Great job to everyone that finished. For those that finished, I bet this puts a much greater appreciation for the pro cyclists that compete in the Tour de France.
On Jun 28, 10:38 am, Lucas <[email protected]> wrote: > Great finish DC!!! I should have stopped and felt a little guilty but > I saw the ambulance about 100 feet behind you so I knew you were in > good hands. I was also afraid my legs would cramp solid if I > stopped. So many factors go into fairing well on such a ride. I was > most surprised at Josh riding in just a couple clicks over 8 hours. > Ronnie rode a smart ride, pacing and resting to finish strong. I > should have rested more but I really draaaag on long climbs so I took > short breaks to compensate Nearly cost me at the end. Great effort > by all. Been there, done that! > tim > > On Jun 28, 9:22 am, david caudle <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > Great report guys and great ride > > > > I agree with you guys about a well organized and supported ride..could not > > have been better. > > This was by far the hardest, steepest and longest ride I have ever done. > > This was harder on my body then the half iron man at white lake and that > > was pretty dang hard on me. I started out feeling great and that continued > > through mile 60ish at the bottom of "snake". I thought I was holding back > > enough and not pushing to hard. I looked at my avg and it was 16+ so I > > thought hey I'm good, this "snake" want be too bad and I will finish this > > ride strong. At the SAG I filled up the water, had some food and rested > > for about 5min. Saw Ronnie and Steve come in and I think they were going to > > visit the little boys room. I was still feeling great so I decided to take > > off up snake. WOW that is one BIG/LONG hill.....I guess the highlight of > > my day was that I made it all the way up snake without getting off the > > bike, but I will admit it took about all I had. I stopped at the SAG at > > the top of snake for another 5 min. I thought to myself, David the hard > > part is over you are home free now. WRONG!!! the desent was fast and my > > hands started hurting from holding the breaks. there was another SAG at > > the bottom of this hill, but I past it by....bad idea! at mile 69 my legs > > cramped and I had to stop and stretch them out. a few riders past and most > > asked if I was ok...of course I'm ok I'm a Cow! lol after this my pase > > slowed a little and I begin to think for the first time all day I may have > > pushed a little hard. a few miles up the road on one of the many climbs I > > was huffing a puffing up this hill and a very sweet female voice came into > > my ear...I thought wow some beautiful young lady has come to save me. > > NO...well it was a pretty young lady but this lady was on a tri bike and > > pulled up beside me and started a conversation. at first I was thinking to > > myself, please don’t talk to me right now...I'm dying here. but after > > riding about a mile up hill with her I was grateful because it took > > my mind off my craps. She pulled away like if she had just started the > > race...never saw her again. > > Mile 80 my ride totally changed.....my body began to crash. Somewhere > > around 90ish miles Steve passed me with very little effort. Did not take > > long til he was not in site. I was able to push on until mile 98 when my > > body said NO MORE! I had to stop; I just could not go on. I pulled off > > the side of the road and got off the bike. This is that point where Tim > > saw me curled over. I guess I was there a good 10min and Tim goes rolling > > by. One of the aid guys came by to check on me. He wanted to know if I was > > going to try and finish or should be call someone. There was an ambulance > > just around the corner so he went to get them. I told them my body was not > > going to let me finish so they called for someone to come get me. I waited > > in the AC of the ambulance for a good 30 to 45min. by this time I was > > thinking to myself….I can do this…I have never not finished an event and > > I’m not going to start now. I told the aid guys I was going for > > it. I took a deep breath (just about barfed when I did) and hooped on the > > bike. I made it up some of the next to last hill and had to get off and > > walk the rest. I was able to get back on and climb the last little bit and > > at least ride across the finish line. Steve and Josh were waiting for me > > looking refreshed……I was wasted! Josh got me some drink and I sit there > > for a while. After a shower and some food with Josh, his wife and a friend > > of theirs I began to feel a little better and headed home. > > I really need to learn how to rehydrate and eat better in these events…. > > Great event and the CoWs had a great showing. Josh does get most improved > > rider and all should be proud to have even tried this ride. > > DC > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: Steve Thomas <[email protected]> > > To: [email protected] > > Sent: Mon, June 28, 2010 7:24:00 AM > > Subject: Re: [COWs] BSG Report! (Tim's version) > > > Great report, Tim. My memory of the ride is similar. I'll add a few > > memories to Tim's report. We (wife, daughter & me) stayed with