Last jSpin

jSpin, our Monticello spin class, started in September 2010.  It's met every Monday evening, originally in the Jordan Engineering break room and more recently at the Bulldog Gym.  Last night was the last class.  Robert has been the instructor.  He's been been ready to go out on a high note and pursue other projects.  That's certainly understandable, but it's still a little sad to say goodbye to something that's been part of our lives for so long.

jSpin has been a fun way to do some different cycling.  Often, it's been a good recovery ride after a hard weekend of racing or riding outside.  Additionally, in the early years we did yearly functional threshold power (FTP) tests.  Those were always killer tests, but the results were so useful in helping me set training goals.

As we were winding down yesterday evening's class, Pam made the great suggestion that each person share his/her favorite jSpin memory.  A few of these included travel stories (especially Frank and Nancy's world travels), Robby falling off his bike (twice!) during one of his first few classes, various competitions that Robert came up with (the marble competition was cutthroat!), weekend movie spins, and everyone going to dinner together.  One time we went to the French Market in Locust Grove, and another time we went to Reese Hall in Monticello.  In fact, our class dinner was the very first event that Reese Hall hosted, a couple of months before its official opening.  Robert had made the arrangements with Reese Hall owner Judy.  Somehow, Judy thought Robert was bringing a bunch of kids, maybe because he mentioned the word "class."  I think she was a little surprised that only adults showed up.  Regardless, she served the most delicious beef bourguignon with puff pastry.  I guess she would have served that to the group of kids she thought was coming!

Many favorite memories were from our Christmas spin classes.  During the years that jSpin was in the Jordan Engineering break room, we had a special class on the Monday before Christmas.  We had a few snacks - always cheese straws!  The highlight, however, was that this is the one class of the year where we had adult beverages in our water bottles.  People brought their elixir of choice: beer, vodka and cranberry juice, gin and tonic, peppermint cream liqueur, etc.  Not surprisingly, those weren't particularly intense classes.

These were a few favorite memories from the Christmas spin classes: Pam in her tutu, Shelley (retired district attorney) prancing around the room as the cheese straw fairy, and Joel's Christmas present pasties.  (I can't unsee that last one...)

My own favorite memories came from the times that I occasionally substitute taught for Robert when he had to go to a Monday evening meeting, usually city council or county commission.  I never felt comfortable enough to teach freestyle like Robert did; I always had a routine written down.  However, I used these substitute teaching opportunities to have a little fun, often coming up with a theme for that evening's class.  Some of my themes included dogs, magic, and math.  Two themes in particular stand out to me, though.

One time I had to substitute for Robert at our annual Christmas spin.  (Bummer that he couldn't be there!)  I counted down the 12 days of Christmas, matching a different spin exercise to each number.  The best was the 3rd day of Christmas.  We did a spin move that I made up in honor of 3 French hens: high cadence for 30 seconds (running around like a chicken with its head cut off), followed by 30 seconds of flapping our wings and making chicken noises.  The class actually did it!  Three sets!  As the instructor, I had the best seat in the house, looking out at everyone.

Then there was the class where we traveled across the country in song in honor of the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.  I made a playlist that commemorated various states, e.g., Georgia on My Mind by Ray Charles and California Girls by The Beach Boys.  The grand finale is another one of my jSpin favorite memories: New York, New York by Frank Sinatra with everyone off their bikes in a chorus line!  It was worth it just to see David doing his Rockette impersonation, even if he was only good for about two (half) kicks.

The exercise was great, and the themes were fun, but the best part of jSpin was the people.  I've truly enjoyed spending time with some of my Monticello friends and neighbors whom I probably wouldn't see much otherwise: Ann, David, Debby, Frank, Jan, Joel, Louise, Lynne, Nancy, Pam, Robby, and Steve.  Ride on!

jSpin class coincided with International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19) in 2011.  Arrr!
Here be me mateys Debby and Joel.

