RMTC Rocks E-Rock
RMTC Rocks E Rock
6:30 came. The gang assembled. A photographer approached wanting our picture. Mostly she just wanted a picture of Jeff Carroll who was making her tingle even from afar. ! flexed my quads for her. Off we went into the wilds of Castle Rock where none but the 7,000 participants dared to tread. ! had checked the weather the night before. It’s really true. Based on a 6 hour ride the wind was going to shift around to be head on the whole time. It didn’t just feel like it. For a ride that is all downhill there sure was a lot of climbing. 6,857 feet. Three miles in and Jeff Carroll tired of my babbling and rode off. Everyone else was way ahead. Except for Dr. John who had to wait until 7am to avoid finishing before the sun came up.
! had plenty of fluids with me. Four bottles and a full bladder. Every stop was a pee break. At pit stop number two ! found Charley pacing like an expectant father. Hub broken, his ride was over. A wild dust cloud was growing up the road. Just ahead of it police motorcycles redlined. Engines screaming. Sirens wailing. The crowds parted and then it was still again. Dr. John had just passed. The pink bike would come along later.
On the road again ! entered the Black Forest. Rolling hills. The water weight was slowing me down. On the flats and descents ! stayed in the aero bars. Then ! saw them. Three members of the Courtesy Patrol. The small cutey was dragging the two guys along. They passed me and she dropped back beside me. She was nearly as sexy as ! am. Still she couldn’t tell me which fork to use first or answer some of my most basic courtesy questions. Perhaps some day !’ll learn how to get along in polite society. Until then ! shall remain sequestered in my fortress. By now ! was way off the back. ! was blowing by ordinary riders, but our crew was long gone. Did ! mention the Courtesy Patrol tried to beat me up? ! had a full bladder. They had nice shoes. They backed down.
Onward rolled ! toward Roller Coaster Road. You really have to hammer the downhills to get enough momentum to carry you through the loop-de-loops. Did you see the Chik fil-a cows standing up leaning on the fence? Turning onto County Line Road the 50 milers joined us. We headed west. The wind headed east. Of course. The descents that we lost altitude on went by fast. The descents that we gained altitude on went dreadfully slow. At some point (! think it was about ¾ of the way) ! hit 75 miles. That’s when ! realized how fortunate ! was to be doing the whole ride instead of the 50 mile ride. ! had a mere 25% of my ride left and they were only half done. Five miles later they still had 40% to go while ! only had 20% left. Poor kids. ! felt bad for them.
Perry Park road was fast. A tandem could get by me on the steeps. They were dragging along a few solo riders because that’s what tandems do. Then they were nearly out climbing them as ! went away. Frontage road was the final 6 miles or so and once again into the wind. Still it was fast, but it hurt. After 90 miles a long straight flat with no scenery is tough. Into the wind you realize that a century is mostly in your head. Keep turning the pedals. Keep the speed up. Stay focused. Ignore the discomfort.
Dr. John was hanging out with Matt at the Rocky Mountain Sports tent. He prescribed lying on the grass with feet up on a chair. There were probably at least 15 of us out there. Most everyone had gone home by the time ! finished. Though Jeff Carroll longs to be my nemesis, he has much to learn. A true nemesis wouldn’t need to ask how ! got three cookies while everyone else got one. He would have had seven. One day grasshopper. When your cynicism has deepened beyond what you can now imagine ! will introduce you to my arch-nemesis. Only then will be able to understand his teachings and fully devote yourself to treachery. One day.
So ! stayed mostly in the Denny prescribed range of 130-143 beats per minute for 5:44:36. Not really hard, but a good pace for 102.7 miles. Average speed 17.8 and Max speed 42.4mph.
6:30 came. The gang assembled. A photographer approached wanting our picture. Mostly she just wanted a picture of Jeff Carroll who was making her tingle even from afar. ! flexed my quads for her. Off we went into the wilds of Castle Rock where none but the 7,000 participants dared to tread. ! had checked the weather the night before. It’s really true. Based on a 6 hour ride the wind was going to shift around to be head on the whole time. It didn’t just feel like it. For a ride that is all downhill there sure was a lot of climbing. 6,857 feet. Three miles in and Jeff Carroll tired of my babbling and rode off. Everyone else was way ahead. Except for Dr. John who had to wait until 7am to avoid finishing before the sun came up.
! had plenty of fluids with me. Four bottles and a full bladder. Every stop was a pee break. At pit stop number two ! found Charley pacing like an expectant father. Hub broken, his ride was over. A wild dust cloud was growing up the road. Just ahead of it police motorcycles redlined. Engines screaming. Sirens wailing. The crowds parted and then it was still again. Dr. John had just passed. The pink bike would come along later.
On the road again ! entered the Black Forest. Rolling hills. The water weight was slowing me down. On the flats and descents ! stayed in the aero bars. Then ! saw them. Three members of the Courtesy Patrol. The small cutey was dragging the two guys along. They passed me and she dropped back beside me. She was nearly as sexy as ! am. Still she couldn’t tell me which fork to use first or answer some of my most basic courtesy questions. Perhaps some day !’ll learn how to get along in polite society. Until then ! shall remain sequestered in my fortress. By now ! was way off the back. ! was blowing by ordinary riders, but our crew was long gone. Did ! mention the Courtesy Patrol tried to beat me up? ! had a full bladder. They had nice shoes. They backed down.
Onward rolled ! toward Roller Coaster Road. You really have to hammer the downhills to get enough momentum to carry you through the loop-de-loops. Did you see the Chik fil-a cows standing up leaning on the fence? Turning onto County Line Road the 50 milers joined us. We headed west. The wind headed east. Of course. The descents that we lost altitude on went by fast. The descents that we gained altitude on went dreadfully slow. At some point (! think it was about ¾ of the way) ! hit 75 miles. That’s when ! realized how fortunate ! was to be doing the whole ride instead of the 50 mile ride. ! had a mere 25% of my ride left and they were only half done. Five miles later they still had 40% to go while ! only had 20% left. Poor kids. ! felt bad for them.
Perry Park road was fast. A tandem could get by me on the steeps. They were dragging along a few solo riders because that’s what tandems do. Then they were nearly out climbing them as ! went away. Frontage road was the final 6 miles or so and once again into the wind. Still it was fast, but it hurt. After 90 miles a long straight flat with no scenery is tough. Into the wind you realize that a century is mostly in your head. Keep turning the pedals. Keep the speed up. Stay focused. Ignore the discomfort.
Dr. John was hanging out with Matt at the Rocky Mountain Sports tent. He prescribed lying on the grass with feet up on a chair. There were probably at least 15 of us out there. Most everyone had gone home by the time ! finished. Though Jeff Carroll longs to be my nemesis, he has much to learn. A true nemesis wouldn’t need to ask how ! got three cookies while everyone else got one. He would have had seven. One day grasshopper. When your cynicism has deepened beyond what you can now imagine ! will introduce you to my arch-nemesis. Only then will be able to understand his teachings and fully devote yourself to treachery. One day.
So ! stayed mostly in the Denny prescribed range of 130-143 beats per minute for 5:44:36. Not really hard, but a good pace for 102.7 miles. Average speed 17.8 and Max speed 42.4mph.
posted by Doug!! @ 7:04 PM
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