Hilly Hundred

So much for the Hundred! Disclaimer up front - I only managed 87 miles - so I did more then the 100k, but not the whole 100 miles. I feel like giving the t-shirt back! I've never done that before - cut a race short like that. Oh yea, its not a race, it's an organized ride. Right...

The cold front went through the day before, so it was kinda freaky waking up to temps in the 50's! I got in the truck after loading everything up and while it was calm outside, it was 53 degrees. Well below my previously stated limit of 60 degrees for bike ride low temps. Driving north to the start of this event, the thermometer crept steadily downward. By the time I got to the college where we were to head out, it was 48 degrees! Now I'm really breaking the Bigun's rules.

Of course I've got nothing extra special for this ride. No arm warmers, no leg warmers, no toe warmers or hat thingy. I did bring a long-sleeve shirt which I kept on for the whole ride - it was the only thing good about being the biggest guy there - everyone else was shivering, while I was ok. I met John and Lee there; I think if John would have brought a winter parka, he'd have worn it. He had everything else on - you have to keep in mind - last Sunday, we started our ride at 77 degrees and finished at 93. Today's ride would not even get up to 77. Our blood is a bit thin this time of year...

Just what I thought would happen - did. The Bigun, at 280lbs, was dropped at the third big hill, about 5 miles in. I watched the peloton ride away, and I settled in to my pace and my alone-time. The course was essentially a North-South out and back, with a couple of East-West loops thrown in for good measure. The East-West's on this day were welcome, as out of the north came a staunch headwind steady at 5-6 mph, gusting 10-15mph. For drama's sake, I'll say it was mostly gusting.

So not only did I lose the draft-pack, but now I had to fight the wind and the hills all by my lonesome. Sucked to be me. I made it to the 3rd SAG stop before stopping, and that was at 62 miles or so. By then my average speed had dropped to below 16mph, and with the stop, I was firmly in the 15's. I knew my buddies in the draft would be averaging 18 at least, so to keep them from having to wait an hour for me at the finish, and since I had to work and was already late, I hatched a plan to cut the ride short. I knew one of the loops was a 6 mile out and back, and as I struggled to keep my average above 15.5mph, I cut that "Trilby Loop" and rode to the finish. It wasn't an easy decision, but looking back, I'm glad I did - we all finished within 10 minutes of each other, and I saved them some worrying and an extra hour of lateness at work.

Packing this extra 30 lbs is a bear. I'm hoping that adding the running now will start to whittle away at it - I sure do miss the spryness of 250lbs! Ha! That even sounds funny to me.

Four weeks until the Clairmont ride - the Horrible Hundred. I've got the day off from work, so I can ride slow and guilt free that day. It's got at least a thousand more feet of elevation change in it; upwards of 8k feet in climbing, as opposed to this Hilly Hundred that is about 6.5k feet. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will be a calm day!