Robert had a cool app that shows the length and intensity of each interval along with the music.
He devised this December 2011 workout to resemble a Christmas tree.

My birthday was on a jSpin day in 2012.  Robert surprised me with flowers in my water bottle :)

Christmas spin 2012.  Robert and I wore jerseys with seasonally appropriate colors - love the retro 7-Eleven jersey!

Fairy elves and reindeer at the 2012 Christmas spin class.

Robby the red-nosed reindeer brought the must-have cheese straws to the 2012 Christmas spin class.

Joel came by earlier in the day to decorate his spin bike with lights for the 2014 Christmas spin class.

Wassail (warmed in the microwave) in my water bottle for the 2014 Christmas spin class.  That's Sarge, our official jSpin dog, in the doorway.  We were always happy to see him when he came with Ann.  Also, that's a picture of pro cyclists Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault on the wall.

A sampling of the Christmas goodies everyone brought.  Robert encouraged everyone to burn at least 10% of the calories that they consumed.

Shelley, our cheese straw fairy, and Debby

Lynne and me (sporting elf/Vulcan ears)

Tuesday Worlds: A Juxtaposition

A Group rotation

B Group rotation

Wild Chicken 100

After my epic cycling events the previous two weekends (Fried Clay 200 and Sweet Onion 600K Brevet), I was expecting last Saturday's Wild Chicken 100 to be a pleasant, easy dirt ride.  (Cackle, cackle...)  I should have remembered my life motto, which is also the title of this blog: Expect Adventure!

This was the second year of the Wild Chicken 100, held in Fitzgerald, Georgia.  I saw a Facebook post about this year's event.  Between the wild chickens that wander around downtown Fitzgerald and the opportunity to ride on dirt roads in a different part of the state, it sounded right up my alley.

Friday Night Festivities

Originally, I thought I would be going to the Wild Chicken by myself.  I was going to get up early and make the 2-hour-and-15-minute-drive from Monticello the morning of the ride.  Happily, Robert decided to go, too.  We decided to drive down the night before and stay in a motel - much more fun and civilized.

We headed south after work on Friday.  First, we stopped for dinner in Macon.  We often go to Macon for dinner on Friday night anyway.  This time we went to the Rookery, one of my favorite restaurants and one we hadn't visited in a while.

The Rookery makes the best hamburgers in Georgia.  Seriously, if you're in Macon, check them out.  They have over a dozen versions, named for Georgia musicians and other famous Georgians like Jimmy Carter.  I had been thinking about one of my usual Rookery hamburger selections, but I wasn't so inclined that way after we had beef patties with Robert's 'rents at lunch that day.  Instead, I opted for OutKast's Stankonia at the Rookery.  This used to be one of the excellent burger options, but this was the first time I had had it since they switched it to chicken.  Specifically, it's fried chicken, Mrs. Griffin's Hot BBQ Sauce, Swiss cheese, collard greens, and crisp country ham.  It's so good it'll make you run down the road and slap people!

Coincidentally, just the week before at the Macon Cherry Blossom Festival, I had had my photo taken with a bottle of Mrs. Griffin's BBQ Sauce:

After our visit to the Rookery, it occurred to me that it was appropriate to eat chicken instead of a hamburger on my way to the Wild Chicken 100.

Robert and I got to our simple but clean and comfortable motel in Fitzgerald before 9:00 PM.  We got 8 1/2 hours of sleep.  Woo hoo!  We even woke up before the alarm went off.  A good night's sleep is an all-too-rare occurrence for me before a big cycling event.

Chickens and Trains

The Wild Chicken 100 was staged at The Depot in Fitzgerald.  It's a very cool spot that was perfect for our event.  The ride didn't start until 9:00 AM, giving me plenty of time to check out all the chicken and train decor.

I got one of these as a souvenir

Chickens and trains - what better combo?

