thaw that I drank a few ounces every couple of miles.
We turned onto 361 to head toward Aransas Pass. This part can be challenging as it’s rather rough road, the shoulder separated from the right lane by those “rumble grooves” (not sure of the official name). But mostly, it’s trying to pass entire groups of people who are riding together, perhaps a little slower than I want to ride, and it being difficult to pass them without getting into traffic. But, several times I did that because I just wanted to make better time. For some reason, I thought about JP a lot during this section. I was unable to attend the service and I’ll be out of town (Austin) Oct 1 as well. But I figured he would want me to do exactly what I was doing, riding my bike. I was averaging about 18mph here, as I like to do. Approaching Ingleside, we saw police and ambulance with lights flashing and riders down. I later found out a vehicle cut in front of a paceline. Ouch. The shoulders in Ingleside are heaven! If only we could have 66 miles of that! For the most part, I got all the traffic lights green, or they turned green as I slowed down for the red. Second Rest stop is here, around mile 17. Still too soon for me. Rollin on…..
About this time I notice my bottle contents had frozen TOO well and I didn’t get any liquid when trying to drink. Just before mile 22, is the HEB rest stop where you turn right onto Goodnight. I thought about getting some water there to put in my frozen bottle but decided I wasn’t in any danger for the next 6 miles if I didn’t get much from the bottle. The Redfish Bay Causeway is usually a struggle for me as it’s a short, steep incline, rough road and usually cars coming at you. This year, they had someone stopping traffic for us. Yay! Off to the left I saw a giant ship (Like a cruise ship), and as I approached learned it’s a floating casino, the Aransas Queen. Well, what’ll they think of next?
My planned Major Rest Stop (Ferry Landing, Mile 28) came into view, an hour and 45 min into the ride. Someone came up to me and offered me half a banana, which I took. Laid Buzz down for a rest, filled 26 oz polar bottle with water, moved next “SKRATCH” bottle to front position and 26 oz polar to the “standby” position. This is where I take a few minutes since it’s my first major stop. While waiting in line for trailmix, a random guy came up behind me and held up his hand for a fist bump and said, “Girl! You were pounding it out there! I tried to catch up to you but couldn’t”. Made me feel pretty good (because this distance, if you recall, is the furthest I had trained this year). So I thanked him and got my trailmix. Except I had trouble eating it because my mouth felt like cotton. Ate half the larabar in my pocket (figured I’d eat the other half on the ferry). Tried to get another banana, but (typical for this stop!) no more bananas. Headed for the purple Texas Throne (porta-potty) and decided it’s time to get in the ferry line. By this time, I was starting to feel a little wonky. It was getting hot and I didn’t have my fever-reducing meds. Plus, no endurolytes (I didn’t even realize that yet). I drank and drank from my water bottle (leaving the SKRATCH bottle for riding) and started wondering how the hell I would make it through the next section (the Toughest 18 miles in Texas). While it wasn’t as bad as last year, I stood in the ‘staging’ area probably 10 minutes and then when I was in the “you’re on the next ferry” group, it was still another 15 min or so. Once on the ferry, I began to seriously think I might pass out. I texted Steve than I made it to the ferry landing. Ate the rest of the larabar and washed down MORE water. I think I consumed a liter of fluid during that break. Kept telling myself, “once we are moving again, you’ll be fine”.
Exited Ferry and started riding. Slowly. I’d been off the bike long enough my legs were cooled down and didn’t want to cooperate. For the next few miles you have to deal with a) lots of other riders because you all got off the ferry at the same time and b) the vehicles driving around Port A at 10am on a Saturday. One guy did the “Right Cross” in front of the woman riding just in front of me. And we weren’t really going very fast, it just mentally pissed me off. I was struggling to keep pedaling by that time. Having done this section many times I knew what I was in for: A hot, humid, rough-road, no shade, getting passed by speeding vehicles, nothing-to-see-but-sand-dunes, lonely sufferfest. I saw an entire banana laying on the shoulder. This pissed me off because I couldn’t get another HALF a banana at the ferry landing and some jerk wastes a whole one. There is a small rest stop out on the Island but normally I don’t stop there. However, this day my left foot started giving me grief, threatening to go to sleep on me. So I hopped off the bike for a few minutes there, allowed them to refill my water bottle with cold water and got a WHOLE banana! Yay! I didn’t stop my Garmin there, by then it didn’t seem important anymore. I got back on the road and for a very brief time, there was some glorious cloud cover during the 93F degree, 66% humidity weather. The miles ticked by VERY slowly. I tried to maintain 12 mph, but sometimes dropped below, thinking “anything above 10 is a bonus” and “only 45 min to rest stop”. Tried shifting to aerobars but my left shoulder would rebel after about a mile and I’d have to switch back to handlebars. Several people just stopped along the road here, completely disheartened. Finally, the sign for Mustang Island State Park and the sight of the JFK Causeway come into view. It (The Causeway) looked so huge and high and I felt so awful.. I thought of all my friends training for Ironman and felt a bond with them. They suffer like this every week, sometimes through sickness and cracked ribs!
