Yesterday, I had no desire to spend any more time in the saddle than I had to. The forecast was for stinkin' hot and humid and the challenge of 100 miles on the Harpeth River ride lay before me. I had yet to ride the full 100 in the last two years and it was time once again to clip in.
The alarm went off at 4:30am. I joined up with the Harpeth Bicycles Team to help with parking at the event, so we got there early. My ambitions last fall had been different. I thought my weight would have continued to drop (instead of coming back up), and I thought that I would have more time to train and time to connect with this group of athletes. But life ends up different than we intend and it would be my first ride with the team.
We rolled out, 14 in all, @7:49am, after most of the riders had already left. In the pack of riders that were doing the shorter routes we missed the early split for the longer routes and had to double back. How amazing it was to be in a pack of riders cruising at over 20mph. With the early heat and fast pace (even while drafting) my heart rate was already in the 160's and 170's. About twenty miles out I found a new max HR going up a hill (185) and watched the team roll off into the distance while I recovered at the top.
I caught up with them later as one of them had flatted, but as soon as we went up again (this time @ Theta, around 40 miles) I took my time and regrouped with them at the rest stop. On the descent I hit 55mph, a new record for me.
Jenni and the kids met me at Thompson's Station Baptist, 51 miles into the ride. The last of the team said farewell at that point and after some nice time with the fam I headed down the road. Did I already say it was stinkin hot? I was very tempted to ride 4 miles to home instead of continuing on the route. I wasn't sure how much longer I would make it. The heat was already taking it's toll.
I had been eating Hammer Nutrition's Endurolites pretty regularly. It is a product specifically designed to replenish many of the nutrients you loose through sweat & on hot days (like this one) particularly important to ward off cramps and the like. I'm not sure, though, as much as I had been drinking, that it had been enough. I hadn't pee'd once yet that morning. One thing we had talked about when I did the Whitney Classic in '97 was that we needed to be urinating regularly to avoid issues with the heat of Death Valley. Clear and copious was the mantra and we were downing a water bottle ever few miles. That was then. This was now.
Somewhere after the 60 mile mark I was riding with David from Hendersonville, when he got a series of cramps and had to slow down. At mile marker 66 it was my turn. My right hamstring balled up so tight I couldn't keep pedaling, in fact I wasn't sure what to do with it. A couple riders passed me and said there was a rest stop less than a 1/4 mile up the road. Praise the Lord for that. I was already off the bike and trying to walk. Each step got a little better and I plopped down next to David (he had passed me while I was walking) beneath the pavilion at the Flat Creek Community Park. I spent a good amount of time here, eating, drinking, stretching and finally took my first trip to the bathroom.
At some point David decided to roll on and I bid him farewell, not sure if I should continue or catch the next SAG back to the ride start at Nissan. It was probably another 10 minutes when I decided to go see what I can do. Pulltight Hill (what a name) was next on the agenda in just about 3 miles. I started out nice and easy. My hamstring was talking to me a little, so I didn't push it.
Halfway up Pulltight Hill I met David again, he was cramping and a SAG was coming back for him. I made it up the climb ok but still was feeling it. The next stop was at 80 miles. I ate some salted potatoes and filled up my water. As I was leaving David rolled in. I was surprised to see him because I had pretty much decided that if I cramped that I was done and catching the SAG.
The skies had been getting cloudy and it was such a relief to have some cloud cover. The heat was still oppressive. When I left the rest stop it started to rain. What a relief it was and a blessing from God. It didn't continue, but the miles rolled by a little easier and I stepped at the next stop @ 91 miles. 12 miles to go.
As I rolled from that stop, the sky opened up like someone had turned the faucet on full. Lightening hit the ground about a mile in front of me and I started to worry about getting hit by a car that couldn't see me or getting washed off the road. As quickly as it started, it stopped, and two miles later I was rolling on dry roads. I blew through the last rest stop at 97 miles. At this point I wasn't sure if I was going to get lunch. They closed at 4pm and I knew I as pushing it even though I wasn't certain what time it was. (The battery on my Garmin died before the advertised 11 hours, and I recorded only 77 miles of the ride.)
The Nissan HQ was a welcome sight, and I rolled in at 3:52pm, just barely in time for lunch. 103.2 miles down, as best as I can figure it was around 6:45 min in the saddle, and 8:03 total time, averaging about 16mph with a max speed of 55mph! My heart rate max out at 185 and averaged 158 bpm over the time that I was able to record it.
I passed a few cyclists in the final few miles, so I wasn't truly the lantern rouge, but I sure felt like it. My team was long gone, and 80-90% of the cars had already left the parking lot. I still have a headache and some nausea today. Even so, It's nice to be able to check this one off the list.