Cyclopeeps

It was fun to see my off-road cyclopeeps Jason and Mark.  We sat together at breakfast along with Melanie and Sue from Tallahassee.  When Melanie asked me where I'm from, I said, "Monticello."  Her eyes lit up, and so I quickly added, "Georgia."  I realized that I was far enough south that I had to specify Monticello, Georgia as opposed to Monticello, Florida.

Melanie and I compared notes on the Dirty Pecan, an annual epic dirt ride out of Monticello (Florida!).  I rode it two years ago.  She rode it this year and described the nearly unridable conditions, saying the roads were like hummus.  I love that!  It's kind of a foodie version of peanut butter roads.

Back outside, I met a guy with a fat-tire unicycle!

He was doing the 30-mile option.  I can't imagine riding a unicycle even one mile, much less on dirt roads!

I also saw my cyclopeeps Ray and Benny, who were doing the 30-mile, mixed terrain option like the unicycle guy.  They were taking it easy on two-wheelers, though.  (Ha ha!)

As Robert and I waited for the ride to start, I reviewed the settings on my Wahoo.  He recently made the switch from Garmin to Wahoo and thought I might like Wahoo better, too.  I try not to be averse to change, but I'll admit I'm pretty comfortable with Garmin.  One of the biggest incentives for me to try Wahoo is that the battery life is supposed to be much longer than Garmin, which will be a benefit on brevets. 

This was my first ride using Wahoo for navigation.  (I've used it several times simply to record ride data on familiar roads.)  Another woman standing near me overheard us talking and said that she and several others at the ride work for Wahoo.  Wahoo!  (It's based in Atlanta; supporting a Georgia company gives me even more incentive to consider the switch from Garmin to Wahoo.)  I figured that if I had any trouble with my Wahoo during the Wild Chicken, at least I'd have technical support right there :)

Everyone lined up for the mass start.

I rode with my bird flu chicken.

Last year three people did the Wild Chicken 100.  This year, there were 62 riders!  I'm excited for organizer David Dark.  He is doing a great job promoting cycling in his part of the state.

Ride On!  (If You Can...)

Robert and two other guys went off the front as soon as our police escort ended at the edge of town.  Robert was racing it, partly as preparation for the state gravel championship two weeks later and partly because he treats most rides as races.

My plan was to ride at whatever pace felt comfortable.  I was there simply to enjoy the day.  Soon, Jason, Mark, and several other riders joined me, including Megan and others from Wahoo.

All of us had been keeping an eye on the forecast.  It had rained a good bit during the night, but it was only overcast at the start of the ride.  The chance of rain wasn't greater than 50% until mid afternoon, and so I was hopeful that we might avoid it altogether.  Alas, that was not to be.  However, it worked out about as well as it possibly could have.

Ten of us were riding together, following our Wahoos, of course.  We turned from one dirt road onto a smaller one.  This became a dirt path.  We didn't suspect it might not be the right way until we got to the edge of a field of crops - no way we were supposed to ride through that.  We stopped to consult maps on our phones and determined an easy reroute to get back on track.  In the meantime, the menacing cloud that had been looming on the horizon was getting closer.  One of the guys looked at the radar and said we were about to get a heavy but brief downpour.  We decided to take refuge in an equipment barn adjacent to the field.

A few big drops hit us as we scurried under cover, and then the bottom fell out.  We chilled, eating some snacks and checking out the cool peanut cars that can be hooked together like train cars:

These cars were filled with nice pine straw bales.

One of the best parts of the ride was hanging out with this sweet old dog.  He seemed very glad for our group's company.

The rain didn't last too long, and soon we were back on our way.  Later, we learned that during his Facebook live event earlier in the week, David had told everyone about the route miscue to the crop field.  It's a good thing none of us had watched his Facebook event because we would have avoided this wrong turn and not had such a perfect place to wait out the storm.