Rolled on over Corpus Christi and Newcastle Passes, then finally FINALLY Packery Channel. A guy who was riding with a couple other people passed me around then and said, “Is there another bridge to climb?” and I replied, “yeah, the Causeway”. He didn’t know the route. I told him, “Dude! That’s harder than the Harbor Bridge”. Rolled into the Next Major Rest Stop, Mile 47 @ Padre Island Burger Co. I needed shade and didn’t care how I got it. Leaned Buzz against the Stripes wall, gratefully let the volunteers fill bottles with water AND ICE, and munched on a little more trailmix (I had taken the folded Dixie cup with me in the bento box). I claimed an unoccupied (shaded) picnic table at the Burger Co and texted Steve that I’d made it to mile 47 (he replied that I should take my pulse to make sure I’m not dead). Had to have another talk inside my head that if I fueled up enough, I’d make it over the Causeway. I put my 3rd SKRATCH bottle in the front position, swigged more plain water, refilled a bottle with ice (it had melted in the couple of minutes I stopped). Normally I make this a restroom stop but the stench was so bad I decided to wait. I think I had another half banana here (but it’s kind of a blur). Heard a beep from Garmin - I was under that shade and didn’t really think to check whether it put me in “indoors” mode, but apparently, that’s what it did and I didn’t discover it till I got home and was analyzing the ride data.
Rolled out of the Rest Stop toward the JFK Causeway which comes at mile 51. Maybe it’s just because I was already so tired and hot, but I thought this was even harder than Harbor Bridge. About 2/3 of the way up, my left hamstring threatened to cramp. A quick massage and “oh no you don’t!” kept me going forward. Strangely, I passed a couple of people here going even slower than me.. up & over once again.
Next section was the Naval Air station. We hadn’t been allowed to ride through there for several years and those of us on the long ride were required to wear our blue wristbands to let the NAS Personnel know we were supposed to be there. Definitely more high-security than the last time I rode through there, I was required to flash my blue wristband and prove I was wearing a ride number (which was on my back, so called out the number). I was hoping it was 580 because by then my brain was fried. Along with most everything else. First thing you see is the Fire Station on the right and a cyclist had stopped there and was laying on the ground under a scrub mesquite tree. I tried really hard to take it all in, but it was brutally hot then and I just wanted to be done. They had people stationed at literally every block. I guess to make sure nobody stopped. I kept looking for officer’s quarters (because I remembered seeing them last time we rode through) and never did. Maybe they took us on a different route.. A cyclist couple had pulled over under a mesquite tree and charging toward them was the “guard” at the next intersection, I guess to tell them to move along. Which is what I did.. I hoped that my last bottle would last me for the 10 miles I had left to ride.
Just outside the NAS, was a Rest stop - I thought the next stop was several miles away at Ennis Joslin, but they must have decided to move it to just outside the NAS. Anyway, I stopped there to hide behind the truck for a few minutes of shade. I even borrowed one of their chairs for a couple of minutes. All of a sudden, there’s Nick! He was asking “anybody else need to SAG?” and I replied, “I didn’t ride this far to NOT get my medal!”. I think I got some ice here, I really don’t remember.. back on the road. By then, you can see the Harbor Bridge where we started out this crazy ride. Back on the road, there were not many of us left (or so I thought!). I actually passed a couple of people heading down Ocean Drive. Every so often I’d see people had pulled over into some of the Rich People’s driveways, to get a little shade. I decided I couldn’t do that. Several people just stopped in the bike lane borrowing shade from a palm tree, an oleander, ANYTHING. But I did decide when I came upon the next little park, I’d pull over for a few minutes of shade, because by that time, I was truly concerned I was heading for heat stroke. Just after mile 59, Poenisch Park. Buzz and I rolled in there, I leaned him up against the palm tree providing shade to the bench and ate the rest of my trail mix and drank some SKRATCH. Two ladies and a little dog were having a picnic at the table and they asked how far we were riding. So I told her, “66 miles”. They seemed impressed. I stretched out on the bench, and there was a little breeze there, too. Ahhhhh… I felt like I stayed there a long time (like maybe 10 minutes) but I didn’t really time it.
