Assessing the Aftermath
2008-06-09, 4:26 p.m.

Day 1387

Can I get an OW!!??

Amen.

What a trip Sunday. I put up a real quick blurb Sunday evening sorta summing up the day. 100 miles, 20mph winds, 90+ degrees, high humidity. 6 hours 18 minutes saddle time, 7 hours 30 minutes out on the course.

Averaged 15.9 mph for the day. Better than last years 15.5 - and the weather was better last year. Unfortunately, didn�t get a lot of pictures. Found it rather difficult to aim a camera with one hand and fight the cross winds with the other, all while looking at the camera and not paying attention to where I was going. My cousin was hoping for pictures of hot chicks in tight biking shorts. He�s going to be disappointed, again. Saw plenty of hot, sweaty gals in tight biking shorts. Most of them were even really good looking. Some of them you wouldn�t suspect to be capable of a 100 mile bike ride. Many weren�t � the 100, 62.5 and 40 mile courses shared 4 � 7 rest stops. The only real indicators were seeing people as rest stop 6 � 8, or seeing if their bib number was 275 or less.

That�s a good measure for you. Over 1000 people riding. Less than 275 doing the century. Those are the real nut cases.

A brief chronology of the trip:

Started relatively late. Because of the expected high temps the organizers were letting anyone that was ready start as soon as they wanted. That meant the 7:30 start time for 100 milers, 8:30 for the 62.5s, 9:15 for the 40�s � all out the window. It also meant that there was a good mix of abilities out on the course early. Some of the 40 mile folks may not be used to riding in groups or may not know the etiquette. The big one? When I say �On your left� it means I�m passing you on your left. It doesn�t mean �move to your left�. Radical difference.

Winds weren�t bad early. Being primarily out of the SW this was key as the first 30 miles of the trip are south and/or west. By the time the winds picked up we were into the north/south legs or making the little easterly jogs between the north/south runs.

Halfway through the longest southerly leg there�s a rest stop only for the crazies on the 100 mile route. There, we get a lunch donated by Panera Breads. Do a lap of Conesus Lake and your reward is stopping at that same rest stop to top off your drink bottles and grab another bite to eat. It was at this stop last year that I cramped up really bad. Too much � strength gator ade I think. This year I started with full strength juice from home and made sure to pound the sodium & potassium all day. The reward? No cramps.

I learned something else too. I must be a good down hiller. Either good or crazy. All day long I was catching and passing folks who started earlier than I had. Most of the ground I made up was in the downhills. Might be that because I�m a little bigger than most I get a little boost from gravity. I know Galileo proved otherwise, but going downhill I was beating the tar out of anybody lighter than me. Maybe my bike rolls exceptionally well. Maybe my tuck position is decent. Maybe I�m willing to take those 2 or 3 extra pedal strokes.

There are also those folks you end up playing leap frog with all day. You pass them, they pass you, you do the touch & go at rest stops. One of those was a gal my cousin would have liked. Tanned, trim, toned and kicked my butt on the flats. Cute too, and very nice about kicking my ass. In the end though, I got her on the hills in the park. A couple of good downhill pushes and she let me stay ahead of her. I�m sure she was worried about bruising my tender male ego.

Some stats for the day.

Consumption
Gatorade: 176 ounces give or take. (5.5 quarts)
Water: 64 ounces
Water on head: 8 ounces (felt really good too)
PayDay Candy Bars: 4 (5? Not too sure)
Ham & swiss: 2 sammiches
Smoked turkey: 1 sammich

Estimated calories torched according to Fitlinxx: somewhere between 6800 and 8000. Depending on my perceived level of exertion (i.e. where my heart rate was relative to my target range)

Miles covered: 100.3 according to the organizers
Saddle time: 6 hours 18 minutes
Time on course: 7 hours 30 minutes
(1:12 for all that eating!!)
Average speed: 15.9
Max speed: 42.4
Minimum: 5.6 (up that #&!*@$ hill on the SUNY Geneseo campus) (#&!*@$ rhymes with ducking!)

Smartest move of the day happened at 6:15 am when I grabbed a handful of beers out of the fridge in the garage and put them in a cooler. Seond smartest move was stopping at a mini market on the way to the Tour and getting a bag of ice for the beer and my spare Gatorade (in case I didn�t want a beer at the end) (riiiiight)

My badge of honor for the days events? Some wicked tan lines. I will endeavor to get some pics of them. They�re rather comical. Soooo sexay. Wait till you get a load of them.

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