The 100K (62-mile) route had two rest stops.  The first was at about mile 18, not long after the stop at the barn.  Our group of 10 was already breaking apart due to the gloppy roads.  I decided it would be easier not to stop at the first rest stop because I didn't know if I could get going again.  Having plenty of food and water, I really didn't need a stop yet anyway.

The roads got more and more...interesting.  We rode in peanut butter, hummus, partially set Quikrete, and I don't know what else!  So much for a relaxing day on the bike.  My goal became simply to keep going and, ultimately, finish.

We could see the tire tracks of the few guys who had gone off the front early.  This section of road tickled me because turkey tracks paralleled the tire tracks for a long distance.  It may not have been a chicken, but it was poultry in motion!

Somewhere along the way, I got ahead of Jason and Mark.  I wasn't trying to drop anyone; it was simply a matter of keeping going in the least laborious manner possible.

On some stretches, my wheels got caked in mud, and I could barely maintain enough friction to keep turning the pedals.  Then, I'd get to an easier section, and big globs of mud would fly off in all directions.  I kept going.

I went through nearly a quarter mile of deep sand.  There's a section like this on the Middle Georgia Epic where I almost always have to walk my bike.  Somehow, on the Wild Chicken 100, I managed to pedal all the way through without walking.  As I got near the end of this section, I realized that I was almost there and was determined to finish it.  Channeling Dan Rather, I told myself, "Steady."

The second rest stop was at about mile 42.  David's in-laws were staffing this spot.  They graciously offered me an array of water, Gatorade, and snacks.  David's father-in-law even hosed down my cyclocross bike for me.  I was tempted to decline because I didn't want him to go to any extra effort, but I'm glad I accepted.  That probably helped me get through the remaining gloppedy glop.  There was plenty more to come.

I was wondering if I would ever see another paved road.  At last, I did get back to pavement, and I was pretty sure the sloppiest parts were over.

As I approached Fitzgerald, I out-sprinted a few dogs.  I rode through downtown but got slightly turned around on my way back to The Depot.  I stopped to check Google Maps on my phone.  It took me a couple of minutes to reorient myself, but I figured out that I had taken an extra turn where I shouldn't have.  Just as I was about to start off again, I realized that a funeral procession was passing me.  Although I was right at an intersection where I needed to turn, and the procession was heading straight, I figured the least I could do for the deceased person was to stay put for a few minutes until all the cars passed.

I made it!  Robert greeted me in the parking lot with a big smile.  He couldn't believe I had finished it and that I was still in pretty good spirits.  He had had derailleur problems and had to take a shortcut back on paved roads.  I think I'm just more stubborn than he is.

I gratefully ate some of the pizza and chocolate cake available for us riders inside The Depot.  I enjoyed chatting with David's wife Melissa and several other riders.  It sounded like the 30-mile option didn't have nearly the muck that the 62-mile option did.  Maybe I should have ridden the 30-mile route twice.  D'oh!

Robert's and my first visit to Fitzgerald was during the 1994 Bicycle Ride Across Georgia (BRAG).  I enjoyed learning a little of the city's history then.  Developed in 1895, it was an early planned city with streets laid out in a grid.  More notably, it intentionally brought together both Union and Confederate veterans from the Civil War.  I bought a BRAG T-shirt in Fitzgerald in 1994.  It became part of the first T-shirt quilt I had made, consisting of T-shirts from cycling and running events from Robert's and my courting and early married years.

Thank you to David, Melissa, Melissa's parents, and all of Fitzgerald for your warm hospitality at the Wild Chicken 100!  I plan to make it a lot less than 25 years before I come back to ride, but next time I'll make sure the dirt roads are dry :)

Sweet Onion 600K Brevet

How sweet it is!  The Sweet Onion 600K is in the books.  It was one of the toughest rides I've ever done, but it was worth it because it was my final qualifying brevet for Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP)!  PBP is a 1200K brevet that's kind of like the Olympics of randonneuring.  Held every four years, it's the ultimate goal of many randonneurs.  2019 is a PBP year.

