Salado Smokin' Spokes 2017 ride report.
Our 100 miler! After a winter of riding on the trainer, maybe even when it wasn't strictly necessary, we've actually been riding outside for our longest rides. We did 70 at Pedal Thru the Pines, 85 on Parmer the next Saturday, and now finally our century, 4 weeks before the big race (and one week before our half Ironman).
It actually started out surprisingly cold, which I didn't expect. The car said 56 at the school where we started, but there was a (rare) north wind, so it felt colder. (And also made me sad that we missed out on an opportunity to have a north wind on a Parmer ride!)
We tried to start a little early to avoid the crowds, but once we started rolling, maybe 15 minutes early, we had a hell of a time deciphering the HAND DRAWN map (with no turn by turns). We stared at it for far too long after we realized they didn't have the first turn marked, then finally asked one of the guys blocking the road, who pointed us in the right direction. We ended up starting maybe 2 minutes before the masses, but at least we didn't get caught up in that mess. Just passed by it 10 minutes later, and for several minutes after that. Pace lines of poorly-behaved riders, in huge clumps that drifted over across the dividing line in the road as cars came toward us. Ugh.
But soon enough the people who were faster than us were gone, and we settled in for the long, long haul. Cecilia hung with us for a while, then dropped back to ride her own pace. The first miles were really nice. Some rolling hills, some beautiful views, and everything was pretty darn easy. Which, of course, means we had a tail wind.
Eventually we turned, and then we had a cross or head wind. And life got less pleasant. BUT unlike Parmer, which is a straight out and back, at least we got to turn with some frequency, so the head wind sections never lasted for a full 40 or 50 minutes. We'd get periodic breaks from it.
Once we hit the wind, Karen pulled ahead of me, and I settled into my aerobars to build up some neck/back strength and try to be as small as possible. There didn't appear to be all that many people doing the longer distances, and even fewer people doing the 102 rather than the 85 (which spent most of the beginning of the ride together), so it was sparse.
And then, of course, I got a flat. It took me a while to admit it was happening.. things felt kinda weird, and then I realized that every downstroke was making me dip pretty low in front. I suspected. But I was in denial. And then finally I pulled over into a gravel drive and checked.. and sure enough, a front flat. The same tire that flatted on last week's ride.
I sent Karen a text message that said "Flat." and got to work changing the tube. As I did, I checked the tire, and found a thing that was lodged in it, and could definitely have been the culprit. I extracted it, hoped that was it, and finished up changing the tube speedily. As I was wrenching the tire back onto the rim, one of the Salado Fire and Rescue trucks that were some of the SAG crew pulled up. I'd had a couple people ask me if I needed help or anything, mostly the people I knew who I had been ahead of, but really I was fine and there was nothing that would help me other than company... AND a pump. I didn't NEED one, but it sure is nice to have one when you get a flat, rather than using a CO2 cartridge. So when the SAG guy pulled around and asked how I was doing, I said I was just finishing up. Then I asked if he had a pump, and he said nope. And then he watched me for a few minutes. And then another rider came up and asked if he could get a ride back with the guy, and he said yes, and they hopped in the truck and took off. "I'll be fine, sir! Thanks for asking before driving off!" Ugh.
Anyway, I WAS fine. I guess I looked like I had things under control. And I did. So I hopped back on my bike and took off. I rode a little angry for a while. Karen was some unknown distance ahead of me, maybe unaware that I'd flatted if she didn't stop and look at her phone. Most of the other people doing the longer distances had passed me during this time. And that was just that much longer I had to be out in the wind, which was getting worse as the day went on. I decided that maybe part of my angry was hangry, so I crammed an entire Bonk Breaker into my maw over the next 20 or 30 minutes as I mashed my pedals into the wind.
I caught back up to Cecilia as we made a turn, and then pulled into the aid station just ahead. As I refilled my water bottle, I asked if they had a pump. And they did! But it only had schrader, and no adapter. I said it was fine, it wasn't necessary. Eva was at that aid station, and she said she'd told Karen that I'd gotten a flat, and Karen had ridden back to find me. Except.. I hadn't seen Karen. And neither had Cecilia. So now we'd lost Karen. I tried calling her, thinking maybe she'd feel the phone vibrate repeatedly and stop and answer, but she didn't. I left her a message telling her I didn't think it was wise to continue this comedy of errors by me going back to find HER, so I was going to keep going forward. As I sent the message, she appeared from behind us. Turns out, she'd set back to find me, and missed a turn and gotten lost. Thankfully it was only for a few minutes, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Back out onto the road again, after testing my tire a thousand times. It was fine.