Finally decided to venture out for the last few miles. There was a little shade cover again for a minute. Then more sun. Then sprinkles. Then a downpour. I was so happy! I knew I’d make it without passing out! I was riding behind a young lady going about 11-12 mph and I just kept her pace. We kept riding as the water rushed over our wheels. I knew the best thing to do was just keep pressure on the pedals and keep an even pace. We were riding in several inches of water heading for the storm drains. We passed by one of the other parks and a white dog headed our way. I thought, “no!!! my brain can’t handle any more thinking!!” Instead of heading into us (as I feared), the dog JOINED IN! It ran along between the lady I was following, and me, through a river of water for at least 2 miles. Nobody called to it. Finally a woman passed me and got ahead of me and somehow managed to get the dog corralled into a parking lot and we never saw it again. But still, the rain came………All my clothes were soaked, my feet squishing in my bike shoes. And then, it stopped raining about a mile or so before the finish. Rolled into the finish line in bright sunshine, fist pump in the air declaring that once again I had Conquered the Coast. And this conquering was the most difficult ever for me. Grabbed my medal and once again saw Jack, so I thanked him for the rain at the end and asked if he had bike racks set up. Of course he did. So I racked Buzz and headed for the Nolan Ryan Beef burger tent, then the beer. There were no open chairs in the beer tent, so I plopped my soaking wet behind on the ground amid thousands of mesquite pods. But I didn’t care. Even a mesquite tree is shade. Chatting with other riders, it appears we had a large number of first-timers this year. Many of them asked me about prior years and I was happy to impart all my CtC “Wisdom”. One of them mentioned salt tablets and it’s at that moment that I realized I had forgotten endurolytes in my ride plan (duh! Wouldn’t have cramped on the Causeway). After wolfing down my burger and having dos Dos Equis, I got back on Buzz for the 2 mile ride back to the hotel. By then, it was blistering hot AGAIN! But I was so glad to look down and see 70.25 miles completed for the day.
Let’s see, I gained 50 lbs, haven’t been riding outside much (longest ride was 28 mile Pville wildlife ride sometime in August), and then……….Aug 27 I got sick. Not just one or two days I feel yuck sick. Really sick. Email to the boss I’m-not-coming-to-work sick. But mostly I was worrying because of the extra 50 lbs and not training. I came very close to not making a hotel reservation, but the weekend before (still not fully recovered), I did it. Now or never!!!
There was some doubt as to whether Buzz would fit in Steve’s latest toy, a Hyundai Veloster. He put the rear seats down and said “It’s 4ft by 4ft”. Well, Buzz (without wheels) was 52 inches from aerobars to back of the frame. But, I put him in the nylon bike case, Steve rolled up Friday at noon, we loaded everything else, and then Buzz on top. It worked out fine. Got to hotel just before 4pm, checked in, hauled stuff to room and turned on AC (they turn it off at this fine establishment between guests). Went to Brewster St. Icehouse for packet pickup where we were greeted with a long line of other riders. Once I got the waiver signed and got in the line, it moved quickly. Steve fetched me a beer to drink while in line. The line moved quickly though, and I got my wristbands, tshirt and jersey. Sat down to finish drinks and then I went to order some early dinner food. Well, no oysters. Gal said they’d been out since August. So, I ordered nothing. We made the executive decision to call Water Street to see if they had oysters and it was a go. We love that place anyway, and we overate, of course. But it was early, we were back to the room by 7. I reassembled Buzz, put on my helmet and shoes and did a quick spin around the parking lot. Good to go! Lights out by 10, but unfortunately the room never cooled off very much, and the AC was very LOUD (even with my Mack’s earplugs). So loud I didn’t even hear Steve snoring. Naturally, as with all nights before I have to be up at a certain time, I tossed. And turned. And tossed & turned. I think I finally fell asleep about 4:00, and the alarm was set for 5:30. I woke up even before the alarm, looked out the window, hoping there was a fierce lightning storm, delaying/canceling the ride. Nope. Clear skies and no hint of rain on radar..