Planting the PBP Seed

I started randonneuring in December 2013.  Early on, I heard about PBP but didn't give it much thought at first.  I was getting used to riding 200K (slightly longer than a century) and 300K brevets.  Then, in the fall of 2014, I was recruited for a 4-person women's team for the 2015 Race Across America (RAAM).  For the first half of 2015, I did little besides train for RAAM and work.  In the meantime, I listened to my randonneuring friends talking about PBP 2015.  After successfully completing RAAM, I quickly set my next goal: PBP 2019!

Tending the PBP Soil

Over the next few years, I did 400K and 600K events, building my endurance for PBP 2019.  A 400K is the longest brevet I can do without sleeping.  600K's require that I take a sleep break.  It really is a big step up from 200K to 300k to 400K to 600K.

I preregistered for PBP in January.  To qualify, I have to complete a 200K, 300K, 400K, and 600K between January 1 and July 1 of this year.  The Audax Club Parisien (ACP) oversees brevets all over the world and certifies the results.  ACP has already certified my 200K, 300K, and 400K from earlier this year.  As soon as it certifies my 600K, I can officially register for PBP 2019.  Woo hoo!

Companion Planting with the Sweet Onion 600K

Although I'm not super experienced in 600K's (I had done only two before this one), I knew the Sweet Onion would be tough.  Not just the ride itself, but working it into my schedule.  March was full of other big rides (a 200K brevet, a 400K brevet, and a 200K dirt road race) as well as major work commitments.  The Sweet Onion 600K was on March 30 and 31 - if I could just make it through the month!

Our Audax Atlanta randonneuring chapter has another 600K scheduled for May, but it's the same weekend as the Georgia Tandem Rally.  The Sweet Onion was my best opportunity for my 600K qualifier for PBP.  That was a great motivator during the hardest parts of the ride.  And the sooner I can complete my qualifying rides, the sooner I can complete my PBP registration!

Sweet Onion Harvest Day

Seven of us gathered in Watkinsville for the 6:00 AM start of the Sweet Onion 600K last Saturday.  The group included four of us Audax Atlanta members (Brad, Dick, Graham, and me) plus three from out of state who were also getting their 600K PBP qualifier (two guys from Michigan and Paul from Colorado).  Wayne and Ian had pre-ridden the route a couple of weeks earlier.

Shortly into the brevet, Dick, Graham, Paul, and I formed a front group that stayed together.  The route essentially was the Athens 200K route, which I have ridden a number of times, plus a long out-and back tail from Eatonton to Vidalia.

Peeling away the Layers

Following a few hours of pleasant riding, we arrived in Eatonton, an open control.  I suggested we stop at Tienda Tarimoro, a very cool Mexican market and restaurant in Eatonton.  We weren't yet ready for a full meal, and so we enjoyed a good snack.  I got a Mexican Coca-Cola (made with real sugar instead of with corn syrup, like in the U.S.) and a Mexican pastry.  They had several boxes of freshly made pastries of various sorts.  It was hard to choose, but I got a piece of cake with nuts on top:

The cake was delicious and not too sweet.  However, it was almost bigger than my head.  The rule is never to eat anything bigger than your head.  (There's one exception to this rule: cotton candy.)  I ate some of the cake at the store and wrapped up the remainder for later, putting it in my large bike bag, affectionately dubbed the Yogi Bear picnic basket.

My Yogi Bear picnic basket really came in handy on the Sweet Onion 600K.  Unlike the previous two 600K's I had done, there were no provisions for drop bags on the Sweet Onion.  That meant I had to carry everything I needed with me the whole time: the usual repair equipment, food, brevet card, etc. as well as extra stuff needed for an overnight brevet, like toiletries and a fresh kit.  This turned out to be good PBP practice.  I've already reserved Airbnb lodging for PBP; I'll stop at the same place on the way to Brest and again on the way back to Paris.  Robert is going with me to France, but because he's not renting a car (he's traveling by train and renting a bicycle), I'll have to carry everything I need with me for PBP. 