Karen rode her own speed/effort, and would watch for me at turns to make sure I was doing okay and neither of us got lost. There was a lot of headwind in the last 40 miles, as the wind got heavier and we started heading back toward Salado. But it's going to be windy in Galveston, and it's going to be windy in the Woodlands, and I needed to build up some mental strength in the face of wind, since it's my biggest nemesis. So this was good for me.
I may have stopped two times to take pictures of cows/nature.
I celebrated when I got to 88 miles, which is my longest ride this season, and then again when I hit 100, which was just one little jaunt on the I35 frontage road away from the end. And then I'd done it! First century since my 170 mile Ultraman Day 2 ride.
And I wore my new Smash tri shorts that I want to wear for Galveston and then for IMTX for the first time. A bold move! New shorts for a 100 mile ride! Tri shorts, even! But it was fine. They worked great. Whew.
Karen and I waited (not long!) for Cecilia to finish, so we'd know she was okay, then headed out for our 30 minute run. Laura was actually doing an art show half a mile from the school, so we ran over to the park where the art show was, then through the park, then through the little downtowny area, then around some neighborhoods, and then after 15 minutes turned around and came back, this time running through the middle of the art show until we found Laura! We chatted with her and borrowed her shade for a couple minutes, then decided to go finish out our last 5 minutes. It was hot at this point. Remember when it was cold in the morning? It got over that, and now it was 85 and full sun. Ugh. But good heat training, which I also need.
All told, 101 miles ridden (15.7 mph, which is good for me on a training ride, especially a windy one), and then 3.39 miles run off the bike, 9:06, 8:43, 8:52 (then 8:28 pace for the last 0.39). Great workout, big confidence builder, and a chance to try out some costume choices and some nutrition options.
Also completely exhausting and ate the ENTIRE day. I got home around 5pm, having left my house at 6am. Poor Matt had no car the entire day.
Now onward to the Galveston 70.3!
It actually started out surprisingly cold, which I didn't expect. The car said 56 at the school where we started, but there was a (rare) north wind, so it felt colder. (And also made me sad that we missed out on an opportunity to have a north wind on a Parmer ride!)
We tried to start a little early to avoid the crowds, but once we started rolling, maybe 15 minutes early, we had a hell of a time deciphering the HAND DRAWN map (with no turn by turns). We stared at it for far too long after we realized they didn't have the first turn marked, then finally asked one of the guys blocking the road, who pointed us in the right direction. We ended up starting maybe 2 minutes before the masses, but at least we didn't get caught up in that mess. Just passed by it 10 minutes later, and for several minutes after that. Pace lines of poorly-behaved riders, in huge clumps that drifted over across the dividing line in the road as cars came toward us. Ugh.
But soon enough the people who were faster than us were gone, and we settled in for the long, long haul. Cecilia hung with us for a while, then dropped back to ride her own pace. The first miles were really nice. Some rolling hills, some beautiful views, and everything was pretty darn easy. Which, of course, means we had a tail wind.
Eventually we turned, and then we had a cross or head wind. And life got less pleasant. BUT unlike Parmer, which is a straight out and back, at least we got to turn with some frequency, so the head wind sections never lasted for a full 40 or 50 minutes. We'd get periodic breaks from it.
Once we hit the wind, Karen pulled ahead of me, and I settled into my aerobars to build up some neck/back strength and try to be as small as possible. There didn't appear to be all that many people doing the longer distances, and even fewer people doing the 102 rather than the 85 (which spent most of the beginning of the ride together), so it was sparse.
And then, of course, I got a flat. It took me a while to admit it was happening.. things felt kinda weird, and then I realized that every downstroke was making me dip pretty low in front. I suspected. But I was in denial. And then finally I pulled over into a gravel drive and checked.. and sure enough, a front flat. The same tire that flatted on last week's ride.
