Barabus
Well-known member
Journal of my first century ride- The Tour de Palm Springs (2/2008) taken from my bike forum posting.
I crashed (low sided) my bicycle in the hotel parking lot at about 6:30 am before the start of the ride. There was a puddle, which had been splashed about by cars going thru it. I missed the puddle but hit the wet area nonetheless. I attribute this entirely to my inattention. The bike crashed down hard with me still holding on my hoods (handlebars). At first, I was in shock and fellow Orange Coast Velos picked me up from my semi fetal position in the puddle. The wind was knocked from me and I was slow getting up. They grabbed my bike and steadied me, checking me for injury. No blood and nothing obviously broken. Bike was a little tweaked. We rolled to the start and I was not completely “with it.” Although that is not so unusual for me early in the morning. I took my group picture with about 20 OCV’s and we jumped the start thru a short cut. The first problem I noticed was that I landed so hard on my left hip that it robbed my left leg of power. I had major problems with power stroking off and clipping in. About 13 miles into the ride things were looking down and I was dropped by the main part of the OCV peloton going uphill. I am not a strong climber on my best days and my ribs hurt with every deep breath. The soreness was setting in.
My heart rate was way too high and speed was too low. I pulled over to see if I was dragging a brake. No such luck. ****, this was going to be a tough day. I thought about bailing on the ride or just attempting the 55 mile half century. Just then I hear, “Hey, BARRY!” Not as strange as you might think- 10,000 bikers and someone has my name too. Coincidence, yes, but strange, no. However, Lee and Bruce, two OCV’s I had ridden with on Sundays before were nearby. I jumped in with them. They offered words of encouragement and much needed distraction. They were having fun and enjoying the ride- it was not a race. We blew by the first SAG stop and did not get off out bikes at the 25 miles sag stop either. Fine by me as I was getting SORE and did not know if I could get remount anyhow. At fifty miles there was a SAG stop and we were in bad need of water, food and dismounting. The main pack of OCV’s beat us there by about 5-10 minutes. I had put some Aleve in my saddlebag and immediately took some with bottle of water. It was getting warm and I really hurt. But as Lee said, “We are at 50- there is no turning around now.” Some peanut M&M’s helped get a dry turkey sandwich down. The volunteers were empathetic and took pity on me. Before we departed one volunteer filled my bottle for me. He knew I could not fight the crowd around the Gatorade jug. I just stood there holding my bike. He filled the bottle, I reached for the bottle and then dropped my bike. Bloody hell, on the other side this time. Now, both side match and are banged up. At least I was my older Canondale and not my 2008 Madone/Christmas present. Yes, I was a basket case, but some things were looking up. Power was returning to my left leg and I had Bruce and Lee with me.
We jumped into a couple pelotons and things were moving along quite nicely. Aleve and a bit of food had done wonders, but it was getting hot. At about mile 60, Lee mentioned that he had not urinated and was getting leg cramps. Hell, we all knew he was getting dehydrated. This merited attention. I don’t think I mentioned it to Lee, but I had been 911 to the hospital with dehydration. It can really come out of nowhere and take you out, even if you are drinking a lot of water. We slowed down before the 75-mile sag stop. Lee drank up. There was a hill out this sag stop. I know hills, wind and bad drivers are a part of cycling, but this hill took it out of me. The last twenty were going to be rough on all of us. By the 90-mile sag stop, we were charity cases. The volunteers were sympathetic and gave me ice to go with my water. I greeted Lee with an ice cold one from the secret ice chest that the volunteers had stashed for the riding wounded. Why did I think a 100-mile ride would be fun? After all, the most I had ridden before this day was 60 miles. Lee wanted to go. That was the spirit. We saw some sad riders on this last 10 miles. Lee mentioned that even the most mild hills were almost devastating. The way he said it as 3rd person, out of body, type puzzlement was funny. As if he was slightly amused that these small hills would do this to him. I was equally amused. Hey, when you are in this much pain it helps to laugh. Except when your ribs are bruised.