Now, I had packed everything I had on my list. Unfortunately, due to the fact I haven’t BEEN RIDING, I forgot to put endurolytes ON the list… and I also didn’t notice that I failed to reinstall my rear taillight (I recharged the batteries several weeks ago and forgot about it). Got dressed and went down to breakfast room soon as it opened at 6:30 to have coffee and my blueberry larabar. Met another couple riding, then another (from Pflugerville, even!) and yet another who said they were also riding to the ride start, so they invited me to ride with them. Good thing, since I FORGOT MY DAMN TAILLIGHT. (fortunately, in our ride packet, Whataburger had supplied those red-blinky-dot lights). Back to room, one last bathroom break and oh yea! I should pump my tires!! I put on my HEB 70SPF sunscreen, grabbed all the stuff and headed down the stairs with Buzz and found my riding buddies. It was just over 2 miles to the (new) ride start, we got there right at 7:00. I said good morning to Jack and then John Chung. It was already warming up and extremely humid. Since there was nobody holding me back, I planted myself in the first group of riders. There was a surprising number of pre-ride announcements to keep my head from having too many “You’re too fat! You’re undertrained! You’ve been sick for a full two weeks! You didn’t get but an hour of sleep!” thoughts….On the flip side, I recalled the first time I did this ride-on 2 hours sleep (never mind I was well-trained, and probably 40 lbs lighter) Finally, the National Anthem and… we were off!
Not even a mile into the ride, you climb Harbor Bridge. As the name implies, it is a bridge over CC harbor and is nearly as old as me. 243 ft. high and more than a mile long. The right 2 lanes are blocked off for us and the left lane has motorized vehicle traffic. Lots of people like to stop at the top and take their photos (good thing we had TWO lanes), but not me, you could hear people yelling “no stopping on the bridge!” I didn’t have any difficulty getting up and over (wahoo!). Always a weenie on the descent though. The second “oh crap! I forgot that” moment was as we were crossing Nueces Bay. Since I’d been so sick and even had fever during the episode, I’d been taking 2 ibuprofen plus Tylenol each morning. Well, today I forgot. As we rolled into Portland, the pavement was wet and there were some small puddles, so it HAD rained there earlier. As you exit to Portland, there is a short but rather steep climb to the Moore Ave intersection, but fortunately, officers were letting us through and we didn’t have to stop at the top of a hill on wet road. The first rest stop comes way too soon (like mile 8?) so I never stop there, just rolled on. So far I was doing pretty well. My drink-during-ride bottle was the 26 oz Polar filled with SKRATCH which I had frozen in the room’s fridge. Enough of it would thaw that I drank a few ounces every couple of miles.
We turned onto 361 to head toward Aransas Pass. This part can be challenging as it’s rather rough road, the shoulder separated from the right lane by those “rumble grooves” (not sure of the official name). But mostly, it’s trying to pass entire groups of people who are riding together, perhaps a little slower than I want to ride, and it being difficult to pass them without getting into traffic. But, several times I did that because I just wanted to make better time. For some reason, I thought about JP a lot during this section. I was unable to attend the service and I’ll be out of town (Austin) Oct 1 as well. But I figured he would want me to do exactly what I was doing, riding my bike. I was averaging about 18mph here, as I like to do. Approaching Ingleside, we saw police and ambulance with lights flashing and riders down. I later found out a vehicle cut in front of a paceline. Ouch. The shoulders in Ingleside are heaven! If only we could have 66 miles of that! For the most part, I got all the traffic lights green, or they turned green as I slowed down for the red. Second Rest stop is here, around mile 17. Still too soon for me. Rollin on…..
About this time I notice my bottle contents had frozen TOO well and I didn’t get any liquid when trying to drink. Just before mile 22, is the HEB rest stop where you turn right onto Goodnight. I thought about getting some water there to put in my frozen bottle but decided I wasn’t in any danger for the next 6 miles if I didn’t get much from the bottle. The Redfish Bay Causeway is usually a struggle for me as it’s a short, steep incline, rough road and usually cars coming at you. This year, they had someone stopping traffic for us. Yay! Off to the left I saw a giant ship (Like a cruise ship), and as I approached learned it’s a floating casino, the Aransas Queen. Well, what’ll they think of next?