I sent Karen a text message that said "Flat." and got to work changing the tube. As I did, I checked the tire, and found a thing that was lodged in it, and could definitely have been the culprit. I extracted it, hoped that was it, and finished up changing the tube speedily. As I was wrenching the tire back onto the rim, one of the Salado Fire and Rescue trucks that were some of the SAG crew pulled up. I'd had a couple people ask me if I needed help or anything, mostly the people I knew who I had been ahead of, but really I was fine and there was nothing that would help me other than company... AND a pump. I didn't NEED one, but it sure is nice to have one when you get a flat, rather than using a CO2 cartridge. So when the SAG guy pulled around and asked how I was doing, I said I was just finishing up. Then I asked if he had a pump, and he said nope. And then he watched me for a few minutes. And then another rider came up and asked if he could get a ride back with the guy, and he said yes, and they hopped in the truck and took off. "I'll be fine, sir! Thanks for asking before driving off!" Ugh.
Anyway, I WAS fine. I guess I looked like I had things under control. And I did. So I hopped back on my bike and took off. I rode a little angry for a while. Karen was some unknown distance ahead of me, maybe unaware that I'd flatted if she didn't stop and look at her phone. Most of the other people doing the longer distances had passed me during this time. And that was just that much longer I had to be out in the wind, which was getting worse as the day went on. I decided that maybe part of my angry was hangry, so I crammed an entire Bonk Breaker into my maw over the next 20 or 30 minutes as I mashed my pedals into the wind.
I caught back up to Cecilia as we made a turn, and then pulled into the aid station just ahead. As I refilled my water bottle, I asked if they had a pump. And they did! But it only had schrader, and no adapter. I said it was fine, it wasn't necessary. Eva was at that aid station, and she said she'd told Karen that I'd gotten a flat, and Karen had ridden back to find me. Except.. I hadn't seen Karen. And neither had Cecilia. So now we'd lost Karen. I tried calling her, thinking maybe she'd feel the phone vibrate repeatedly and stop and answer, but she didn't. I left her a message telling her I didn't think it was wise to continue this comedy of errors by me going back to find HER, so I was going to keep going forward. As I sent the message, she appeared from behind us. Turns out, she'd set back to find me, and missed a turn and gotten lost. Thankfully it was only for a few minutes, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Back out onto the road again, after testing my tire a thousand times. It was fine.
Karen rode her own speed/effort, and would watch for me at turns to make sure I was doing okay and neither of us got lost. There was a lot of headwind in the last 40 miles, as the wind got heavier and we started heading back toward Salado. But it's going to be windy in Galveston, and it's going to be windy in the Woodlands, and I needed to build up some mental strength in the face of wind, since it's my biggest nemesis. So this was good for me.
I may have stopped two times to take pictures of cows/nature.
I celebrated when I got to 88 miles, which is my longest ride this season, and then again when I hit 100, which was just one little jaunt on the I35 frontage road away from the end. And then I'd done it! First century since my 170 mile Ultraman Day 2 ride.
And I wore my new Smash tri shorts that I want to wear for Galveston and then for IMTX for the first time. A bold move! New shorts for a 100 mile ride! Tri shorts, even! But it was fine. They worked great. Whew.
Karen and I waited (not long!) for Cecilia to finish, so we'd know she was okay, then headed out for our 30 minute run. Laura was actually doing an art show half a mile from the school, so we ran over to the park where the art show was, then through the park, then through the little downtowny area, then around some neighborhoods, and then after 15 minutes turned around and came back, this time running through the middle of the art show until we found Laura! We chatted with her and borrowed her shade for a couple minutes, then decided to go finish out our last 5 minutes. It was hot at this point. Remember when it was cold in the morning? It got over that, and now it was 85 and full sun. Ugh. But good heat training, which I also need.
All told, 101 miles ridden (15.7 mph, which is good for me on a training ride, especially a windy one), and then 3.39 miles run off the bike, 9:06, 8:43, 8:52 (then 8:28 pace for the last 0.39). Great workout, big confidence builder, and a chance to try out some costume choices and some nutrition options.
Also completely exhausting and ate the ENTIRE day. I got home around 5pm, having left my house at 6am. Poor Matt had no car the entire day.
Now onward to the Galveston 70.3!