Silk Sheets 200K Permanent (a.k.a. I’ve Lost My Ever Lovin’ Mind)

What do you get when you cross cycling with a country music song?  You get the Silk Sheets 200K permanent that I did this past Sunday.  I rode 130 miles in 40-degree temperatures in the rain – by myself – and I lost my dog.  Actually, it was quite a good day.  Let me explain.

There are no brevets on the Audax Atlanta calendar for December, and so I have to do a permanent to keep up my ongoing R-12 series.  Between Christmas activities and life’s general chaos, it was a little tricky to figure out when I could do a permanent this month.  A Saturday would be my first choice, even if I would have to miss Peach Peloton, but that wasn’t feasible because of several other commitments.  So, I scheduled a permanent for this past Sunday.  Some of my rando buddies originally planned to join me, but because of Sunday’s less-than-optimal weather forecast, they all bailed on me and rode Saturday instead.  I can’t blame them.

Sunday also worked well with my schedule because of Henry.  Henry is the greyhound that Robert and I have been fostering for the last few months.

Robert and I went into it promising ourselves that we wouldn’t fail fostering this time, i.e., adopt him ourselves.  We almost succumbed.  In fact, I had thought to myself that if Henry weren’t adopted by the end of November, I would ask Robert if we could adopt him as my Christmas present.  However, a few weeks ago, a family saw Henry on the Southeastern Greyhound Adoption webpage and wanted to meet him.  They have four children, and one of the boys particularly wanted a greyhound.  They live in Marietta and were traveling to Orlando for Thanksgiving.  Henry and I met them at High Falls State Park as they headed south.  It went great – of course they wanted to adopt Henry!  This past weekend was our first opportunity to finalize the adoption.  Since I was coming to Sandy Springs anyway for the permanent, I asked if they would meet me at the IHOP where my ride started.  They graciously agreed to the early hour.  I was sad to see Henry go, but it helps to remember how happy the boy looked as he ran around High Falls State Park with Henry.

With Henry on his way to his new home, I finished getting ready for my ride.  I went inside the IHOP to get a Coke to go and the necessary receipt to document my ride start.  One of the workers was just finishing a shift.  He was very jovial and asked somewhat incredulously if I was about to ride.  When I said yes, he said that was great and gave me some encouraging words.  Then he looked at my legs, clad in my warmest insulated bib tights, and said that my legs looked like parentheses.  That’s a new one!  We both laughed, and he gave me a high five.  What an upper to get me rolling in the cold wetness!

Sunday’s weather turned out to be as miserable as predicted.  I was determined to make the best of it, however.  I dressed pretty well.  My fingers and toes did get cold, but I managed.  The hardest part was having to stop to go to the bathroom.  I usually shy away from bib shorts or tights because I have to take off my upper layers to get the bib straps off.  However, being by myself, I figured that it was worth the extra warmth of my bib tights even if it took me forever to strip down to my base layer.  Every time I had to take off my rain jacket; my warm, regular cycling jacket; and my jersey.  I also had to take off my gloves because they were too bulky to fit through all my sleeves.  The biggest problem was that after my gloves got wet in the rain, they were quite difficult to put back on.  Furthermore, as my fingers got colder throughout the day, I had greater difficulty maneuvering the zippers on my three upper layers.  I seemed to have to stop fairly often, too.  That may have been because I wasn’t sweating much, and so my body was utilizing my urinary system more heavily to get rid of waste.

One time I was getting back on my bike and fooling with my dreaded wet gloves.  A nice couple slowed down and asked if I needed any help.  I smiled and said, “I’m just taking a nature break, but thanks for asking!”  They grinned as they drove on.  I think that warmed them up a little as well.

There was a control at a convenience store at mile 74.  I stood inside for a few minutes in the relative warmth, drinking a magic Coca-Cola and eating some Cheez-Its.  A woman in the checkout line said hello and told me that she used to do a lot of cycling.  She commiserated with me on the yucky weather and encouraged me to stay positive – another small boost that made such a difference!  I finished my snack and went back outside to my bicycle.  I was so cold that I started shaking hard.  The woman exited the store, saw my condition, and asked if I was going to be able to keep riding.  I told her that I would be OK once I started pedaling again.  Fortunately, I was.

Throughout the day, traffic was light on most of the roads, and only two cars blared at me unnecessarily.  One time I hit a piece of glass that I didn’t see.  It made a loud clanking noise as it shot off to the side.  I held my breath, hoping that I wouldn’t get a flat.  Thankfully, I didn’t.  Except for the weather, conditions were pretty good.  Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

As I made the return trip on the Silk Sheets part of the route in south Fulton County, I saw Neil, the permanent route owner.  He happened to be in the area and was checking to make sure I was OK.  That was really nice, and Robert sure did appreciate it when I told him later.

I had one more control before the end, a Quick Trip at mile 112.  I looked forward to a bathroom break, particularly the chance wash my fingers under some warm water.  That did make it somewhat easier to put my upper layers back on.

I had also been dreaming of eating or drinking something warm.  Ooo…pizza!  I had one slice, a nice, generous piece.  It was pretty good, too, not like the cardboard junk like in the grocery store freezer case.  The QT workers were so friendly, not minding a bit for me to stand there for a few minutes.  Then I had an inspiration.  They make the pizza right there behind a food order counter.  I asked one of the workers if I could have a pair of disposable food service gloves.  I figured that they would make it easier to put my wet cycling gloves back on.  The worker readily obliged.  The disposable gloves worked like a charm.  As a bonus, my hands were significantly warmer on the remaining 18 miles of my ride.

With the short days of early December, I didn’t have much daylight left.  Fortunately, both of my rear lights stayed strong, and I didn’t even need a front light because I was wearing my low-light, yellow, cycling sunglasses.  I made it back just as it was getting dark.  Lo and behold, there was Neil in the IHOP parking lot!  How nice of him to meet me!  I didn’t even have to mess with sending him my permanent card and receipts.  I told him how well the disposable food service gloves had worked, and he passed along another great trick: put your cycling gloves in a convenience store microwave for a few seconds.

It’s too bad I don’t like coffee because it would have been the perfect time to have some.  However, I do like hot chocolate.  Neil even bought me a cup at the IHOP.  It was delightfully warm and comforting on the drive home.

The next day a friend asked me how I keep riding for so long, especially in the rain and cold.  I thought about it and really couldn’t give him an answer other than I know that I have gotten through tough conditions before.  But you know what really helped me this past Sunday?  So many kind people.  Thank you to Henry’s new family, IHOP Parentheses Man, nature break couple, former female cyclist at the convenience store, QT employees, and Neil!