My planned Major Rest Stop (Ferry Landing, Mile 28) came into view, an hour and 45 min into the ride. Someone came up to me and offered me half a banana, which I took. Laid Buzz down for a rest, filled 26 oz polar bottle with water, moved next “SKRATCH” bottle to front position and 26 oz polar to the “standby” position. This is where I take a few minutes since it’s my first major stop. While waiting in line for trailmix, a random guy came up behind me and held up his hand for a fist bump and said, “Girl! You were pounding it out there! I tried to catch up to you but couldn’t”. Made me feel pretty good (because this distance, if you recall, is the furthest I had trained this year). So I thanked him and got my trailmix. Except I had trouble eating it because my mouth felt like cotton. Ate half the larabar in my pocket (figured I’d eat the other half on the ferry). Tried to get another banana, but (typical for this stop!) no more bananas. Headed for the purple Texas Throne (porta-potty) and decided it’s time to get in the ferry line. By this time, I was starting to feel a little wonky. It was getting hot and I didn’t have my fever-reducing meds. Plus, no endurolytes (I didn’t even realize that yet). I drank and drank from my water bottle (leaving the SKRATCH bottle for riding) and started wondering how the hell I would make it through the next section (the Toughest 18 miles in Texas). While it wasn’t as bad as last year, I stood in the ‘staging’ area probably 10 minutes and then when I was in the “you’re on the next ferry” group, it was still another 15 min or so. Once on the ferry, I began to seriously think I might pass out. I texted Steve than I made it to the ferry landing. Ate the rest of the larabar and washed down MORE water. I think I consumed a liter of fluid during that break. Kept telling myself, “once we are moving again, you’ll be fine”.
Exited Ferry and started riding. Slowly. I’d been off the bike long enough my legs were cooled down and didn’t want to cooperate. For the next few miles you have to deal with a) lots of other riders because you all got off the ferry at the same time and b) the vehicles driving around Port A at 10am on a Saturday. One guy did the “Right Cross” in front of the woman riding just in front of me. And we weren’t really going very fast, it just mentally pissed me off. I was struggling to keep pedaling by that time. Having done this section many times I knew what I was in for: A hot, humid, rough-road, no shade, getting passed by speeding vehicles, nothing-to-see-but-sand-dunes, lonely sufferfest. I saw an entire banana laying on the shoulder. This pissed me off because I couldn’t get another HALF a banana at the ferry landing and some jerk wastes a whole one. There is a small rest stop out on the Island but normally I don’t stop there. However, this day my left foot started giving me grief, threatening to go to sleep on me. So I hopped off the bike for a few minutes there, allowed them to refill my water bottle with cold water and got a WHOLE banana! Yay! I didn’t stop my Garmin there, by then it didn’t seem important anymore. I got back on the road and for a very brief time, there was some glorious cloud cover during the 93F degree, 66% humidity weather. The miles ticked by VERY slowly. I tried to maintain 12 mph, but sometimes dropped below, thinking “anything above 10 is a bonus” and “only 45 min to rest stop”. Tried shifting to aerobars but my left shoulder would rebel after about a mile and I’d have to switch back to handlebars. Several people just stopped along the road here, completely disheartened. Finally, the sign for Mustang Island State Park and the sight of the JFK Causeway come into view. It (The Causeway) looked so huge and high and I felt so awful.. I thought of all my friends training for Ironman and felt a bond with them. They suffer like this every week, sometimes through sickness and cracked ribs!
Rolled on over Corpus Christi and Newcastle Passes, then finally FINALLY Packery Channel. A guy who was riding with a couple other people passed me around then and said, “Is there another bridge to climb?” and I replied, “yeah, the Causeway”. He didn’t know the route. I told him, “Dude! That’s harder than the Harbor Bridge”. Rolled into the Next Major Rest Stop, Mile 47 @ Padre Island Burger Co. I needed shade and didn’t care how I got it. Leaned Buzz against the Stripes wall, gratefully let the volunteers fill bottles with water AND ICE, and munched on a little more trailmix (I had taken the folded Dixie cup with me in the bento box). I claimed an unoccupied (shaded) picnic table at the Burger Co and texted Steve that I’d made it to mile 47 (he replied that I should take my pulse to make sure I’m not dead). Had to have another talk inside my head that if I fueled up enough, I’d make it over the Causeway. I put my 3rd SKRATCH bottle in the front position, swigged more plain water, refilled a bottle with ice (it had melted in the couple of minutes I stopped). Normally I make this a restroom stop but the stench was so bad I decided to wait. I think I had another half banana here (but it’s kind of a blur). Heard a beep from Garmin - I was under that shade and didn’t really think to check whether it put me in “indoors” mode, but apparently, that’s what it did and I didn’t discover it till I got home and was analyzing the ride data.
Rolled out of the Rest Stop toward the JFK Causeway which comes at mile 51. Maybe it’s just because I was already so tired and hot, but I thought this was even harder than Harbor Bridge. About 2/3 of the way up, my left hamstring threatened to cramp. A quick massage and “oh no you don’t!” kept me going forward. Strangely, I passed a couple of people here going even slower than me.. up & over once again.
