Work hard, play hard. A friend shared this comic recently. It made me laugh and think. In recent years I've had to learn the hard way that I'm a human being and not a human doing. But it's difficult to break old habits. The last month or so has been particularly tough - not any one thing, just a bunch of work and other responsibilities snowballing. I've taken on too much yet again. In fact, a few weeks ago I caught a bad cold, the first time I've been sick in about 2 1/2 years. (Thankfully, the COVID rapid test I took was negative!) I don't know why I still haven't learned my lesson that when I push too hard, my body finally MAKES me slow down by getting sick. Ack!
Athens-Augusta-Athens 400K
For these reasons, I vacillated about whether or not to do the Athens-Augusta-Athens 400K two weekends ago, especially because the state MATHCOUNTS competition (one of my biggest work responsibilities of the year) was on Monday right after the brevet. On the other hand, I knew that I would hate to miss out on the ride. Also, I plan to do a 1000K in October (my one shot at completing the requirements for the randonneuring ACP 5000 award), and a 400K would do a lot to get me back into the ultra groove. My cold was better, and I made a big push to get ready for MATHCOUNTS ahead of schedule. Therefore, I decided to go ahead with this 400K. It was my longest ride in two years.
Ten of us started in Watkinsville at 6:00 AM. Brian, Robert N., and I formed a small front group. Early morning was quiet and serene. Our first control was a convenience store that turned out to be closed. At least they had a Coke machine. I don't know when I've seen Cokes for only $0.75!
Dick and Ian caught up to us at the next control, a convenience store in Norwood at about mile 82. It was good to have more company.
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| Ian, me, and Brian (photo by Robert N.) |
Less than an hour later, Dick got a flat tire, which he said was his first ever during a brevet! While we waiting for him to change his tube, I took out my contacts. The pollen was bothering my eyes, as I expected it might. I put on my regular glasses with my cycling sunglasses over them - stylin'!
As we approached Augusta, we saw some other cyclists. I jokingly wondered to myself if I would see my cycling friend Todd who lives in the area. Wouldn't you know it, a short time later I did see him! Fun!
The turnaround point is a shopping center. Dick and Brian went to Subway while Ian, Robert, and I went to Publix. Publix is a great lunch stop. They have delicious, ready-to-go sandwiches as well as Gatorade, fruit, etc., and it's quick.
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| Robert N. and Ian chilling in front of Publix |
After lunch, Robert wanted to go a little slower, and so Brian, Dick, Ian, and I continued on. The four of us stayed together for the rest of the ride.
It warmed up nicely in the afternoon. In fact, I already got a good start on this year's cycling tan! The wind was brutal, though. Most of the day there was a headwind or crosswind at about 10-15 mph with higher gusts. One time we saw big poofs of pollen emanating from the pine trees.
In the early evening, Brian wasn't feeling great, so we stopped in a grassy area beside the road. Ian reminded me that cyclists should always take the opportunity to sit or lie down.
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| Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? |
We got to the control in Washington right around sunset. I never eat at McDonald's, but a vanilla shake hit the spot.
I had rested as well as I could leading up to the ride, but my body was already stressed from teaching the two previous days and from getting ready for the state MATHCOUNTS competition. The hardest part of the ride for me was after about 10:00 PM. My knee started hurting, probably simply because it was such a long ride; Brian kindly gave me some ibuprofen, which helped a lot. The temperature dropped significantly after sunset, and it felt even colder to me because I was fatigued.
Around 30 miles to go, I was fighting hard against sleepiness. Brian perked me up for a while with conversation. Mr. Sandman attacked me harder. I started making chicken noises to keep myself awake. (I can imitate a chicken pretty well.) Ian said that he couldn't deal with chicken noises, and so he had me pull off at a church. I sat on some hay bales out of the wind, and he gave me a squirt of caffeinated gel and draped his rain jacket over me. He told me to sleep for 5 or 10 minutes. He woke me up, and we continued on.
We caught up to Brian and Dick at a Taco Bell in east Athens. The convenience store control that we have used in the past is now only open until midnight. Fortunately, Taco Bell is open until 2:00 AM. We were there around 1:15 AM. It was about 13 miles to the end. We all limped in. Brian and Dick had been struggling, too, but Ian probably could have left us all and finished a few hours sooner. I really appreciate everyone's support and am glad we could help each other. I couldn't have finished without Brian, Dick, Ian, and Robert N.