We rolled thru the finish line in 6 hour 30 minutes ride time. My wife, sister-in-law and brother-in-law were waiting for me. They had completed the 55 mile ride and are infinitely smarter that me for doing so. All I had to do was hand my bike to my worried wife. Wow, was I ever hungry. Fitday shows that I burned about 9000 cal for the day. Well, we had two dinners and were still hungry. A midnight shake from Harbor House helped us on that account. I hope my next century is a little easier and less dramatic.
me at 0'dark thirty (before my crash)-
I crashed (low sided) my bicycle in the hotel parking lot at about 6:30 am before the start of the ride. There was a puddle, which had been splashed about by cars going thru it. I missed the puddle but hit the wet area nonetheless. I attribute this entirely to my inattention. The bike crashed down hard with me still holding on my hoods (handlebars). At first, I was in shock and fellow Orange Coast Velos picked me up from my semi fetal position in the puddle. The wind was knocked from me and I was slow getting up. They grabbed my bike and steadied me, checking me for injury. No blood and nothing obviously broken. Bike was a little tweaked. We rolled to the start and I was not completely “with it.” Although that is not so unusual for me early in the morning. I took my group picture with about 20 OCV’s and we jumped the start thru a short cut. The first problem I noticed was that I landed so hard on my left hip that it robbed my left leg of power. I had major problems with power stroking off and clipping in. About 13 miles into the ride things were looking down and I was dropped by the main part of the OCV peloton going uphill. I am not a strong climber on my best days and my ribs hurt with every deep breath. The soreness was setting in.
My heart rate was way too high and speed was too low. I pulled over to see if I was dragging a brake. No such luck. ****, this was going to be a tough day. I thought about bailing on the ride or just attempting the 55 mile half century. Just then I hear, “Hey, BARRY!” Not as strange as you might think- 10,000 bikers and someone has my name too. Coincidence, yes, but strange, no. However, Lee and Bruce, two OCV’s I had ridden with on Sundays before were nearby. I jumped in with them. They offered words of encouragement and much needed distraction. They were having fun and enjoying the ride- it was not a race. We blew by the first SAG stop and did not get off out bikes at the 25 miles sag stop either. Fine by me as I was getting SORE and did not know if I could get remount anyhow. At fifty miles there was a SAG stop and we were in bad need of water, food and dismounting. The main pack of OCV’s beat us there by about 5-10 minutes. I had put some Aleve in my saddlebag and immediately took some with bottle of water. It was getting warm and I really hurt. But as Lee said, “We are at 50- there is no turning around now.” Some peanut M&M’s helped get a dry turkey sandwich down. The volunteers were empathetic and took pity on me. Before we departed one volunteer filled my bottle for me. He knew I could not fight the crowd around the Gatorade jug. I just stood there holding my bike. He filled the bottle, I reached for the bottle and then dropped my bike. Bloody hell, on the other side this time. Now, both side match and are banged up. At least I was my older Canondale and not my 2008 Madone/Christmas present. Yes, I was a basket case, but some things were looking up. Power was returning to my left leg and I had Bruce and Lee with me.
We jumped into a couple pelotons and things were moving along quite nicely. Aleve and a bit of food had done wonders, but it was getting hot. At about mile 60, Lee mentioned that he had not urinated and was getting leg cramps. Hell, we all knew he was getting dehydrated. This merited attention. I don’t think I mentioned it to Lee, but I had been 911 to the hospital with dehydration. It can really come out of nowhere and take you out, even if you are drinking a lot of water. We slowed down before the 75-mile sag stop. Lee drank up. There was a hill out this sag stop. I know hills, wind and bad drivers are a part of cycling, but this hill took it out of me. The last twenty were going to be rough on all of us. By the 90-mile sag stop, we were charity cases. The volunteers were sympathetic and gave me ice to go with my water. I greeted Lee with an ice cold one from the secret ice chest that the volunteers had stashed for the riding wounded. Why did I think a 100-mile ride would be fun? After all, the most I had ridden before this day was 60 miles. Lee wanted to go. That was the spirit. We saw some sad riders on this last 10 miles. Lee mentioned that even the most mild hills were almost devastating. The way he said it as 3rd person, out of body, type puzzlement was funny. As if he was slightly amused that these small hills would do this to him. I was equally amused. Hey, when you are in this much pain it helps to laugh. Except when your ribs are bruised.
We rolled thru the finish line in 6 hour 30 minutes ride time. My wife, sister-in-law and brother-in-law were waiting for me. They had completed the 55 mile ride and are infinitely smarter that me for doing so. All I had to do was hand my bike to my worried wife. Wow, was I ever hungry. Fitday shows that I burned about 9000 cal for the day. Well, we had two dinners and were still hungry. A midnight shake from Harbor House helped us on that account. I hope my next century is a little easier and less dramatic.
me at 0'dark thirty (before my crash)-
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