Next section was the Naval Air station. We hadn’t been allowed to ride through there for several years and those of us on the long ride were required to wear our blue wristbands to let the NAS Personnel know we were supposed to be there. Definitely more high-security than the last time I rode through there, I was required to flash my blue wristband and prove I was wearing a ride number (which was on my back, so called out the number). I was hoping it was 580 because by then my brain was fried. Along with most everything else. First thing you see is the Fire Station on the right and a cyclist had stopped there and was laying on the ground under a scrub mesquite tree. I tried really hard to take it all in, but it was brutally hot then and I just wanted to be done. They had people stationed at literally every block. I guess to make sure nobody stopped. I kept looking for officer’s quarters (because I remembered seeing them last time we rode through) and never did. Maybe they took us on a different route.. A cyclist couple had pulled over under a mesquite tree and charging toward them was the “guard” at the next intersection, I guess to tell them to move along. Which is what I did.. I hoped that my last bottle would last me for the 10 miles I had left to ride.
Just outside the NAS, was a Rest stop - I thought the next stop was several miles away at Ennis Joslin, but they must have decided to move it to just outside the NAS. Anyway, I stopped there to hide behind the truck for a few minutes of shade. I even borrowed one of their chairs for a couple of minutes. All of a sudden, there’s Nick! He was asking “anybody else need to SAG?” and I replied, “I didn’t ride this far to NOT get my medal!”. I think I got some ice here, I really don’t remember.. back on the road. By then, you can see the Harbor Bridge where we started out this crazy ride. Back on the road, there were not many of us left (or so I thought!). I actually passed a couple of people heading down Ocean Drive. Every so often I’d see people had pulled over into some of the Rich People’s driveways, to get a little shade. I decided I couldn’t do that. Several people just stopped in the bike lane borrowing shade from a palm tree, an oleander, ANYTHING. But I did decide when I came upon the next little park, I’d pull over for a few minutes of shade, because by that time, I was truly concerned I was heading for heat stroke. Just after mile 59, Poenisch Park. Buzz and I rolled in there, I leaned him up against the palm tree providing shade to the bench and ate the rest of my trail mix and drank some SKRATCH. Two ladies and a little dog were having a picnic at the table and they asked how far we were riding. So I told her, “66 miles”. They seemed impressed. I stretched out on the bench, and there was a little breeze there, too. Ahhhhh… I felt like I stayed there a long time (like maybe 10 minutes) but I didn’t really time it.
Finally decided to venture out for the last few miles. There was a little shade cover again for a minute. Then more sun. Then sprinkles. Then a downpour. I was so happy! I knew I’d make it without passing out! I was riding behind a young lady going about 11-12 mph and I just kept her pace. We kept riding as the water rushed over our wheels. I knew the best thing to do was just keep pressure on the pedals and keep an even pace. We were riding in several inches of water heading for the storm drains. We passed by one of the other parks and a white dog headed our way. I thought, “no!!! my brain can’t handle any more thinking!!” Instead of heading into us (as I feared), the dog JOINED IN! It ran along between the lady I was following, and me, through a river of water for at least 2 miles. Nobody called to it. Finally a woman passed me and got ahead of me and somehow managed to get the dog corralled into a parking lot and we never saw it again. But still, the rain came………All my clothes were soaked, my feet squishing in my bike shoes. And then, it stopped raining about a mile or so before the finish. Rolled into the finish line in bright sunshine, fist pump in the air declaring that once again I had Conquered the Coast. And this conquering was the most difficult ever for me. Grabbed my medal and once again saw Jack, so I thanked him for the rain at the end and asked if he had bike racks set up. Of course he did. So I racked Buzz and headed for the Nolan Ryan Beef burger tent, then the beer. There were no open chairs in the beer tent, so I plopped my soaking wet behind on the ground amid thousands of mesquite pods. But I didn’t care. Even a mesquite tree is shade. Chatting with other riders, it appears we had a large number of first-timers this year. Many of them asked me about prior years and I was happy to impart all my CtC “Wisdom”. One of them mentioned salt tablets and it’s at that moment that I realized I had forgotten endurolytes in my ride plan (duh! Wouldn’t have cramped on the Causeway). After wolfing down my burger and having dos Dos Equis, I got back on Buzz for the 2 mile ride back to the hotel. By then, it was blistering hot AGAIN! But I was so glad to look down and see 70.25 miles completed for the day.