After we left Eatonton, we entered the "tail" part of the route.  The first part of the tail went through my regular stomping grounds near my house.  We rode on Rabbit Skip Road, one of my favorite roads.  There's lots to like about it: low traffic, good pavement, beautiful scenery, and the name!

We stopped at a convenience store in Milledgeville.  Milledgeville wasn't a control, but it was a much needed refueling point between the Eatonton and Dublin controls, which were 86 miles apart.

We skirted Irwinton and started moving south of the Fall Line, where the terrain is significantly flatter.  The Fall Line is a geologic feature that runs roughly west to east across the state from Columbus to Macon to Augusta.  It's Georgia's ancient shoreline.  Land north of the Fall Line is hillier with generally silty, clayey soils; land south of the Fall Line is flatter with generally sandy soils.  We hoped to make good time as we rode the southern portion of the route.

Around 5:00 PM, we rolled into Dublin.  All of us were ready for a sit-down meal.  It was way too late to call it lunch, but it was rather early for supper.  Lupper, anyone?  We opted for Subway, which wouldn't take too long.  That sandwich tasted soooo good!

A Long Ride, Any Way You Slice It

We had reserved rooms at the Red Carpet Inn in Dublin.  The plan was to ride to Vidalia and back to Dublin, another 80 miles, before stopping to sleep.  That would get us close to 400K for the first day, leaving a little over 200K for Sunday.

I felt pretty good as we rode into the dusk.  Dick suggested that each of us pull for about two miles at a time.  I was riding behind Paul.  When Paul's turn came to roll off, me motioned me through with a graceful wave of his hand.  I commented that he would make a good Vanna White.

That led to a spirited conversation of Wheel of Fortune that occupied us for a while.  Interestingly, Dick's wife was once a contestant on the show!  She even had pretty good fortune :)  How cool is that?

Graham started talking about Passé Jack.  Passé Jack this and Passé Jack that.  I asked, "Who is Passé Jack?" and wondered why he was passé.  Graham responded in disbelief, "You don't know who Pat Sajak is?"  Oh!  I had totally misheard him, which is probably understandable given that we had ridden 180-something miles at that point.

We also talked about funny interactions we've had with people we've met along the way during our brevets.  A common question is: "How far have you ridden?"  In fact, an older man had asked me this back in Dublin as I was walking into the motel lobby to check in.  I told him, "159 miles."  He replied, "Those little legs are going to get cramped!"  That's one of the funnier responses I've gotten when I've answered that question.

Graham noted that locals often give advice on the best route to get from Point A to Point B.  It doesn't seem to matter when we tell them that we have to follow our prescribed route.  Sure enough, when we stopped at the convenience store control in Vidalia, a nice fellow gave us advice on how to get back to Dublin.  We explained that we had to stick with our given route.  He said, "Yeah, but if you go such-and-such way, it'll only be about 21 miles back to Dublin."  We just smiled, thanked him, and retraced our route like we were supposed to.

We were making pretty good time between Dublin and Vidalia and back.  I hoped we would get back to Dublin around midnight; 12:30 AM wasn't bad.  I took a rejuvenating shower and set my alarm for a few hours of sleep.

I got about 4 1/2 hours of relatively good sleep.  (Everything in randonneuring is relative...)  I hopped out of bed, put on a fresh kit, packed everything in my Yogi Bear picnic basket, and met the guys at Huddle House next door.

The night before, Dick had been leaning sharply to the left while he rode.  Graham asked if Dick was OK, but Dick didn't seem to notice that he was leaning.  The rest of us were rather concerned because it couldn't have been good for him to ride miles at a time in that position...  However, Dick was in good spirits at breakfast and seemed eager to get back on the road.