friends who > > live outside of Boone. After reading the detailed ride route, my buddy > > spent the rest of Friday night laughing at the difficulty of the course. > > > David C, Jim, Ronnie and I started together. The initial long climb up > > Shulls Mill was wonderful. Shaded road with a moderate grade loaded > > with both 50 and 100 mile cyclists with fresh legs. DC and Ronnie left me > > early on this one. At the 1st SAG, I was surprised how long the ride > > already felt. Saw Ronnie, DC, Goose and a flash of Tim as he flew by the > > grazing cows. Don't remember many details between 1st and 2nd SAG except > > non-stop beautiful views and tons of steep climbs and fast descents. The > > 2nd SAG wasn't until about mile 45...took forever to get here! > > Saw Ronnie, DC and Tim again. 3rd SAG was at bottome of Snake Mtn. Lots > > of banter about this "snake mtn" in the crowd before heading > > up. It got VERY steep at the top and lived up to all the hype. More > > people walking than riding near the top of this bad boy. 4th SAG at top of > > snake mtn near mile 65. Thinking most of the "hard climbing" was behind > > me, I felt > > like a champion at top of snake and skipped 4th SAG. WRONG! Plenty more > > climbing on the way. > > > Some unbelievable riding between mile 60 and 80 with final SAG at mile 80. > > Smaller crowd at this SAG. Saw Tim again. Folks at this SAG seemed in the > > "almost finished/cruise-on-in" mind-set...maybe it was just me. Could not > > be more wrong. For me, the next climb was the the most challenging of > > the day and almost broke me...long, steep, long, steep, steeper, > > longer...top finally. > > > Final climb was about a mile or two shy of finish. Short, but very steep. > > Casualties all over this one. Saw as many walking as on snake mtn. In my > > book, it's an accomplishment just to attempt a ride like this. Congrats to > > all COWS! Event was well organized. Seeing Red Cross volunteers on > > motorcycles/scooters about every 10-15 minutes throughout the day was very > > comforting. > > > It was a blast and hope to do this one again! > > > Steve T > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: Tim & Susan <[email protected]> > > To: [email protected] > > Sent: Sun, June 27, 2010 5:09:15 PM > > Subject: [COWs] BSG Report! (Tim's version) > > > Most of the CoW's gathered at Joe's Friday evening for carb loading. I > > think our group took half the seats available at this little Italian > > restaurant. Food was great and the conolies were excellent! > > > > It was a cool and foggy morning in the highlands. Over 1000 cyclist > > gathered for one royally insane event. Most of the CoW's gathered together > > at the start, but we (the breakfast crew) found us a comfortable porch and > > waited out the main start. A few minutes after the grand start, Pete, > > James, Susan and I mounted our bikes and rode our chips across the line to > > start our time. I shortly said good-bye to them as I had time constraints > > and they were headed towards Banner Elk for the 50 mile route. I soon > > caught up with Jim looking comfortable in the saddle as we climbed the > > first 7 mile hill! Why not just get toasted on the first 7 miles. Later > > we found out that really wasn't much of a hill. It was a very pleasant > > start, just trying to take it easy. Josh, David, Ronnie and Steve T. were > > further down the road staying closer to the front. At mile 15 we entered > > the Blue Ridge Parkway. That was some of the easiest riding we had. The > > views from the bike were awesome and traffic was very light. Aid > > station at mile 21 on the BRP. I didn't need this stop so I kept going, > > waved to the other CoW's as I went by and they rolled up along side a few > > minutes later. I think DC and Ronnie were adding a little heat to the pace > > but I wasn't ready for that yet so I watched the 4 of them ride away. > > Brutal cross winds a couple times on the parkway nearly separated me from > > my bike. > > Aid Station #2 was at mile 46 and I stopped for fuel and touched base > > with Ronnie, DC, Steve and Josh. Everyone seemed to be doing well and > > ready for more, and more we got! DC and Ronnie headed out and Steve and I > > rode a bit together as we encountered a rare flat section of railroad grade > > along a river. Very, very nice! Next aid at the base of "Snake" mile 57. > > I didn't need this stop either and I glanced a couple of CoW's standing > > around but I continued. The "Snake more than lived up to it's name. The > > grade started easy enough, about 3 miles total to the summit. 5%, 8%, 12% > > then with a mile left it got a little nasty. More and more people were off > > the bikes, I trudged along very slowly. I can ride a bike at 2mph. One > > highlight of my ride was passing a dude walking his $10,000+ Pinarello > > Dogma. Priceless!!! I did stop shortly afterwards to reinflate my lungs > > then mounted up and rode some more. By this time, for every > > one person on a bike there were 3 walking. Coming up to the first > > ... > > read more »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- 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]. 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