It was only an hour's drive home, but I stopped twice to take a nap. I got home around 4:30 AM and managed to sleep for four or five hours. On Sunday afternoon I took another nap for about an hour, but that's all I had time for. I set my alarm so I could get up and finish getting ready for the state MATHCOUNTS competition the next day. No rest for the wicked... (BTW, the competition went well!)
Fried Clay 200K
Last week I started to get back to a more normal life pace - just in time for another epic ride this past Saturday, the Fried Clay 200K. I forget what a sufferfest this race is.
Although the Fried Clay is a race, the vibe is rather laid back. Organizer Pat Patterson is kind of the Jeff Spicoli of cycling. The "mass start" consisted of him calling everyone f-ing idiots, telling us we had 20 seconds to the start, and yelling, "Go!"
Some Fried Clay participants ride it simply for the adventure, even camping out and making it a two-day ride. Others, like me, treat it like a race and go as fast as we can. Of course, "fast" is a relative term. I knew that it would take me around 11 hours. Did I have a shot at winning 1st place for women and the "trophy" of a mini cast iron skillet? I was going to do my best. The pressure of trying to win - not the event itself - caused me to tell myself "no barfy" for a few days before the race.
Several women got ahead of me right away. No worries - it was going to be a long day, and a lot could happen before the end. I pedaled at tempo pace, reminding myself that I would need to keep up the fastest steady pace that I could maintain.
I rode my cyclocross bike, which is the best choice for most of the route. The first portion consists mostly of county dirt roads and a few through the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge (PWR). The PWR also has a few creek crossings. I'm very familiar with these creek crossings and know that I shouldn't try to ride through them with my minimal technical skills. Therefore, when I approached the first creek, I simply hopped off my bike and held it as I ran through the water. My feet would dry out eventually. About half a dozen guys were stopped at the creek crossing, wringing out socks, eating snacks, taking a nature break, etc. I rode on as quickly as I could, leaving their seeming tea party behind.
The second creek crossing was a few miles later. I used the solitude to my advantage, taking a nature break before the guys caught up to me. Made it just in time!
I rode near a few other riders for about the next 10 miles, yoyoing back and forth with various ones. We were getting close to the first water stop at New Hope Church. I have never been able to find the spigot here, and so I stopped a few miles sooner at Freedonia AME Church. (Local knowledge comes in handy.) The other riders, which included one other woman, continued on. This turned out to be beneficial because I rode right by them as they were stopped at New Hope Church. It took a lot longer for their group to get water there than just me at Freedonia. I stayed ahead of these riders the rest of the way.
Around mile 34 the single track began. I had reconned a portion of the single track with Robert a few weeks earlier. From that, I knew that the turn off of the main dirt road, Smith Mill, onto the single track was particularly rough. I got off my bicycle to walk it through the initial big ruts. I slipped, and my bike landed hard on its right side. (My knee got banged up, too, but I didn’t realize it until I found a couple of cuts on it when I took a shower that night.) My right handlebar was broken! It wasn't catastrophic, however. Thankfully, I still could shift (good ol’ Di2). Although I couldn't go fully into the drops on the right side, I still could hold the top bar or slightly on the hood. My right brake still worked, too, but it was difficult to grab onto. I took extra care on downhills the rest of the way.
The single-track portion of the route through the Oconee National Forest is best suited to a mountain bike. I had to walk a good portion of the single track. Heck, I don’t think I would have been much faster on that part even with a MTB.
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| A particularly ooky part of the single-track section |
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| Definite hike-a-bike section. Look closely to se a guy in front of me slogging through. |
Parts of the single track were stupid steep, where I practically had to crawl up slopes, dragging my bike behind me. I made it, though. I'm glad I had reviewed all the single-track trails with Robert either on the ground or via map ahead of time. That kept me from missing any turns.
Once I finished the single track, it was smoother riding on regular dirt roads to Juliette. I still felt pretty good, even just having finished the hardest part of the route. I had no idea how many women might be in front of me. I reminded myself to keep pedaling steadily as fast as I could.