We got on the road around 6:30 AM and had to ride only about an hour before the sun came up.  As we got closer to Irwinton, I stopped to take a picture of a church sign I had noticed the afternoon before.  The Jordan Stream must be a tributary of the Jordan River.

There's No Crying in Baseball or in the Sweet Onion 600K

We experienced at least two seasons during the Sweet Onion 600K.  On Saturday the afternoon high was about 80 degrees, and my arms got sunburned.  On Sunday the temperature hovered about 60 degrees, and I was trying not to get hypothermia.  That morning it also rained slightly - just enough not to need a rain jacket - but the wind was relentless and slowed us down considerably.

The section from Dublin to Milledgeville was one of the toughest ones.  Dick was really struggling.  When we got to Milledgeville, he made the difficult decision to stop, calling his wife to come pick him up.  I hated to see him drop out, but I understood his concern about being a potential safety hazard.

Graham, Paul, and I continued on.  All of us were feeling the miles in our legs.  We simply weren't putting out our usual power.  Even so, the two of them still could have dropped me easily at that point.  I'm grateful they chose to stay with me.  That's the true spirit of randonneuring - companionship and encouraging each other onward.

Eatonton was a control again.  I had figured we would simply stop at another convenience store, but Graham wisely suggested we have lunch at Zaxby's.  The much needed calories from an actual meal would help get us to the finish.

We had completed the out-and-back tail and were back on the Athens 200K loop with about 55 miles to go.  That's not very far.  At least that's what I told myself.  However, the remainder of the route had significant climbing.  I found myself at the edge of negative thoughts and knew I couldn't let myself go there.  I told Graham and Paul that they needed to talk with me about some positive things.

This was the first time I had ever spent much time with Graham.  He's always been extremely friendly, but it wasn't until getting to ride with him this time that I found out just how positive he is.  He's actually one of the most positive people I've ever met.  I think I'm pretty positive myself, but I forget just how important that is in this world.

Graham shared a great analogy that is as applicable to life in general as it is to ultra endurance cycling.  He said you have to keep your mind either positive or neutral.  Positive isn't Pollyanna, but it's recognizing the truly good things - feeling energetic at the beginning of the ride, appreciating beautiful weather, etc.  Neutral is acknowledging that conditions might be difficult, but you don't dwell on them, and you might even think of constructive ways to work through them.  The main thing is, don't let difficult conditions drag you into a bad place mentally.  I told Graham, "I don't think I've had many negative thoughts on this ride, but I've spent a lot of time in neutral!"  He laughed.

One way Paul and I coped was by telling each other silly jokes.  He liked one of my favorites:  Why does a chicken coop have two doors?  Because if it had four doors, it would be a chicken sedan.

This was one of my favorite jokes that Paul told: What's the difference between a lobster wearing a brassiere and a Greyhound depot?  One is a busty crustacean, and the other is a crusty bus station.

Trust  me, these are pretty funny when you're 350 miles into a ride.

I had thought that being mostly on familiar roads would be a mental advantage.  It was, but not in the way I anticipated.  I had done my two previous 600K's in around 34 1/2 hours.  I thought that knowing many of the roads of the Sweet Onion 600K would help me complete it at least that quickly, or even more quickly.  However, as I slogged along the latter parts of the route, I didn't think about completing the entire remaining distance.  I thought of the next familiar intersection or landmark and just concentrated on making it to that point.  By stringing together these segments, I knew that eventually I would complete the whole thing.

Graham actually seemed to get faster and stronger the longer we rode.  I've never seen anything like it.  About 10 miles from the end, he pulled ahead of Paul and me and stopped to take a photo of us as we rode by.  I don't look nearly as wiped out as I felt.

At last, after 387 miles, we made it!  We rolled in at 7:00 PM, exactly 37 hours total!  Sweet!

Thank you, Dick, Graham, Paul, and Wayne for making the Sweet Onion 600K possible for me!  Ride on!