I've read this twice now and it still has me in awe. That has to be the best ride report I've seen yet. Incredible! The guys here at work can't believe anyone could ride on a bike that far. :)
--Kevin ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tim & Susan Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 10:05 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [COWs] 600K Ride Report !!! Again, 30 riders show up in Morrisville for for the big day/weekend. Endurance cycling is on the rise as this is again the biggest 600K crowd ever! For once John gets to the event before I do as I left home twice, once leaving behind my phone. For those who ride a lot know that a southeast wind is a rare event. Well because we were going to Wilmington we were treated with southeast winds today. 186 miles of headwind. Also we're throwing in a good solid hour of rain Saturday morning. All making for a memorable trip. After a couple hours the main peloton is reduced to about 15 riders. The first control stop is at mile 80. I've never been 80 miles between rest stops, but no one wants to loose that wind defying peloton so everyone keeps rolling. Next rest stop is at White Lake, mile 125. There we take a longer break and eat some lunch. From there we splinter into smaller groups. I nod off an invitation to ride with the bullets out front. I head out with a larger second group of 8 riders with John and a few other friends we've acquired over the past few months. From there another 62 miles to Wilmington. John is doing some serious work up front. He's anxious to get to Wilmington because we have access to a pool. I think we arrive around 6:30. One of the volunteers Jerry has rented a couple rooms at a motel. One for showers and shut eye and the other stocked with pizza and beverages. I eat pizza and phone home before joining John and Geof by the pool. We leave out around 8:00 headed back to White Lake where we want to catch a few Z's. I'm feeling really good and with no headwind my ego taunts me into doing some monster pulls. I'll pay for that later! Our group of eight riders arrive back at White Lake, mile 250 at 11:45 Sat. evening. Capt'n Mike D. has us a room for showers, food and rest. My reputation with yoo-hoos is well known and Mike has me a stash in the fridge. We watch some of the Tour of California time trial on TV. A couple riders head on after a short rest. A couple have their own room and others head to Elizabethtown for a motel that is 4 miles off course because White Lake has a water festival and there is no vacancy. John and a couple others getting a nap inside. I'm on the porch with Mike and I manage to dose a little bit. Finally after 2:00am I decide to get back on the bike and head on solo with intentions of finding a quieter place to sleep. An hour later I'm dead tired, got to lay down. I find a church with a secluded side porch. I'm so tired that as I pull up to the driveway I try to unclip but can't muster the energy to pull it off so I tumble over on the asphalt. Dang, that's first time the Ridley has hit the ground. Busted mirror, blood oozing from my knee, I hide the bike behind some bushes and crawl up on the porch and set my alarm for one hour. Watch the moon going in and out of the clouds. Beep, beep. I get up at 5:00, still dark but lots more clouds. I slowly limp along, I'm nauseous and can't eat. Gonna be a bad day. Oh yea, more rain as I approach the next control at mile 290. There is John just sitting there dry as a bone wanting to know where I've been. 7:00am. Our other friends show up a little later. They are all getting coffee and food but I pass and head on my way not feeling very well. At mile 316 the sky gets really dark, I'm approaching a small town, Erwin and I find shelter on main street. Nice bench under a large awning. Some serious lightning and heavy rain. I'm still not feeling well and I stand up and walk towards the street thinking maybe a bolt of lightening wouldn't be so bad after all, then the sky lit up and instant bam. I turned around back for the bench. God is being humorous. Mile 340 I'm in Angier's. Haven't seen any others for some time. I had to eat something so I managed to get down a grilled chicken sandwich at Mcd's. Now we're back in the hills below Cary and the miles go by very slow. Mile 355, I can't hold my head up so I stop again to lay down. As I'm laying there the 4 bullets in our group ride by looking all refreshed. They got some serious sleep somewhere. Ok only 17 more miles as I'm slowly getting ready to leave, my buddy Geof rides up. He's talking a lot of crap, and I realize he is seriously jacked up on caffeine! He is riding well so I tag along. 5 miles left we have the dreaded hill getting back into Morrisville. A mirror image of Conner. 3 miles left I watch Goef ride away and more heavy rains return. A couple others in our group ride up from behind but no John as he is having knee problems and the final hills are slow. 372 miles, and NO I will not ride another 3 miles for an even 375. John arrives just a few minutes later. Sorry I missed the Sunday ride as I was just finishing up Saturday's ride. tim -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en. DISCLAIMER: This e-mail is for the intended recipient only. If you have received it by mistake please let us know by reply and then delete it from your system; access, disclosure, copying, distribution or reliance on any of it by anyone else is prohibited. 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