Because I wanted to minimize off-the-bike time, I didn't stop in Juliette. Instead, I put a foot down long enough to grab a sandwich from my pocket, which I ate while I continued riding. I was still good on water, too; Pat and his wife had had a water station at the horse camp parking lot midway through the single track.
Next came some more pretty and familiar roads through the PWR, including the Wildlife Loop south of Round Oak-Juilette Road. Thankfully, Pat didn't route us onto any closed roads this year, and so rangers were not a concern.
The wind was significant. Although the trees along the dirt roads usually mitigated the wind, there were a few times on more open roads where I got an adrenaline rush from the gusts. At those times I was particularly thankful to be on dirt roads with no traffic.
Turning onto Pippin Road, I was on the Thursday Gravel Worlds route. It has some stiff climbs, but I wasn't intimidated because I knew they were coming. What was unexpected, however, was a good bit of smoke near Round Oak. I can’t imagine who would have been burning or who could have even gotten a burn permit under such high fire danger conditions.
The next water stop was soon thereafter, at the Sunshine Methodist Church on Highway 11. I'm so glad Pat learned of this water source and shared it with us. I had never known of it before. It's right on the route and more convenient than the ranger station a little farther north, which requires a short out-and-back off the route. Not only did I get to gratefully refill on water at the church, I also caught up to my friend Bill Mondock and a couple of other guys. I rolled out ahead of them, knowing they would pass me again soon.
I was now a little more than halfway through. The remaining roads were regular dirt. Although the going would be relatively easy, I knew fatigue would become much more of a factor toward the end. The last 30 miles of this race are always such a slog for me.
Not long after the Sunshine Church water stop, Bill caught up to me. (He must have also stopped at the Hadaway campsite, where Pat had food and water. I didn't stop there because I had just gotten water and still had plenty of food.) The other two guys were ahead. Bill and I rode the remainder of the route together. It was such a mental boost to have a partner in suffering.
As I expected, the last part of the ride was tough. I had to stop in a random spot to get something to eat. Also, I couldn't get to the last water stop at New Damascus Baptist Church fast enough. It felt like a lot farther than 40 miles after my previous water stop.
I assume Bill felt as tired as I did. We chatted a bit, which made it a little easier. He noted that this was his longest ride ever! I was honored to be able to ride with him.
About 15 miles from the end, I hit a pothole. My handlebar really came apart then. I rode kind of holding it together, but amazingly, I still could shift!
200K is just under 125 miles. When we got to Bradley Road at Highway 212, we were right at 200K. We could have turned left on Highway 212, ridden about half a mile, and been at Checking Station Road, the entrance to the race staging area. For some reason, Pat added a loop at the end that extended the total distance to 131 miles. It's a fun little loop that goes on Rabbit Skip Road and Stanfordville Road, but it's not so fun at the end of the Fried Clay when you're just ready for it to be over! Bill and I persevered. We rolled in at 7:16 PM for a total time of 11 hours, 16 minutes. I'm really glad we finished before sunset.
In what place did I finish? I don't know yet. Results can be submitted until April 9. I did check out a few of the other women on Strava. I had met a woman named Danielle at the starting line. She pulled ahead of me right away, and I never saw her again. She got a QOM in the single track section. However, when I checked her ride, she noted that she had to bail and didn't complete the course. Also, before the ride I had seen Katie, a rider from Atlanta. She had a QOM on the course, too. According to Strava, she finished about 45 minutes before I did. However, her route was only 128 miles long. It looked like she followed the entire thing, but maybe she didn't ride the entire 131 miles. Katie probably did win the coveted cast iron skillet. Oh well, she's 20 years younger than I am, and I rode my best. I like to win, but kudos to her if she did!
Although I had stopped twice to take a nap on the way home from the 400K the week before, I didn't need to stop for a nap on the way home from the Fried Clay. It was only about a 12-mile drive - ha ha! I called Robert before I headed home and asked him to order takeout from La Eskina, our local Mexican restaurant. Carnitas tacos, guacamole salad (with chopped avocado instead of mashed), chips and salsa, and a margarita - it was sooo good!
These two weekends of riding were grueling. I discovered another common thread: friends. I'm so grateful for friends to share the journey. Also, I am very grateful that I don't have anything on my schedule for this coming weekend!
